Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo News 2022

hjkr said:
Twycross have announced their new 'Gruffalo Discovery Land', set to be opened in spring.
Twycross Zoo unveils multi-million pound major new attraction - The Gruffalo Discovery Land - Nottinghamshire Live (nottinghampost.com)

It does mention 'real-life' animals including fox, owl, mouse and snake.
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So while the orangutans, amur leopards and gorillas are living in totally outdated and inadequate enclosures, the zoo decide to throw millions of pounds at something like this?!?! I have no doubt that it will bring in lots more younger visitors (give me strength) but it seems like a really bad decision from an animal welfare point of view. Of course we don't yet know the exact details of The Gruffalo Discovery Land but I honestly hope that the zoo use their money for new enclosures for real species next time.
 
GiraffeJack10 said:
So while the orangutans, amur leopards and gorillas are living in totally outdated and inadequate enclosures, the zoo decide to throw millions of pounds at something like this?!?! I have no doubt that it will bring in lots more younger visitors (give me strength) but it seems like a really bad decision from an animal welfare point of view. Of course we don't yet know the exact details of The Gruffalo Discovery Land but I honestly hope that the zoo use their money for new enclosures for real species next time.
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I agree, I do think the animal enclosures should have been prioritised or at least done alongside this area, but I suppose from their viewpoint families are their main source of income.

The orangutan 'phase 1' area is next on their plans; fingers crossed this and other actual exhibits will begin construction soon.
 
It’s about building a long term sustainable zoo. You can’t build or improve anything without a growing audience base and regular income (occasional government grant aside ;)).

As much as I agree, there are some very pressing issues that need to be addressed. This new area is a pretty smart move and should enable the zoo to tackle those issues and more.

They will have looked at what their competition have done and has success with, and both Drayton Manor and Alton Towers have enjoyed massive success with areas themed around kids IPs in recent years. Plus, a little further a field, Peppa Pig World totally transformed Paulton’s Park fortunes.

Families are the zoos bread and butter, and this will hopefully attract them in significant numbers. Which is only a good thing longer term.

Plus, let’s remember, this was also due to open 2 years ago, and by now we would likely have seen progress on another major ape enclosure. But the world had other plans!
 
These gimmicks always seem like a cop-out to me. I think Twycross should aspire to emulate zoos like Chester or YWP, zoos that bring in the public through building amazing animal exhibits and not by using Drayton Manor as a business model.
 
haydn said:
Plus, let’s remember, this was also due to open 2 years ago,
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So they planned to spend MILLIONS on this 'Gruffalo Land' well before they ever realised they'd get the government grant then.

I also find the whole excuse for building this 4-acre amusement park is that it will apparently teach children about conservation incredibly sad. Do they not realise they already have an entire zoo to do just that?
 
haydn said:
It’s about building a long term sustainable zoo. You can’t build or improve anything without a growing audience base and regular income (occasional government grant aside ;)).

As much as I agree, there are some very pressing issues that need to be addressed. This new area is a pretty smart move and should enable the zoo to tackle those issues and more.

They will have looked at what their competition have done and has success with, and both Drayton Manor and Alton Towers have enjoyed massive success with areas themed around kids IPs in recent years. Plus, a little further a field, Peppa Pig World totally transformed Paulton’s Park fortunes.

Families are the zoos bread and butter, and this will hopefully attract them in significant numbers. Which is only a good thing longer term.

Plus, let’s remember, this was also due to open 2 years ago, and by now we would likely have seen progress on another major ape enclosure. But the world had other plans!
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I see your point on entertainment and bringing in non traditional zoo visting general public, I am not jus sure it is the way to go for a serious minded conservation breeding zoo like TWZ.

I do much prefer the Conservation Center they plan on building with great ape accomodation and research and education theatres.

Does the new development go in tandem with the Conservation Center or not (just to be clear on that)? They had the monies funded for the CC right????
 
Surely they could have just brought in the infamous Lego animals to attract younger audiences and call it a day?
This feels a bit of a gut punch to me though, as I really liked the old ‘explorer zone’ I felt it was a rather smart way to keep kids interested, with the train and the goat walkthrough and what not, and I always enjoyed going into the finch aviary, and of course being able to see the gundis;)
 
Benosaurus said:
So they planned to spend MILLIONS on this 'Gruffalo Land' well before they ever realised they'd get the government grant then.

I also find the whole excuse for building this 4-acre amusement park is that it will apparently teach children about conservation incredibly sad. Do they not realise they already have an entire zoo to do just that?
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Whether it was always going to be Gruffalo themed, who knows, but yes, the Explorer Zone redevelopment was always next on the development roadmap. It’s included in the timeline in the original 2030 vision document and isn’t being funded by the Gov grant. That will go towards the science centre and a number of animal exhibits over the next few years.
 
haydn said:
You can’t build or improve anything without a growing audience base and regular income.

This new area is a pretty smart move and should enable the zoo to tackle those issues and more.
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Can I just point out that in a normal year Twycross already receives around 650,000 visitors, and overall their impressive annual visitor numbers have risen steadily for many years.

Dudley receives less than half of that number and only broke the 300,000 mark in 2016, yet are currently building a rather nice brand new orangutan outdoor enclosure (the same thing that Twycross has desperately needed for many many years).

Yes Dudley crowd-funded for the new orang enclosure, but were still able to do so in only a couple of years from their comparatively small 'audience'.

haydn said:
Whether it was always going to be Gruffalo themed, who knows, but yes, the Explorer Zone redevelopment was always next on the development roadmap. It’s included in the timeline in the original 2030 vision document and isn’t being funded by the Gov grant. That will go towards the science centre and a number of animal exhibits over the next few years.
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You're missing the point.

Imagine if they didn't get the grant.


I'd love to see the research they did where they concluded they'd be able to recoup the multi-million pound expenditure on 'Gruffalo Land'. What do they think their potential ceiling annual visitor numbers are?

Also, how are they going to link conservation to a very short, twenty year old children's book that is nothing to do with the subject?
 
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Benosaurus said:
Can I just point out that in a normal year Twycross already receives around 650,000 visitors, and overall their impressive annual visitor numbers have risen steadily for many years.

Dudley receives less than half of that number and only broke the 300,000 mark in 2016, yet are currently building a rather nice brand new orangutan outdoor enclosure (the same thing that Twycross has desperately needed for many many years).

Yes Dudley crowd-funded for the new orang enclosure, but were still able to do so in only a couple of years from their comparatively small 'audience'.
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And prior to that Orang-Utan exhibit, when was Dudley’s last major investment? Yes, Twycross attracts more visitors and therefore should be doing more than them. But you seem to be conveniently forgetting that Twycross HAS done more. Chimp Eden, Gibbon Forest, Tigers, Giraffe, Rhino and lots of other smaller projects too all adds up to £10-15m of self-funded development.

And I'm not missing any point. What would have happened if they hadn't got the grant? I suspect the same as what is happening with it, just not quite as fast now. The grant is essentially allowing them to fast track stuff they had already planned to do. Pre-pandemic, the zoo had already secured funding for more than half of thier remaining development roadmap, which included even then, new Orang-Utan, Gorilla and Bonobo enclosures and science centre.

Prior to the pandemic, the zoo was growing steadily (actually faster than they had expected by all accounts) and its financial position was strengthening with each passing year. And by the zoo's own admission they ended up performing better than expected during the periods they were able to remain open! With that in mind, they clearly had the confidence that they would be able to re-start their original development plan - just with some understandable delays considering the World as a whole stopped turning.
 
haydn said:
And prior to that Orang-Utan exhibit, when was Dudley’s last major investment? Yes, Twycross attracts more visitors and therefore should be doing more than them. But you seem to be conveniently forgetting that Twycross HAS done more. Chimp Eden, Gibbon Forest, Tigers, Giraffe, Rhino and lots of other smaller projects too all adds up to £10-15m of self-funded development.

And I'm not missing any point. What would have happened if they hadn't got the grant? I suspect the same as what is happening with it, just not quite as fast now. The grant is essentially allowing them to fast track stuff they had already planned to do. Pre-pandemic, the zoo had already secured funding for more than half of thier remaining development roadmap, which included even then, new Orang-Utan, Gorilla and Bonobo enclosures and science centre.

Prior to the pandemic, the zoo was growing steadily (actually faster than they had expected by all accounts) and its financial position was strengthening with each passing year. And by the zoo's own admission they ended up performing better than expected during the periods they were able to remain open! With that in mind, they clearly had the confidence that they would be able to re-start their original development plan - just with some understandable delays considering the World as a whole stopped turning.
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I've applauded the zoo for their animal developments in recent years. After my last visit it really felt like the zoo was getting their major priorities right and going in the overall right direction. However, there is still SO much that needs tackling as soon as possible.

Over 2 years ago, when the zoo probably hadn't even applied for the government grant yet, you'd expect them to want to carry on developing exhibits, because even without the grant their visitor numbers would suggest they'd be able to do so. However, instead they prioritised spending on a multi-million pound amusement park over better welfare for the animals.

Didn't we establish in last years thread that many of these numerous projected new animal enclosures, likely costing several million, would always heavily rely on them getting the grant?

Twycross Zoo News 2021 [Twycross Zoo]

On top of that did the zoo definitely get their plea for £10 million investment when they launched their 2030 vision pre-pandemic and if so is that still the case post-pandemic?
 
Benosaurus said:
Over 2 years ago, when the zoo probably hadn't even applied for the government grant yet, you'd expect them to want to carry on developing exhibits, because even without the grant their visitor numbers would suggest they'd be able to do so. However, instead they prioritised spending on a multi-million pound amusement park over better welfare for the animals.
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If you choose to look at in isolation, then I can see how you landed on conclusion. But I personally think that is the wrong take-away. This is just one part of a pre-existing multi-million, mult-year plan to completely redevelop the entire zoo. To support that continued you development, you absolutely must invest in the visitor experience too.

As much as some people may not like, Twycross is competing with places like Drayton Manor and Alton Towers for peoples time and cash, and if those places are building some big fancy rollercoaster, a new house for an animal the visitor has already seen may simply not be enough on its own, regardless of how critical that is to the animals weflare. So developments like this are important to enable the continued improvement of the zoo. And it's not like the zoo haven't made investments in similar things already, alongside the previous exhibit improvements. The splash playground, adventure playground, and some of the temporary things like the dinosaurs, etc are all geared towards doing a similar thing to this. Gruffalo will just do it on a bigger, more permenant scale.

You only have to look at the response on social media this morning to the announcement. It's generating huge amounts of positive interest and feedback (way more likes, comments, etc than the zoo ever typically gets) which can only be a good thing for the long-term success and development of the zoo.

And yes, we did establish the grant was important to enabling the zoo to continue their development plans. But only in a post-pandemic world. The whole scheme is afterall to aid businesses and projects to get back on track post-coronavirus. The plea for £10m was only launched weeks before the first lockdown, so we'll never know how they could have gone. But had the recent grant not happened, an investment in the visitor experience would have been even more important, as there would be an urgent need to get visitor numbers back to a pre-2020 level and growing again.
 
A few thoughts (I'm not drinking the Kool Aid* on this):

I can see that the zoo are trying to leverage some extra visitors with this new development but, while it might make a far better justification of the entrance prices for those with young children, I'm not sure how much of a difference it will make:
  • As far as I'm aware (I don't have children) the Gruffalo's media presence is some much loved book(s?), a (nice/charming) one-off tv show and some merchandise. To me it seems nearer Raymond Brigg's Snowman's appeal than Pepper Pig (Daddy Pig-like grunt) or Thomas The Tank which have years of TV show exposure, various spin-offs and a lot of merchandise. I just can't see the Gruffalo having quite the same pull;
  • The argument that Twycross needs it to compete with Drayton Manor/Alton Towers seems largely spurious. A lot of those places target audience is for children/adults a lot older (does the Gruffalo appeal much beyond 5 year-olds?) and they've got roller coasters (which Twycross can't compete on);
  • What's wrong with trying to be a good zoo to attract visitors? Yorkshire Wildlife Park seem to do well using that approach and historically, like Yorkshire, Twycross as been in a similar geographical sweet spot (near Derby/Nottingham/Leicester);
  • In a comparison with Dudley there's an argument Dudley has done better over the last ten years -a recent visit showed everything was pretty much improved/up to standard, and all on far, far less visitors and money than Twycross .
It will make some difference, I'll admit, but whether it's the best way forward business-wise and zoo-development wise remains to be seen.

Meanwhile the Orangs seem destined to languish in their very poor accommodation for the foreseeable........

*Poor Kool Aid gets a bad rap -it was a cheap knock-off that was drank at Jonestown.
 
Shorts said:
The argument that Twycross needs it to compete with Drayton Manor/Alton Towers seems largely spurious. A lot of those places target audience is for children/adults a lot older (does the Gruffalo appeal much beyond 5 year-olds?) and they've got roller coasters (which Twycross can't compete on);
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It was more a generalised argument that Twycross competes with other major visitor attractions in the area for people's time and money. And those are arguably two of better known/most popular in the immediate area. There are of course lots of others of various types. I would add though, that whilst those parks do appeal to a broader age demographic, significant chunks of their investments over the last 5-10 years have been targeted at very young kids/young families. (Thomas Land at Drayton and CBEEBIES at Alton).

Is Gruffalo the best IP for Twycross to partner with? Who knows, only time would tell. It's certainly a popular one by all accounts. But I firmly stand by my belief that investment in the visitor experience (alongside animal welfare) is critical to the long term sustainabiltiy of any zoo. And it's not like Twycross are only doing one and not the other.
 
I’ve visited a number of places that use The Gruffalo franchise for education (numerous sites in the Forest of Dean for example). There’s a strong ethical message running through all of them so I doubt Julia Donaldson would allow her name to be given to anything overtly tacky.

Anyway, it could’ve been worse - be thankful they didn’t blow millions on Crazy Golf!
 
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I've read in multiple places that actual animals are going to be living in the Gruffalo area too. Just looking on the bright side for us zoo fans, does anyone know what species that there might be yet?
 
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Didn't Twycross have a small crazy golf course in the pets area a good few years ago? I also remember seeing a travelling Carousel there but didn't last long there and a gold finder machine.
 
Does anyone know how up-to-date zootierliste is? There are several species listed there which I was under the impression the zoo doesn't hold anymore, yet they are listed as current not former.

Including:
Red-Bellied Lemur
Black and White Ruffed Lemur
Javan Langur
Golden Headed Lion Tamarin
 
Just for my two pence worth on the gruffalo area, we where all aware of the development on there master plan as the children’s zone being next so what where we expecting. Provided the new enclosures for the apes get similar funding and aren’t being short changed by this development then I’m fine with this. I’m not sure personally on the theming of the area, as a regular visitor I can sone see the appeal being lost on me and the family of animatronics repeating the same thing on every visit. But I take the point on for other visitors I will make the zoo stand out from others on a national and draw new visitors from across the country, provided its been done well of course. I know my little ones are constantly asking me to go to peppa pig world so could see this having the same effect. Personally I would have liked them to have built a project elephant ( Blackpool ) or project polar ( ywp ) on the site I think they cost about the same or less. But it not my zoo, so given there recent success with new attractions / exhibits both on animal welfare and commercial success I’m happy to leave it in there hands as they seam to know what they are doing
 
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