West Country Peregrinations

[polarbear]

Living Coasts
1. No new (or any) guidebooks at the moment, I was told it was "with the printers" but wonder if this is a "stock reply" (no pun intended) as I've been told this on prior visits (either they need to get more reliable printers or get better stock control systems);

New guidebook in development. Old stock run out.

3. Mussels displayed on the sea bird under water viewing may be new;

Mussels always been in there, but did you see the crabs attached to them - a definite highlight to see them in their young stages. Not many people stop to look though - missing a treat.

5. Still too small, in my opinion, is the Seal enclosure -though, unfortunately, I can't see that changing anytime soon;

Did you get to see the month old pup?

7. Always a pleasure to see the Bank Cormorants but can anyone confirm whether they ever move from that bit of cliff face I always see them on? I even wandered up there, to view from the outside, three mornings about 7am and they were still in exactly the same place.

Yes, they definitely move and use the area of Penguin Beach.

Paignton
2. Free-roaming Red-footed tortoise in Tropical House -not sure if this was meant to be but it was entertaining visitors;

Tortoises regularly climb out of enclosures. Gardeners want to see them kept in as keep eating all the plants.

3. False Gavial was brilliant (although nowhere near a photogenic position). Note that Paignton is probably now the second biggest holder of crocodilian species behind Crocodiles of the World now -four in Crocodile Swamp and another one (or was it two) in Tropical House;

Caiman and dwarf crocs in Reptile Tropics.

 

[Paradoxurus]

It rather begs the question- will they stay at Paignton, or in time be sent back to Europe perhaps? If they stay and they want to bring in another new male, it might well be that the USA is the only source now. I sort of hope they stay at Paignton and they have another try with them, so that at the same time they don't become lost to the UK.

At the end of 2013, the ESB population stood at 1.6 (with 1.3 of those at Tenerife monkey park and 0.1 at Mulhouse). The 2013 annual report for the species states that the programme will end during 2014. "Paignton will make effort to transfer their two females to the AZA population where this species is doing quite well."

 

[Gigit]

At Paignton how many Tur are there now ?

There are 0.4 Tur and, AFAIK, 0.4 Barbary Sheep. I haven't been to their enclosure for a few weeks and today was the first time I've seen them mixed. I did see only 1 Barbary Sheep, but they are skilled at blending into the scenery.

 

[Shorts]

I don't think Newquay holds Hooded Pitta.

Could have swore I saw them.

Exmoor is amazing on so many levels.

Absolutely!

 

[Shorts]

Living Coasts
New guidebook in development. Old stock run out.

Bad stock control then.

Living Coasts
Mussels always been in there, but did you see the crabs attached to them - a definite highlight to see them in their young stages. Not many people stop to look though - missing a treat.

Missed that, I'll look more closely next time.

Living Coasts
Did you get to see the month old pup?

No, off-show.

Paignton
Caiman and dwarf crocs in Reptile Tropics.

Thought so (but couldn't remember 100%) -that's six crocodilian species then, the most for any general UK zoo.

 

[sooty mangabey]

I had a nephrectomy in February

Blimey - that sounds pretty serious. I'm assuming by the fact that you are peregrinating around zoos that all went well - and I very much hope it did.

Does your pacing yourself mean that the Cologne zoo nerds meeting in September is not on the agenda?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Blimey - that sounds pretty serious. I'm assuming by the fact that you are peregrinating around zoos that all went well - and I very much hope it did.

Seconded!!

 

[Shorts]

Blimey - that sounds pretty serious. I'm assuming by the fact that you are peregrinating around zoos that all went well - and I very much hope it did.

Thanks for your own and TLD's kind wishes. It was a little serious at the time (all hopefully sorted now) but to be honest it all happened so fast from diagnosis to removal (bless the NHS) that I hardly had time to think about it until afterwards. Apart from post-op soreness afterwards I didn't really feel any different (I was back to work within a month) but having then overdone things a little (and suffered from vertigo, most likely as a result of this) I've stripped everything back and am more slowly increasing workload/exercise/leisure activities.

Does your pacing yourself mean that the Cologne zoo nerds meeting in September is not on the agenda?

Unfortunately not, which is a shame as I hoped to help defend any quizzes raised . Luckily I visited Cologne and surrounding zoos in 2010 so at least I've been there fairly recently but I'll miss the camaraderie. Hopefully I'll be fully fit for 2015 though!

Top marks for correcting the thread titles mis-spelling in your post-bugs the hell out of me that I mis-spelled it but unfortunately I can't correct it!

 

[zooboy28]

Top marks for correcting the thread titles mis-spelling in your post-bugs the hell out of me that I mis-spelled it but unfortunately I can't correct it!

I have corrected this now - I think its the first time I have ever seen that word, I didn't even know what it meant, so thanks for enlightening me on that as well as the zoos.

The reviews are great, I quite like that format, and I imagine its perfect for people who have previously visited too (sadly not me!).

 

[Chlidonias]

I have corrected this now - I think its the first time I have ever seen that word, I didn't even know what it meant, so thanks for enlightening me on that as well as the zoos.

same as for why the peregrine falcon is so-named. And perhaps also Peregrin Took, although I wouldn't like to swear on that one!!

 

[Shorts]

I have corrected this now - I think its the first time I have ever seen that word, I didn't even know what it meant, so thanks for enlightening me on that as well as the zoos.

Thanks (the more perfectionist side of me will sleep better tonight) -ain't learning new words great?

The reviews are great, I quite like that format, and I imagine its perfect for people who have previously visited too (sadly not me!).

Thanks, glad you like -more luck than judgement.

 

[Nanook]

There are 0.4 Tur and, AFAIK, 0.4 Barbary Sheep. I haven't been to their enclosure for a few weeks and today was the first time I've seen them mixed. I did see only 1 Barbary Sheep, but they are skilled at blending into the scenery.

Thank you for that, I saw the Barbary sheep in 2009 in that "quarry-type enclosure" which really suited them I thought, I thought there was more than four in 2009 ? - have some gone elsewhere since ? I`d imagine the mix of Tur and Barbary Sheep make for an interesting mix.

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Hope you are son back to full health Shorts. Usually I have a week in the West Country, although I shall not manage one this year. Four of my favourite collections were not on your agenda - Wingz, Paradise Park, Tropiquaria and Axe Valley. For the last three years I have dropped Newquay for Wingz, but then Wingz is full of parrots so I am happier there (not that I do not like the parrots at Newquay). Last year I did the previously unthinkable and dropped Exmoor for Axe Valley (which does have a very close relationship with Exmoor). I had visited Axe Valley the previous year and loved it, but that had meant I had not got to Tropiquaria and I did not want to miss out on it again, so following two wet visits in succession (on the latter it had been dry two miles down the road) Exmoor had to go - also I am finding less parrots on display at Exmoor every time I visit. Of course Exmoor is the hardest place to reach by public transport form my holiday base in Paignton too (it takes a very expensive taxi ride from Barnstaple to get there for just after opening as the first bus is before my train arrives).

Paignton is my favourite large zoo, although I am perturbed that it appears to have curtailed the bird show this year and I did read it is thinking about not having one at all in the future.

 

[Gigit]

Paignton is my favourite large zoo, although I am perturbed that it appears to have curtailed the bird show this year and I did read it is thinking about not having one at all in the future.

What? The bird show is something I'm always meaning to see but never get round to. The birds are all there and the signs are up. I'd better make the effort while I can!

 

[Parrotsandrew]

What? The bird show is something I'm always meaning to see but never get round to. The birds are all there and the signs are up. I'd better make the effort while I can!

On my visits I usually attend two or three bird shows per day! Of course my current avatar is a shot of Chucky the Triton Cockatoo and I pondering each other - last year Chucky would not stop flying to me throughout the shows.

Anyway, I am not quite sure what is happening re the bird show. I had seen on the zoo's website that it was supposed to run just from 28th July to 31st August (I have always visited in September, so if I had been going to go this year..........), but thought that was very odd until I visited Flamingo Land last week and the bird show company's staff based there told me they were not sure what was happening at Paignton. I googled the show when I got home and there was a link to a TripAdvisor review earlier this season which said the "powers that be" were thinking of not having a show next year. Of course the existence of the review meant there had already been shows in 2014! I had wondered if the birds had returned to Essex (and maybe Pleasurewood Hills - Hyak2?) and were to return later this month, but obviously that is not the case as they are in situ. For all that waffling there are going to be shows this summer so make for the Animal Encounters theatre while you can! (I wonder what the zoo will do with it if there is no show next year? Perhaps its own encounter/display with a variety of animals. I'd prefer the bird show!)

 

[Gigit]

Thank you for that, I saw the Barbary sheep in 2009 in that "quarry-type enclosure" which really suited them I thought, I thought there was more than four in 2009 ? - have some gone elsewhere since ? I`d imagine the mix of Tur and Barbary Sheep make for an interesting mix.

I've had a quick look through my incomplete collection of Annual Reports. At the beginning of 2004 there were 10 Barbary Sheep. One died leaving 2.7 at the end of the year. In 2007 and 2008 there were 0.6. There was a death in 2009 and another death in 2010. And I've just discovered that there was another death in 2013, leaving 0.3. I'll do another count next time I go.

 

[Gigit]

On my visits I usually attend two or three bird shows per day! Of course my current avatar is a shot of Chucky the Triton Cockatoo and I pondering each other - last year Chucky would not stop flying to me throughout the shows.

Anyway, I am not quite sure what is happening re the bird show. I had seen on the zoo's website that it was supposed to run just from 28th July to 31st August ...

I'm intrigued now and will check it out on my next visit (in between counting Barbary Sheep).

Chucky probably doesn't see the same people that often. A familiar face to fly to!

 

[Parrotsandrew]

Chucky probably doesn't see the same people that often. A familiar face to fly to!

It all started on the Saturday last year. I had travelled on the Friday to have eight nights in Paignton instead of my usual seven so on the Saturday I nipped up to Shaldon and then hot-footed it back to Paignton to get to the zoo before three o'clock (I was lucky as the train from Teignmouth was late otherwise I'd have missed it despite running most of the way from Shaldon). One picnic later and I was at the 3.30 bird show. During the show Chucky flew on to the scenery and would not come down, so at the end of the show the presenter (a friend of several years standing and the recipient of my first ever email as it happens) asked me to stand halfway up the theatre as Chucky was more likely to fly to a man (even a very strange one). This worked a treat and Chucky seemed reluctant to leave me. The following day I was at the zoo all day and Chucky decided she had to be with me. I then had my four "away days" before my second full day at the zoo on the Friday (another holiday drawing to a close) when Chucky had certainly not forgotten me. Eventually she had to be left with me during the shows with an explanation to the rest of the audience that I was an old friend. Funnily enough Chucky had never given me a second glance in any of the previous years. The only thing that really stands out for me was when she bit my presenter friend during the final show one Friday, possibly in 2008, (I don't think the rest of the audience noticed the blood) and we walked down to the First Aid Post afterwards (it was closed). Of course Hyak2 knows Chucky much better than I do - she was billeted at Pleasurewood Hills last winter.

 

[Nanook]

I've had a quick look through my incomplete collection of Annual Reports. At the beginning of 2004 there were 10 Barbary Sheep. One died leaving 2.7 at the end of the year. In 2007 and 2008 there were 0.6. There was a death in 2009 and another death in 2010. And I've just discovered that there was another death in 2013, leaving 0.3. I'll do another count next time I go.

Thank you , that is a shame they have been dying out. There are not that many left in the UK these days.
The only ones I can think of are Dudley, Paignton, Africa Alive!.... any one know of any elsewhere??? ( I remember that small enclosure with the rocky outcrop in the centre for them a few years ago at Paignton.)

 

[Maguari]

Thank you , that is a shame they have been dying out. There are not that many left in the UK these days.
The only ones I can think of are Dudley, Paignton, Africa Alive!.... any one know of any elsewhere??? ( I remember that small enclosure with the rocky outcrop in the centre for them a few years ago at Paignton.)

West Midland Safari Park have them.