Which zoos to visit?

i wish they are a fantastic bird, storks are one of my favourite group of birds with the shoebill my favourite, i see from the masterplan for marwell zoo that they have included shoebill stork, it would be great to see them in britain, i think the collection that would do best with them would be slimbridge as they need a lot of privacy they have only bred once in captivity that was many years ago in africa, but this is unconfirmed, stuttgart had an egg bound female that sadly died a few years ago but the egg was infertile. sorry will get back to the point of this thread excuse the diversion
 
I thought San Deigo zoo had bred this species a few years ago
 
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kiang said:
i see blackbrook have imported kelp geese, purple sandpiper, whitenecked raven and squacco heron from a private breeder in germany and are hoping for torrent duck along with the open billed stork
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yup yup yup
although i dont think the ravens cam from germany but may be wrong
 
Try both Port Lympne and Howletts zoos, the Gorillas there alone are worth a visit also Marwell, london and Whipsnade
 
kiang said:
i wish they are a fantastic bird, storks are one of my favourite group of birds with the shoebill my favourite, i see from the masterplan for marwell zoo that they have included shoebill stork, it would be great to see them in britain, i think the collection that would do best with them would be slimbridge as they need a lot of privacy they have only bred once in captivity that was many years ago in africa, but this is unconfirmed, stuttgart had an egg bound female that sadly died a few years ago but the egg was infertile. sorry will get back to the point of this thread excuse the diversion
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Where do they get them from if they aren't breeding in captivity?
 
Ara you may find this useful

Banham Zoo and Suffolk Wildlife Park (now Africa Alive) have lists of their animals on the website. Twycross Zoo website has a list for 2004.

The following zoos have put their inventories on the net.

Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo
(or see my thread Chester Zoo stocklists 2006, which has the same information.)

Colchester Zoo
Colchester Zoo Annual Review

Edinburgh Zoo
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/FileAccess.aspx?id=205

Highland Wildlife Park
http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/FileAccess.aspx?id=206

London Zoo
http://static.zsl.org/files/animal-inventory-2005-6-213.pdf

Marwell Zoo
Marwell: Annual Review 2006 / 2007
 
I guess it depends mainly on what you want to see.

Many species = Colchester, London, Chester
Rarities = Jersey
Herd animals = Whipsnade, Marwell, Port Lympne
Primates = Twycross, Howletts, Port Lympne
Penguins = Edinburgh

When I went to Port Lympne this summer I had to spend a few minutes convincing the guy at the entrance that I was not entitled to a pensioner's discount (:o) - so I am becoming aware of the physical challenges involved in zoo visiting. In case this may concern you too, I would add:-
  • Whipsnade is enormous, but you can drive your own car around the zoo (for a fairly stiff price) - some animals are only visible from a vehicle
  • Chester is large, but has a monorail circuit
  • Edinburgh is on a very steep hill. There is a bus shuttle to the top.
  • Port Lympne has a large, steeply sloping site (I usually feel very old by the time I reach the roan antelopes, two-thirds of the way between the water buffaloes at the bottom and the elephants at the top), but there is a bus tour which also shows the herds which cannot be viewed on foot.

Alan
 
kiang said:
i wish they are a fantastic bird, storks are one of my favourite group of birds with the shoebill my favourite, i see from the masterplan for marwell zoo that they have included shoebill stork, it would be great to see them in britain, i think the collection that would do best with them would be slimbridge as they need a lot of privacy they have only bred once in captivity that was many years ago in africa, but this is unconfirmed, stuttgart had an egg bound female that sadly died a few years ago but the egg was infertile. sorry will get back to the point of this thread excuse the diversion
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kiang,

Where can we find the Marwell Masterplan with which species they intend to keep?
 
as far as i know it is not on the net, i got mine posted to me with a copy of last years annual report.
 
There are only a few zoos that should keep shoebill. Blackbrook is certainly one of them. If you count the WWT centres as zoos, then they should keep them and maybe a zoo with a good stork and crane breeding record, maybe Chester. They have bred from all their cranes except the Wattled.

Although the shoebill is sometimes grouped with the storks, some taxonimists now place it with the Pelicans, so maybe Longleat should keep some on the gorilla island when Nico passes away. They have had great sucess with pink backed pelicans, and soon they hope to breed the White pelicans too.
 
Yes, but they have never done that well with storks or pelicans. I suppose that they have bred crowned, white naped and blue cranes though.
 
Writhedhornbill said:
Although the shoebill is sometimes grouped with the storks, some taxonimists now place it with the Pelicans, so maybe Longleat should keep some on the gorilla island when Nico passes away. They have had great sucess with pink backed pelicans, and soon they hope to breed the White pelicans too.
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I wouldn't like to entrust a 'difficult' species like the Shoebill to somewhere like Longleat, despite any success they've had with Pelicans. The Gorilla Island is not at all suitable for such a species either. Also, they will put an animal species people will enjoy taking a boat trip to view on there.

I believe Blackbrook- from its reputation- or Slimbridge,or thirdly perhaps Chester, would be the best places for such birds
 
Longleat will probably end up hetting another elderly pair of gorillas or they may get a small bachelor group. If thy're very lucky they may get a breeding group, but their facilities atren't really suitable for more than a pair of gorillas are they.
 
Writhedhornbill said:
Yes, but they have never done that well with storks or pelicans. I suppose that they have bred crowned, white naped and blue cranes though.
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I don't think Jersey have ever kept pelicans. The only storks I can remember being at Jersey were Saddle-billed Storks. They seem to be more difficult to breed than the Ciconia species are.
 
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