Yorkshire Wildlife Park Yorkshire Wildlife Park News 2022

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It's must be a worrying time for the staff as the whole process of consultation is very stressful.

They can't get back to what they do without money to fund what they do and the commercial projects are obviously factored in as a main contributor to the budget. They can't run the park for nothing and while I think the music festival thing is a bit left field (the logistics of moving 10k people around must be enormous let alone the facilities and then the systems which also let them down this time and then the disruption to the animals and keepers and all the routines etc) all the other ventures are strategic sources of funding.

Quite surprising in a way to see visitor numbers down by 22%.
 
YWP need to go back to doing what they're supposed to do and what they're good at and that's looking after the animals, helping/contributing with conservation and where possible taking in rescued animals.

Obviously hosting music festivals helps with finances, especially in the current climate it is much needed but sometimes sticking to the basics is more important.

100% agreed!

I feel that YWP has been biting off way more than it can chew for some time now. Obviously things like concerts can be a good source of extra revenue, but with it comes risk as well - if you don't sell tickets then your big event can end up making a big loss. There have been issues before with these evenings and they don't seem to have learned from their mistakes unfortunately, the result being that the core business suffers. I'd seen on social media last month that the Steps concert was a disaster and the park's reaction seemed to be to remove all past references to it on social media - not a good look. Tickets for some of their other shows had also been heavily discounted, and not for the first time; maybe its time to pull the plug on this venture? Even if they do end up making a profit overall, I'd question if its worth potential bad PR for it. The cost of living crisis may well put people off attending such events anyway.

I think they've lost their way a bit and gone way too commercial, hopefully as others have said this is a blip and they can get back on track again quickly. The park has grown massively in size and popularity in a very short time but I think it may have given the bosses a bit too much confidence, in some ways this might be better for the long term if it forces them to acknowledge what they can and can't do well, and focus accordingly. Its a crying shame people are going to lose their jobs over it, though, and I feel for anyone in this position.
 
I've been thinking about this a lot today since I read this, and I think people need to realise, that whilst people losing their jobs is not good, it hasn't stated that the job cuts are animal staff. Yorkshire takes on a lot of interns in the keeping team as well, so I can't see it being a huge affect. I would imagine it would be more ground staff, events staff, seasonal catering and shop staff and possibly hotel staff, if the hotel isn't that popular.

Also, a few people on here have said about the concerts and that it scares the animals and such a bad idea and all the incidents that have happened at other zoos with things ending up in animal exhibits.

I am not sure how many of your have been to one of Yorkshires concerts, but I went earlier this year to see Russell Watson, and the concert actually isn't in the zoo at all. It's outside, near where the old Car Park used to be, and the old entrance. You don't have any access to the Zoo, so you wont see animals and it is far enough away from the animal exhibits where it is to have any real affect on them. Perhaps the Lions could be the only species to be able to see the flashing lights and hear the music and that, but it is actually quite far off the animal exhibits, so to be honest, it's not too different to how Longleat do things, it's not like it's on the bug theatre lawn or in a place near all the exhibits.

Also someone also said about 10K people there for the concerts I don't think the capacity is anything like that to be honest. I think there was probably 2000/3000 max at Russell Watson, and I would imagine it is capped around these numbers.

They are probably a good revenue for the zoo. Tickets aren't extreme and the acts performing wouldn't be big money, possibly 10-15K a night, someone like Steps may command more, but it's not like they are getting The Killers or Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift to for about 100K a night. The acts performing would not be massive prices, and therefore if say 2000/3000 pay £25/30 to come and see them, it would be a huge revenue stream for the zoo.

People are also saying they need to get back to what they do best. But conservation projects, new exhibits, big draw animals cost a fortune, and this can only be paid for if revenue is coming in. They have also spent a fortune in building the shopping complex, new entrance (which is poorly managed in my opinion), Hotel and Conference centre.

There is also running costs to these, so these have to be a success to support the animal projects. Lets not forget as well, the owners of the Zoo have also recently purchased the land which South Lakes Safari Zoo is on, so there has been huge financial outlay.

I would say, they were looking to go down the Port Lympne model, trying to attract high end clients and so on, but whilst one is in an affluent area, South Yorkshire is not, and its close to Doncaster, Barnsley and Pontefract which are notably poor areas, and I think this is a huge reason why Chester have never gone down this road and concentrated of having a posh restaurant as a way to attracting big paying visitors.

I suspect this has been a big risk for Yorkshire and with the financial climate as it is, they now have to address certain things costing them money. They already said earlier this year, they would not be building or adding further animal exhibits until all the commercial things were up and running and bringing in money, so it's probably a case of Yorkshire has expanded as far as it's going to.

It would also explain why certain plans they had in place earlier in the year were withdrawn, as the financials would have been clearer to bosses, that these things were unlikely to happen.

Visiting numbers are down 22%, but I think also membership has been a bit of a kick in the teeth to loyal members. They added all this new stuff and suddenly introduced tiered membership. The £75 membership used to be £65, but included all events and everything, instead they changed it, and gave you unlimited access and 10% discounts in shop and food, but took away all events from it. Then they brought out the gold membership at £130. Which is massively expensive for a annual pass to any zoo (Chester is only £86 and includes pretty much all events). They claim the biggest perk is no pre booking (yes even on normal membership, you have to pre book). Advanced visit events included, one bronze pass to a Safari night and discounts. The reality was when the park expanded, they told members they would reward loyalty by allowing them to stay members for £75, but actually this was a £10 increase and they removed a lot of the main perks and made you pre book, and then created the £130 membership. This upset a lot of people who had supported the zoo from the off, and many cancelled memberships. I doubt take up on the Gold all singing and dancing membership is high either.

Also they charge £25 for children, and £26 for OAPs with Adults £27. This is a lot and a family of 4 people would be over £100. For a relatively poor area, this would be very off putting and probably too expensive. Add to that you have to park a good 10 minute walk from the entrance and then queue up to get a barcode to enter, even if you've pre-booked, I would say these factors alone have hit visitor numbers.

I'm not sure what the zoo can do to get back on track, but maybe they need to start aiming at the market of the local area and not a market that just isn't realistic.

You would be better off getting 1000 visitors a day charging £10 for kids and £20 for adults, then 300/400 paying £27 and £25.

Also the catering is very expensive and there isn't really enough places to sit down and eat, they seemed to expand massively to get more people, but left the catering spaces the same size as when they were a lot smaller, which puts people off eating out.

It will certainly be interesting what they do, but I feel the simple things could help them in the short term.

But as someone who has been to one of their concerts, I don't think its as big a problem as some people think, and the animals are far enough away not to be bothered too much.

It's not like a London Twilight night with lots of pop up bands, musicians playing within 20/30ft from some enclosures.
 
I've been thinking about this a lot today since I read this, and I think people need to realise, that whilst people losing their jobs is not good, it hasn't stated that the job cuts are animal staff. Yorkshire takes on a lot of interns in the keeping team as well, so I can't see it being a huge affect. I would imagine it would be more ground staff, events staff, seasonal catering and shop staff and possibly hotel staff, if the hotel isn't that popular.

Also, a few people on here have said about the concerts and that it scares the animals and such a bad idea and all the incidents that have happened at other zoos with things ending up in animal exhibits.

I am not sure how many of your have been to one of Yorkshires concerts, but I went earlier this year to see Russell Watson, and the concert actually isn't in the zoo at all. It's outside, near where the old Car Park used to be, and the old entrance. You don't have any access to the Zoo, so you wont see animals and it is far enough away from the animal exhibits where it is to have any real affect on them. Perhaps the Lions could be the only species to be able to see the flashing lights and hear the music and that, but it is actually quite far off the animal exhibits, so to be honest, it's not too different to how Longleat do things, it's not like it's on the bug theatre lawn or in a place near all the exhibits.

Also someone also said about 10K people there for the concerts I don't think the capacity is anything like that to be honest. I think there was probably 2000/3000 max at Russell Watson, and I would imagine it is capped around these numbers.

They are probably a good revenue for the zoo. Tickets aren't extreme and the acts performing wouldn't be big money, possibly 10-15K a night, someone like Steps may command more, but it's not like they are getting The Killers or Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift to for about 100K a night. The acts performing would not be massive prices, and therefore if say 2000/3000 pay £25/30 to come and see them, it would be a huge revenue stream for the zoo.

People are also saying they need to get back to what they do best. But conservation projects, new exhibits, big draw animals cost a fortune, and this can only be paid for if revenue is coming in. They have also spent a fortune in building the shopping complex, new entrance (which is poorly managed in my opinion), Hotel and Conference centre.

There is also running costs to these, so these have to be a success to support the animal projects. Lets not forget as well, the owners of the Zoo have also recently purchased the land which South Lakes Safari Zoo is on, so there has been huge financial outlay.

I would say, they were looking to go down the Port Lympne model, trying to attract high end clients and so on, but whilst one is in an affluent area, South Yorkshire is not, and its close to Doncaster, Barnsley and Pontefract which are notably poor areas, and I think this is a huge reason why Chester have never gone down this road and concentrated of having a posh restaurant as a way to attracting big paying visitors.

I suspect this has been a big risk for Yorkshire and with the financial climate as it is, they now have to address certain things costing them money. They already said earlier this year, they would not be building or adding further animal exhibits until all the commercial things were up and running and bringing in money, so it's probably a case of Yorkshire has expanded as far as it's going to.

It would also explain why certain plans they had in place earlier in the year were withdrawn, as the financials would have been clearer to bosses, that these things were unlikely to happen.

Visiting numbers are down 22%, but I think also membership has been a bit of a kick in the teeth to loyal members. They added all this new stuff and suddenly introduced tiered membership. The £75 membership used to be £65, but included all events and everything, instead they changed it, and gave you unlimited access and 10% discounts in shop and food, but took away all events from it. Then they brought out the gold membership at £130. Which is massively expensive for a annual pass to any zoo (Chester is only £86 and includes pretty much all events). They claim the biggest perk is no pre booking (yes even on normal membership, you have to pre book). Advanced visit events included, one bronze pass to a Safari night and discounts. The reality was when the park expanded, they told members they would reward loyalty by allowing them to stay members for £75, but actually this was a £10 increase and they removed a lot of the main perks and made you pre book, and then created the £130 membership. This upset a lot of people who had supported the zoo from the off, and many cancelled memberships. I doubt take up on the Gold all singing and dancing membership is high either.

Also they charge £25 for children, and £26 for OAPs with Adults £27. This is a lot and a family of 4 people would be over £100. For a relatively poor area, this would be very off putting and probably too expensive. Add to that you have to park a good 10 minute walk from the entrance and then queue up to get a barcode to enter, even if you've pre-booked, I would say these factors alone have hit visitor numbers.

I'm not sure what the zoo can do to get back on track, but maybe they need to start aiming at the market of the local area and not a market that just isn't realistic.

You would be better off getting 1000 visitors a day charging £10 for kids and £20 for adults, then 300/400 paying £27 and £25.

Also the catering is very expensive and there isn't really enough places to sit down and eat, they seemed to expand massively to get more people, but left the catering spaces the same size as when they were a lot smaller, which puts people off eating out.

It will certainly be interesting what they do, but I feel the simple things could help them in the short term.

But as someone who has been to one of their concerts, I don't think its as big a problem as some people think, and the animals are far enough away not to be bothered too much.

It's not like a London Twilight night with lots of pop up bands, musicians playing within 20/30ft from some enclosures.

Thanks for this post, some of the comments - particularly in regard of the concerts - are very interesting. I suspect you underestimate the costs of booking big acts though; you mention some huge bands and artists that could cost 100k a night, but that's a very low figure. Glastonbury famously pay acts a lot less than most big festivals and several years ago most of their headline acts were paid about 250k - and that was considered too little for some, hence why Fleetwood Mac have never played, and why the Rolling Stones took so much persuading to do it. Reading and Leeds headliners can get a few million quid for playing both!

It sounds like YWP have created a lot of problems by moving the entrance, a 10 minute walk from the car just to get in is a lot to start off with, and then there is a lot more walking to get to most of the animals. I know they charge a fair bit to hire a mobility scooter as well, whereas Chester only expect a fee that is refunded when you return it. Goodness knows why they thought the new entrance, hotel, shops etc. were a good investment as the ones they had before were great! Combined with the rising costs, especially for members, and it sounds like they haven't given their customers what they want at all and have put off loyal supporters. Such a shame as IMO they had got so much right before!
 
Thanks for this post, some of the comments - particularly in regard of the concerts - are very interesting. I suspect you underestimate the costs of booking big acts though; you mention some huge bands and artists that could cost 100k a night, but that's a very low figure. Glastonbury famously pay acts a lot less than most big festivals and several years ago most of their headline acts were paid about 250k - and that was considered too little for some, hence why Fleetwood Mac have never played, and why the Rolling Stones took so much persuading to do it. Reading and Leeds headliners can get a few million quid for playing both!

Wow that's mental. I was only going by the some acts I knew had played the MEN Arena in Manchester. Granted was 7 years ago, but an ex of mine worked there and she always said that the Men never paid more than 100K a night for an act, and max capacity was 21K, and if they only opened up the floor and tier one, it was about 12K capacity, and if they done that, it was normally like 10-15K a night acts. I suppose prices have changed and demand for certain gigs may be higher.

But some of the acts performing, perform in 2000 seater theatres, racecourses, and even places like Butlins. I would be amazed if they were getting anymore than say 20K a night. Steps obviously would command more being they are still a relevant big band and all that, and they also do arena tours, but I know a lot of the comedians on the circuit bar the big name ones often only get 5K or so a night for some of the theatres they do, so thought small to middling bands would be maybe a bit more but not excessive.

I remember yonks ago seeing Madness with my mates at Blenheim Palace and we were chatting in the tent bar there to one of their backstage people and he said that Madness got £5000 and 5% of the gate fee. Obviously a lots changed since those days, but I'm staggered to think acts are getting millions for one night, especially at places like Reading or Leeds.

Bands that normally do festivals often do arena tours and they don't pay anything like that. I remember reading Adele was getting £1,000,000 for 3 nights at Wembley on her so called Farewell tour and she cancelled the final night, but I always thought that was because it was her final tour, and final nights of the gig she commanded so much. How do these places even make money if thats the sort of money being asked nowadays.
 
I'm not sure anyone said anything about scaring the animals?
I was at YWP on maybe the first or second year they had a concert and would be surprised if the animals were bothered. I know that Tywcross's live events were right in the middle of the zoo and apart from the Bonobos getting an initial shock, they weren't bothered then.
 
I've been thinking about this a lot today since I read this, and I think people need to realise, that whilst people losing their jobs is not good, it hasn't stated that the job cuts are animal staff. Yorkshire takes on a lot of interns in the keeping team as well, so I can't see it being a huge affect. I would imagine it would be more ground staff, events staff, seasonal catering and shop staff and possibly hotel staff, if the hotel isn't that popular.

Also, a few people on here have said about the concerts and that it scares the animals and such a bad idea and all the incidents that have happened at other zoos with things ending up in animal exhibits.

I am not sure how many of your have been to one of Yorkshires concerts, but I went earlier this year to see Russell Watson, and the concert actually isn't in the zoo at all. It's outside, near where the old Car Park used to be, and the old entrance. You don't have any access to the Zoo, so you wont see animals and it is far enough away from the animal exhibits where it is to have any real affect on them. Perhaps the Lions could be the only species to be able to see the flashing lights and hear the music and that, but it is actually quite far off the animal exhibits, so to be honest, it's not too different to how Longleat do things, it's not like it's on the bug theatre lawn or in a place near all the exhibits.

Also someone also said about 10K people there for the concerts I don't think the capacity is anything like that to be honest. I think there was probably 2000/3000 max at Russell Watson, and I would imagine it is capped around these numbers.

They are probably a good revenue for the zoo. Tickets aren't extreme and the acts performing wouldn't be big money, possibly 10-15K a night, someone like Steps may command more, but it's not like they are getting The Killers or Ed Sheeran or Taylor Swift to for about 100K a night. The acts performing would not be massive prices, and therefore if say 2000/3000 pay £25/30 to come and see them, it would be a huge revenue stream for the zoo.

People are also saying they need to get back to what they do best. But conservation projects, new exhibits, big draw animals cost a fortune, and this can only be paid for if revenue is coming in. They have also spent a fortune in building the shopping complex, new entrance (which is poorly managed in my opinion), Hotel and Conference centre.

There is also running costs to these, so these have to be a success to support the animal projects. Lets not forget as well, the owners of the Zoo have also recently purchased the land which South Lakes Safari Zoo is on, so there has been huge financial outlay.

I would say, they were looking to go down the Port Lympne model, trying to attract high end clients and so on, but whilst one is in an affluent area, South Yorkshire is not, and its close to Doncaster, Barnsley and Pontefract which are notably poor areas, and I think this is a huge reason why Chester have never gone down this road and concentrated of having a posh restaurant as a way to attracting big paying visitors.

I suspect this has been a big risk for Yorkshire and with the financial climate as it is, they now have to address certain things costing them money. They already said earlier this year, they would not be building or adding further animal exhibits until all the commercial things were up and running and bringing in money, so it's probably a case of Yorkshire has expanded as far as it's going to.

It would also explain why certain plans they had in place earlier in the year were withdrawn, as the financials would have been clearer to bosses, that these things were unlikely to happen.

Visiting numbers are down 22%, but I think also membership has been a bit of a kick in the teeth to loyal members. They added all this new stuff and suddenly introduced tiered membership. The £75 membership used to be £65, but included all events and everything, instead they changed it, and gave you unlimited access and 10% discounts in shop and food, but took away all events from it. Then they brought out the gold membership at £130. Which is massively expensive for a annual pass to any zoo (Chester is only £86 and includes pretty much all events). They claim the biggest perk is no pre booking (yes even on normal membership, you have to pre book). Advanced visit events included, one bronze pass to a Safari night and discounts. The reality was when the park expanded, they told members they would reward loyalty by allowing them to stay members for £75, but actually this was a £10 increase and they removed a lot of the main perks and made you pre book, and then created the £130 membership. This upset a lot of people who had supported the zoo from the off, and many cancelled memberships. I doubt take up on the Gold all singing and dancing membership is high either.

Also they charge £25 for children, and £26 for OAPs with Adults £27. This is a lot and a family of 4 people would be over £100. For a relatively poor area, this would be very off putting and probably too expensive. Add to that you have to park a good 10 minute walk from the entrance and then queue up to get a barcode to enter, even if you've pre-booked, I would say these factors alone have hit visitor numbers.

I'm not sure what the zoo can do to get back on track, but maybe they need to start aiming at the market of the local area and not a market that just isn't realistic.

You would be better off getting 1000 visitors a day charging £10 for kids and £20 for adults, then 300/400 paying £27 and £25.

Also the catering is very expensive and there isn't really enough places to sit down and eat, they seemed to expand massively to get more people, but left the catering spaces the same size as when they were a lot smaller, which puts people off eating out.

It will certainly be interesting what they do, but I feel the simple things could help them in the short term.

But as someone who has been to one of their concerts, I don't think its as big a problem as some people think, and the animals are far enough away not to be bothered too much.

It's not like a London Twilight night with lots of pop up bands, musicians playing within 20/30ft from some enclosures.

All the press coverage eg

Steps hit back at Yorkshire Wildlife Park over 'disastrous' concert

states there were 'around' 10k people in attendance one way or another. There's more than one source. They could have made it up of course but I think I'd go with what was reported unless someone from the zoo or some other reliable source stated otherwise as a matter of fact. That's a considerable number though.

I think most of the staff under redundancy risk wouldn't be directly working with the animals as there are lots more roles in the park than the keeper ones, but it's still a horrible situation for them as anyone who has been made redundant would probably be able to speak about. In my experience it sucks and I feel sorry for anyone who has to go through it.

I imagine they will be reviewing all their income streams and how to optimise them. It's a really big attraction with some huge investments and all the retail park, hotel, shopping complex stuff is an interesting model but not many other zoos in the UK are doing anything similar (more opting for lodges or being nearer the animals in accommodation terms) so it's a bit unproven here outside zoos that also have theme parks.

Their gold / other membership is similar in structure (and indeed price) to ZSL so they may have looked at that model. However ZSL includes London which is more used to higher prices. In terms of the diminishing free events they and other zoos wouldn't be able to let members in for all events for free or the hard fact is they wouldn't make the money they'll have calculated to make. A lot of zoos are now monetising separate events from memberships as revenue drivers.

They are clearly in a cost cutting mode though, which can't be the forever state but may get them back on track. They'll have capital / other loans to service I would think as well as pure park costs (that's speculation but little investment at the scale they have done it these days is done with straightforward cash).

The entrance distance is interesting as you can see how for the main zoo audience - families with kids etc (vs me as a fit adult with a camera who isn't that bothered) it's a lot of walking to get to the park and then on to the first exhibits. That's reflected in the comments on their reviews. The question of how to park and get people in when the place is at capacity though (was there on a recent holiday and it was rammed) means it's also hard to just change that. Perhaps when funding permits they may consider the popular land train idea that other zoos have or something similar (without running over the crowds on the busy days).
 
@Lafone Maybe Russell Watson wasn't very popular then, cause there was nowhere near 10K there that night. Can't speak for Steps. But wouldn't surprise me that, this was very popular. Tickets were like 40 quid, yet they were charging £65 - £90 a ticket at Liverpool, so I could understand why the attraction of Yorkshire would be there.

You mentioned ZSL and it's gold membership, but that's £105, £25 less than Yorkshire. Includes 2 zoo's, 10% off experiences and shop and food and includes discounts and priority on non member included events, and free parking at London Zoo. For me this is a much better value for money option, compared to £130 for one park, some events but not all, no discount on experiences and only one zoo.
 
@Lafone Maybe Russell Watson wasn't very popular then, cause there was nowhere near 10K there that night. Can't speak for Steps. But wouldn't surprise me that, this was very popular. Tickets were like 40 quid, yet they were charging £65 - £90 a ticket at Liverpool, so I could understand why the attraction of Yorkshire would be there.

You mentioned ZSL and it's gold membership, but that's £105, £25 less than Yorkshire. Includes 2 zoo's, 10% off experiences and shop and food and includes discounts and priority on non member included events, and free parking at London Zoo. For me this is a much better value for money option, compared to £130 for one park, some events but not all, no discount on experiences and only one zoo.

Yes ZSL's is a bit cheaper (if you pay by DD, it's 131 if you pay by card though guess lots of people do the DD thing these days) and you get discounted in zoo parking at Whipsnade too if you're into that. Agreed on the value (though it's more expensive than lots of other places the London bit bumps it) but meant more it was the differentiated model between membership levels is the thing YWP seem to have gone after. I honestly didn't realise Steps were still even going but like most things if you're not into a band you don't know that stuff!
 
Yes ZSL's is a bit cheaper (if you pay by DD, it's 131 if you pay by card though guess lots of people do the DD thing these days) and you get discounted in zoo parking at Whipsnade too if you're into that. Agreed on the value (though it's more expensive than lots of other places the London bit bumps it) but meant more it was the differentiated model between membership levels is the thing YWP seem to have gone after. I honestly didn't realise Steps were still even going but like most things if you're not into a band you don't know that stuff!
Does anyone know how to get in contact with ywp to ask questions about there animals e.g. names and birthdates
 
Go to their website and find the email address. Can I ask what you do with all these names and birthdates?
You can. I use the names to tell the animals apart for example sisu has the injury on his back so I know it’s sisu when I go visit
 
Does anyone know how to get in contact with ywp to ask questions about there animals e.g. names and birthdates

They use a contact form vs email Contact Yorkshire Wildlife Park

but you might have more luck on social media as they seem to engage on that about queries and they have an influencer programme so they might chat about animal info there whereas on the contact form it’s probably a lot of people asking about lost tickets;

From their page -

Follow us on Social Media...

 
Any new updates around the park, i know that they said new animal exhibits were on hold but is there any rumours about what could be going where the gorrilas were planned as i don’t think there planned anymore
 
Well, I thought Mammoth Mountain and Phoenix Forest were a bit soon to announce yet.
 
there's also a "fans of yorkshire wildlife park" on facebook

Yes, these are populated by people who go every week (or day) and are happy to share information and knowledge, I can’t see YWP’s social media teams being that enthusiastic about queries about details such as distinguishing wounds (I thought it looked a lot better last week BTW so you (Jayden) might be looking for a new feature in a few months). The ‘fans’ can also give you tips about IDs that probably don’t feature in any information the social media teams have, the markings over each tiger’s eyes for example.
 
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The two oryx have moved to marwell recently

also does anyone know what’s the plans for painted dogs as I have just seen a picture of 4 toghether is there a new group ? Or have they been mixed toghether
there's also a "fans of yorkshire wildlife park" on facebook
 
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