Amazon world » Amazon World Zoo Park

05-08-2008

That's good that they now have a bird person as head keeper. Most places have awesome staff, but there's only so much you can do before the answer is better facilities. It's good to hear they are finally taking their toucan collection seriously. Criticism and pressure are good things, even lines of enquiry with keepers feed back to management, especially if they are on issues the staff themselves would like to see improved.

05-08-2008

The news about the additional outdoor area is welcome. In my opinion this is the worst part of this collection- very basic and leaves itself wide open to criticism about poor enclosures etc. There are some Macaws & cockatoos housed in really primitive cell-like aviaries, + several small open air enclosures- altogether its not a pretty sight.
The range of 4(?) Toucan aviaries near the exit to the indoor area are presumably the ones that have recently been built(or modernised?) They are spacious, but still very bare- I'd like to see woodchip flooring and some more plantings in/around them but maybe its early days yet....

I'd also add that while I'm probably quick to criticise, I'm equally keen to give praise where I think its deserved.

10-08-2008

An additional point would be that most, if not all the successful toucan and aracari breeding in the UK in the last 10-15 years has taken place in aviaries with outdoor access, with little or no visual contact with other toucans. ZSL do hold birds indoors, but their breeding pairs always have outdoor access. ISIS indicates that another 4 tocos have hatched at ZSL this year, these are not from the indoor pair. Some dedicated private breeders in the US manage to breed successfully using indoor cages, though (eg. www.emeraldforestbirds.com) Whether this is to do with birds in public collections needing the privacy of a shelter, or just the effect of fresh air, I don't know, but certainly they have a long way to go if they are still intent on holding all of their birds indoors, let alone being able to negotiate planting up the aviaries.

13-08-2008

if i had the money i would buy it up and restore it to its former glory! it wa a good zoo before they added the desert area and night zone, agree with the above that the outdoor area is pretty nice, even has anteaters!

13-08-2008

It wasn't quite as 'busy' when it first opened.....but the toucan/motmot aviaries etc were still basically bare spaces with no height, planting or nesting facilities, and some of the current outdoor animals were still inside (eg lemurs).

The outdoor area will hopefully now improve, however of all the species currently held outdoors, I think the giant anteaters are most likely to suffer from a small/inadequate space, knowing as we do how they are given to repetitive pacing in far larger and more stimulating enclosures.

14-08-2008

This is definately the area in need of most improvement and a new 4 acres should allow them to do that(perhaps closing the existing area down?) including decent sized enclosures for the Anteaters/Peccaries etc.

14-08-2008

is there enough land around the area to that though or would that mean relocating the collection?

and whatever happened to the hawk walk which used to be outside?

14-08-2008

Well, they have apparently acquired another four acres, I would say they could create some fantastic enclosures for their existing animals using that space. I fear that, true to form, they will concentrate on further acquisitions to enlargen the collection, but I hopefully will be proved wrong.

14-08-2008

ok sounds interesting, i suppose they will move some of the animals that are currently indoors will move outdoors (maybe a new desert building as it has nothing to do with amazon!)

i am probably the nearest person to amazon world here so i suppose i should visit next year and find out some more info!

and does anyone know what happened to the hawk walk they used to have in the outdoor area?

07-12-2008

The Hawk walk is still there it is just off show to the public.

08-12-2008

according to ISIS they have bred a giant anteater, can anyone confirm?

08-12-2008

they dont even have a pair! must be a isis mistake

08-12-2008

Yes the pair of giant anteaters produced a male on the 26th august.

08-12-2008

wow that was quick, when did the other anteater arrive, it was only last year i visited and they had just the one.