Anna Ryder-Richardson - TV Program Sun 30th Nov

02-12-2008

Yes the gibbon cage is where the chimps used to live , the rusted chair shown was for them ! I do not remember it as an open enclosure but that is possible . The final shot of the gibbon cage , newly painted , with plenty more ropes and a raised viewing area is as I saw it in September , and is a great improvement . They twice had breeding pairs of siamang but lost at least one adult of each pair. I do not know if Steve is the offspring of the first pair and therefore the male of the second pair , or whether he is the offspring of the second pair .

The lack of basic management causing the loss of the young camel was a shame . I hope their staff and veterinary back-up are now on top of the routine health checks .

They have had scimitar-horned oryx there for years living on grass with only a small shed and no hardstand . They are closed in the winter so I do not know if the oryx are just left out all year , I assume so as there does not appear anywhere else for them to go .

The large paddock where the bison and emu now live , in the first year also housed zebra , ostrich , oryx and sitatunga . There is a large barn which opens out to the paddock with no separate yards or stalls . By the second year the ostrich and oryx had been removed and the sitatunga gone as had a group of four young male bongo from Marwell which had been where the oryx now are .

A number of species appear to have been transferred to Folly Farm - I saw marsh mongoose , sacred ibis and night heron there , all species previously at Manor House . There was also a sign at Folly Farm saying brown capuchins were arriving but I did not see them on show , last night's programme said they were going to a local collection .

02-12-2008

"The main thing the couple brought to the project was obviously enthusiasm, but when Anna was talking about the scimitar horned oryx and said "wherever they come from", that sent a little shudder down my spine."

I agree with that, really doesn't make them look good.

02-12-2008

What interests me most is despite the good will and sums of money injected into them, whether places like this and Dartmoor are actually viable in the long term.

The fact they were 'run down' before doesn't necessarily have that much relationship with attendance. If conditions are improved, new 'exciting' species brought in etc is it going to have any major impact on whether the venture will succeed longterm or not? Why have they not prospered before? Why could Mole Hall, Norfolk Wildlife Park and various other smaller collections in the past not keep going?

How will they attract visitors outside of the Holiday season? T.V. publicity from these shows is obviously very valuable but it won't bring people from too far afield, particularly out of the holiday season-which is very short. I don't know the answers. Just wondering...

02-12-2008

I'm shocked that the response to that show on here is as positive as it is. I don't know anything about animal management, but I was absolutely appalled by it! I know Ben at Dartmoor isn't the most knowledgable person, but he has a real passion which is something money can't buy, and he was quick to hire people who knew exactly what they were doing! This programme seemed to be about a silly woman who didn't know what to do with her life, so she bought a zoo for a bit of a laugh and her husband went along with it.

A few of the main things that I didn't like:

*The reference to a 'tamarind monkey' - oh dear!!!
*Anna's reaction to the reptiles was pathetic, you don't buy a zoo if you're scared of some of the animals!
*I assume the black & white/red ruffed lemurs were mixed? If so, can we look forward to some baby hybrid lemurs?
*All of the arguing, swearing etc. didn't exactly make them look good. I think marriage counselling would have been a better move than buying a zoo!
*Anna admitting she bought the place because of a mid-life crisis and 'it would be somewhere nice to bring up the children' - a very poor justification IMO.

I could go on but... Ben's Zoo, great series and a top guy. Anna, no thanks!!!

02-12-2008

The line was "They are extinct somewhere in the world."

I've just watched the programme, they have clearly taken this Zoo on as a buisness venture. If they wanted to make money they should have gone elsewhere.

The Husband seems more entusiastic about the project, but i doubt a TV prog would have been made about him buying a zoo. I have to say that i was impressed with the Lemur enclosure, but like another poster was concerned about inter breeding. (Will this still occur if the Lemurs have their own kind to breed with? Does it happen in the Wild? Do they even meet in the wild?) All in all if they can carry on what they have started with the Lemur enclosure, it could become a very good Zoo. But i honestly think they are in the wrong place, for this venture (which i think it is,) to be a success.

02-12-2008

Whilst the subject of interbred lemurs has been brought up. Does anyone know what happened to the Interbred Lemurs Monkeyworld had back in 1995?

02-12-2008

Found this article which might be of interest. Anna Ryder Richardson swaps home redecorating for zookeeping after transforming wildlife park - The Daily Record
It mentions that the collection are getting two rhinos for spring 2009.

02-12-2008

This article also mentions that a mate has been found for Steve the gibbon in Ireland. Changing zoos: Why moving to Wales has been a steep learning curve for TV presenter Anna Ryder Richardson... | Mail Online

02-12-2008

in the program it was mentioned at the end about getting rhino's, and she wants a island enclosure for steve

02-12-2008

I'm sure they will discover that rundown zoos are a bottomless pit where using money is concerned.

I know where this place is, its a pretty remote location to expect high attendance outside of the high summer season. Dartmoor is slightly better placed as it has a large city- Plymouth, closeby.

02-12-2008

I agree, I thought it was terrible, like a bad version of Bens zoo, and I definately had my critisism about Dartmoor but she didnt have a clue, they admitted they had never kept animals, she worried too much about what the place looked like when the number one priority should of been checking the animals were healthy the things they couldnt do anything about sadly were the lack of records by the previous keepers which would of helped with no end of problems. As for the zoo, I think the animals that are there are not particularly crowd pullers they need more exciting animals to get joe public in.

03-12-2008

Of course situations are beefed up and made more 'zany' for television purposes but the basic problems are there no doubt. I'm amazed totally inexperienced people are still able to buy into zoos.

Will getting in some more impressive species change anything? It is the location which is poor(nice but remote) and they can't change that. Look at Port Lympne- it has a world class collection of the most impressive species you could wish to see yet it struggles because of where it is.

03-12-2008

In the wild red ruffed lemurs are resricted to the Masoala Peninsula and areas West up to the Antainabalama river which may be their Western limit. The three subspecies of black-and-white ruffeds occur variously down the Eastern side of the island. It is likely that the two species overlap and hybridise where the Antainbalama meets another river (I forget which one exactly) though studies have so far proved inconclusive.

03-12-2008

I hope they are not planning to put the rhinos in with the bison without developing some decent housing and yards which will cost a bit .

I totally agree that it Manor House will only attract any number of visitors in the short summer season , it has always closed from the end of September until Easter . The timing of the TV programme will not help them very much unless people have a long memory .

With all the recent negative publicity about swearing on TV I thought it was a shame that it was deliberately included here , I am sure it could easily have been edited out .

Will be interesting to see where the gibbon island is sited . The current island in a pond housed a squirrel monkey and common marmosets in September . I would think surrounding some trees by a hot-wired fence would be easier .

03-12-2008

[quote=Sand Cat;114648] he was quick to hire people who knew exactly what they were doing!

Thats a matter of opinion