Cotswold Wildlife Park » Cotswold Wildlife Park

Cotswold Wildlife Park
24-09-2007

I notice we don't have a thread on this place yet. I was there on Saturday - my first visit for nearly 20 years. What is remarkable is how little the park has changed in that time, especially given the frenetic pace of development at other UK zoos. Cotswold seem happy to keep the basic infrastructure they've got and do periodic refurbishments and upgrades as necessary, a strategy which helps retain the beauty of the site. The lawns are immaculate, the hedges neatly clipped, the flower beds a riot of colour - they obviously place as much emphasis on the garden displays as the animals. I can't imagine a more perfect place for a picnic on a sunny summer's day!

I'll post some info on the animal collection and the latest developments below.

24-09-2007

The first thing I noticed is that have only one white rhino left (a male). He still lives in the large paddock in front of the mansion house with the Chapman's zebras. I've always thought that the rest of Cotswold's hoofstock collection is a bit under-represented given the availability of flat grassland they have on the site. Six scimitar-horned oryx (including one young) were in their paddock (ISIS list 10). There are no other antelope or deer: the blackbucks have recently been moved to another UK collection, and their paddock will be given over to the ostriches. No info on what will go in the old ostrich paddock. I'm surprised Cotswold don't have giraffes.

The row of aviaries visible from the car park will be demolished shortly and the birds re-housed elsewhere on the site. Nearby, the new walk-through Madagascar exhibit is taking shape. It's a large netted enclosure (the walk-through area) with a couple of smaller steel-framed enclosures (although these were hard to get a clear view of). Planting and theming was well underway and is up to the usual high Cotswold standards: bamboos, palms, miniature trees, a waterfall and rocky area and a rock archway. There didn't appear to be many sturdy looking trees for the lemurs to climb. Five species of lemur will go inside: ring-tailed, black, black-and-white-ruffed, collared and mongoose. The blacks and ring-taileds are currently sharing an enclosure in the walled garden, and the black-and-white-ruffeds are in the quarantine area. The exhibit will also feature Madagascar teal, a species of tree duck and radiated tortoises. It looks similar to Edinburgh's walk-through Alaotran lemur exhibit but on a much bigger scale.

The walled garden was looking superb and the recently refurbished tropical house looked very impressive too. Much more 'immersive' than Twycross's recent effort for something of comparable size. Recent arrivals in the walled garden include Alaotran gentle lemurs and jaguarundi. For those hornbill fans out there, they keep a pair of great indian hornbills and a pair of crowned hornbills. You can get much closer to the great indians here than at Chester, for example, really impressive birds at close range.

The large aviary between the walled garden and the house currently houses black stork, black-crowned night heron, little egret, hamerkop and waldrapp ibis. In the pheasant aviaries one of the white-cheeked touracos had escaped and was flying around in the tree directly above the enclosure.

Apart from the lemurs already mentioned, the primate collection comprises siamang, white-handed gibbon, squirrel monkey, spider monkey, emperor tamarin, cotton-top tamarin, red-handed tamarin and pygmy marmoset. It would be great if Cotswold could acquire one of the great ape species in the future.

There was a bit of renovation work going on in the reptile house too - some of the displays were boarded up.

24-09-2007

[quote=Chris79;22595]What is remarkable is how little the park has changed in that time, especially given the frenetic pace of development at other UK zoos. I can't imagine a more perfect place for a picnic on a sunny summer's day! [quote]

Yes, I've noticed the same thing. I first visited about 1970 and its not much different now! A few newer things such as Amur Leopard and Asian Lion enclosures(and now Wolves I hear) but basically the layout is very similar to when they first opened.

As you said- beautiful grounds and a very tranquil setting- I always think of it as the architypal 'wildlife park' for the UK(along with Cricket St Thomas) and locked in a sort of 'time warp'...

Cotswold used to have a large herd of Chapman Zebras- up to 13- but its down to half that nowadays. The 3 white rhinos have also dwindled to 1.
Do you know where the Blackbuck went to(or came from)? They were always very 'flighty'- looking in their paddock- probably because people could walk around the semi-circular perimeter and they didn't feel secure... They also have White-lipped Peccaries.

I went again last year and they had recently upgraded the Giant Hornbill's Aviary- however it is not so impressive as e.g. Chester's enclosures for this species. I believe they also had the first breeding for them in UK?

Its certainly worth a visit- the walled garden area being probably the best part.
Their website is very informative too- gives plenty of updates on developments in their own animal collection.

25-09-2007

Yes, I'd forgotten about the wolves. That's quite an interesting enclosure. They've basically fenced in a reasonably sized, naturally-wooded area and constructed an elevated boardwalk along one of the long sides with a sheltered viewing platform. You look down into the enclosure - similar to the African hunting dog enclosure at Edinburgh, although that one is perhaps slightly better because you can also view from ground level.

The wolves were all in their den so I didn't get to see them. I think a camera in the den showing live pictures on a screen in the viewing area would be a great addition - a lot of people were very disappointed to not see any wolves, considering they are one of the few big carnivores at the park. However, there were some informative signs up saying how the wolves were settling well into their new home and displaying natural behaviour such as establishing a pack hierarchy and howling to establish territorial claims.

Still, the big cats were all *very* active so that made up for the lack of wolf sightings!

25-09-2007

Don't know where the blackbuck came from, or where they've gone I'm afraid. I got the impression that this is something that has only recently happened - the signs explaining their absence looked very temporary, and merely pointed out that the blackbuck had been moved on as part of their 'collection planning'.

A young blackbuck at Cotswold was killed in January 2005 by a wild predator. The animal was 8 months old and too big to be taken down by a fox, plus the wounds and pug marks found in the vicinity were characteristic of a big cat. It was nicknamed the 'Beast of Burford' and sightings temporarily increased after the incident. There were no further attacks, although a big cat on the loose could be another reason why the blackbucks were skittish!

They do claim on their website to have the first UK breeding of the great hornbills. The aviary isn't really large enough for the birds to fly, so they just hop around. A shame really.

The peccaries were all asleep in the far corner of their enclosure, so that wasn't the most exciting part of the day. The tapirs were also asleep (as usual) and actually locked in their house. They have sarus and white-naped cranes nearby.

25-09-2007

The blackbuck could (possibly) have come from Marwell who used to keep them. The ones at Burford have always been timid- not just because of the 'Beast'! I read about that on their website too. They were promoting its capture, saying they had a spare cage ready...

I'm rather sad to hear the blackbuck have moved on. Regarding the wolves- they should have positioned the den or shelter where the public can see it, as London have done with the new Hunting Dog enclosure. That way they can still be seen when they are resting...

I agree about the Giant Hornbills- I was expecting something more dramatic when I heard the aviary was being altered- in fact its only been enlarged slightly and the roof raised a bit.

25-09-2007

new houses for giraffes and white rhino will be started next year.

25-09-2007

So that indicates they will acquire some more White Rhinos, as well as Giraffe which would be a new species for them. Perhaps they will get Reticulated Giraffe, instead of Rothschilds which every other zoo except Whipsnade seem to have now. (But that would require them going outside the UK to source them.) The Whipsnade Reticulated group is struggling- its now down to 4 animals(3.1), the only female had another calf last October but its another boy. They really need two more females to keep it viable...

25-09-2007

Good news about the giraffes - I hadn't heard about that before, but it does seem such an obvious choice for a place with acres and acres of grassy parkland. So will the giraffes be mixed in with the rhino and zebra?

25-09-2007

This is confirmed by Dave Coles in his book 'First Breeding Records for Birds Reared to Independance Under Controlled Conditions in the United Kingdom'.

25-09-2007

I visited the park this summer and I think it's a pretty good setup (as it has been since it first opened). I'm not 100% convinced by all the changes in the walled garden, but I like the weaver bird aviary. I hope that housing the jaguarundis in a converted aviary is only temporary. I was disappointed that the New Caledonian crows are no longer on view; I hope they have gone back to Oxford University where they are breeding and doing experimental work on these amazing birds.
I didn't like the new wolf enclosure, a dreary square of woodland with poor viewing - as described previously. Some of the aviaries in the woods are unattractive, but otherwise most of the outdoor enclosures look OK. I just wish the peccaries enclosure wasn't so shady - it's so difficult to photograph them
I'm glad to see that they are working on the reptile house, which has some very tired looking displays. I note that the Morelet's crocodiles have laid eggs recently. The Egyptian fruit bat display next door is not bad.
The Madagascar enclosure looks as if it will be interesting, although I don't think they will be breeding many lemurs. There is undoubtedly plenty of room for expansion and I agree that they could keep more hoofstock - do you think they will put the giraffes in the big paddock where the rhinos and zebras are?

Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

25-09-2007

The new Madagascar walk through area seems a step in the right direction as far as collection planning is concerned. A multi-species exhibit with reptiles and birds from Madagascar. Should make a good conservation display. Encouragingly, a new house for giraffes and white rhinos seems now on the cards for 2008.

The animal species list of Cotswold Wildlife Park is a bit of a jumble of sorts and obviously needs some direction. Some ideas .... of mine.

I always thought they needed a nice savannah exhibit with African mammals in their grassy paddocks. Zebra, eland, Thomson's gazelle, marabou stork, crowned crane and ground hornbills would be superb. African primates like colobus and mandrills and perhaps the inevitable bush pigs.

A more immersed Asian area would include the Asiatic lions (breeding), Amur leopards (breeding as well), perhaps dholes, on to primates like siamang and a leaf monkey. Perhaps some of the island forms like anoa, babirusa and Alfred's deer.

They could also do more with their top list of South American primate species. Include capybara, aguti, sloth and giant anteater. And for carnivores bush dog or maned wolf.


Kiang,

Do you know whether they have a masterplan like Chester or Edinburgh? What are their future plans beyond 2008?

Anyone know when their 2 old female white rhinos died (I presume they were not shipped out or anything)?

25-09-2007

Do you know i was going to ask if Costwold have a masterplan, they join a very long list then...

25-09-2007

no masterplan as far as i am aware i read about the new houses in the newsletter from the izes

25-09-2007

It was quite strange to see the jaguarundi using what looked like a glorified nest box, but it seemed to like having the high vantage point. I thought the enclosure was on the small side but at least it looks like some thought has gone into it - bamboo screening to give the cats extra privacy, and the ability to separate the male and female.
Cotswold is quite a challenge for the photographer. I'm glad that they appear to be incorporating glass viewing windows in many of their enclosures, but some are so heavily planted that it's difficult to get a clear sight of the animals. Also they use a very fine wire mesh for the aviaries and walled garden enclosures, which makes it extremely hard to get a photo - even a very shallow depth of field shot doesn't quite disguise the wires. Plus as you pointed out the wooded areas are very dark. I wanted to get a photo of their magnificent male Himalayan monal, but there simply wasn't enough light