Which zoo is the best for snow leopards: Dudley or Welsh Mountain ? They are the nearest ones to us that keep them, and we are planning to take my gran for the day out- she loves snow leopards but has never seen one. Which collection would involve the least strenuous walking, as she's not good on her pins, bless her ? We have been to both before, but it was a while ago, so I can't remember the terrain. I have a feeling Welsh Mountain would be worse for her.
Welsh Mountain Zoo has a hideous enclosure for them, havent seen Dudley's but it cant be any worse surely. Walking wise, parts of Welsh Mountain would be very strenous, such as the paddocks or the large trail down to the Golden Eagles. But the Leopards themselves are right next to the car park.
I can't comment on Welsh Mt as I haven't been for years, but Dudley's Snow Leopard is in a part of the zoo where it doesn't need much walking to to get to the enclosure (it's by the tiger / bear pit.). Also if gran finds it tough there is a land train that leaves form the entrance that takes you round the zoo, so she doesn't need to walk uphill so much. As Evilkittie says remember to look up in her pen as she's often on a platform in the top left hand corner.. I like her enclosure it's one of Dudley's better more modern ones, if there were more like this in the zoo then it would get far less negitave comments.
Welsh Mountain Zoo has a rubbish enclosure as the fence bars are too thick to see them and is the paths are really hilly and bumpy. Dudley has the better enclosure for snow leopards. enjoy ur day were ever u go.
Dudley or Welsh Mountain? There's only one way to decide. Fight! (with apologies to Harry Hill, and to you Zoochatters for introducing flippancy into your discussion. I couldn't resist it )
Looking through the gallery it's tough to say which looks worse: Dudley or Welsh Mountain? Maybe the best choice is to drive a little farther and see a more worthwhile collection. However, I do live in an enormous country and so I'm used to driving many hours to visit a good zoo or aquarium.
Dudley's enclosure is definitely better for viewing, though I strongly recommend making use of that road train if members of your party have limited mobility. Dudley is also a larger collection and has the stunning Castle as well. Snowleopard, I might be being over-defensive here, but it does look a bit like you just came into this thread to put the boot into two places you've never been! Having said that, there is a certain truth to part of what you say - the best place for viewing Snow Leopards in the UK is probably Marwell.
A massive THANK YOU to everyone who replied. Looks like it's Dudley, after all. If distance wasn't an issue, we'd definitely take Gran to Marwell to see the snow leopards, but she is 86, so I think Dudley is as far as she'd want to go. (we'll be travelling from near Manchester). Once again, a big thanks to everyone who took the trouble to reply. We are planning to go next Saturday (13th June), weather permitting.
