My August zoo tour of the south of England

26-08-2008

Well it's must be worth it, because your photos are brilliant. Keep on posting them!

26-08-2008

Gentle Lemur: how do you think London has changed in recent years? I went last month for the first time in a few years. The only recent large new projects are BUGS, gorilla kingdom and the komodo dragon house, all of which I like. The rest of the zoo seems tired to me. Mappin terraces - the red earth looks good but the exhibit is boring. Clore pavilion and aquarium - lots of boarded up areas and empty spaces. Rainforest lookout is well designed although a few more birds would liven it up a bit. Old elephant house - just dull and uninspiring. Bird house - revamped, but offers nothing new you can't see in plenty of other zoos. Cotton terraces - still too small. Even the Snowdon aviary which is a wonderful piece of architecture is old and tired once you are inside it. Reptile house is old fashioned but as good as anywhere else in the UK I think. Gorilla kingdom - big natural looking outside area but looks empty with only 4 gorillas, but a great improvement on the old facilities.

The zoo is limited by space but then wastes a lot of the available land on lawns, entertainment/play areas, children's zoo, etc.

I just don't understand why the Decimus Burton giraffe house is listed as it is such an ordinary looking structure and it prevents a complete rehash of the middle part of the zoo.

And it is the most expensive zoo in the country.

26-08-2008

great review, i am very jealous of you seeing the echinda at Paignton, ive never seen them

are they ever hoping to breed them there?

26-08-2008

Day 1 Hull the Deep,Cleethropes The Jungle,The Seal Sanctuary Mablethrope and Skegness Natureland.Day2 The Parrot Zoo,Long Sutton Butterfly and Wildlife Park,Baytree Owl Centre and the Exotic Pet Refuge.You are quite right they are all small collections but we didn`t rush round any of them in fact some of them took less time than we had allowed for so we finished them alot sooner than expected.In the pst i have done Paradise Park Hayle,Newquay Bluereef and Newquay Zoo in a day and not rushed any of them plus i didn`t break the speed limit getting between them,as for walking fast i can do when needs must but prefer to take my time.

26-08-2008

I'm not surprised they are losing visitors to NAZF- its probably a less expensive day out, more 'large' animals to see and the play areas too. Bristol is still a quality collection but that's not necessarily what people want nowadays.

26-08-2008

Other zoos where you can possibly 'do two in a day'

Howletts & Port Lympne- it gives you around three hours at each with a half hour drive in between- but whichever one you visit 2nd you can stay quite late so you get longer. I often do these in one day nowadays.

Twycross & West Midlands or Dudley. Gives you half a day at Twycross plus a shorter visit to one of the others.

Bristol & Cotswold (or Longleat) Gives you half a day at each though Bristol can be done in a lot less (2 hours). About an hour's drive between them.

Whipsnade & Woburn. Only 12 miles apart. Gives you half a day or more at Whipsnade and an hour or two at Woburn (which is all it needs).

Marwell & Monkeyworld or Marwell & Chessington..Marwell has far more than the other two.

Banham & Kessingland/AA..but further than you expect in between...

Paignton & Sparkwell/Dartmoor WP. s

some of these 'two in one day' visits would create a bit of a rush to get round but they are all quite possible.

26-08-2008

As you will have seen, I have some sympathy with your views. I'm not sure of the direction the Zoo is taking. I have no objection to a greater emphasis on small children if this is an important market, but it cannot be not their only aim. I don't like seeing empty enclosures - allowing that there must always be some undergoing renovation. I don't like seeing monkeys in enclosures which were designed for cats - particularly when they are nice species like Francois Langurs.
It seems to me that their new projects are either overblown and too fancy like the Blackburn Pavilion, or so cheap and understated as to be almost thrown away like the new penguin pool.
I would like to see them use some of the empty space in the zoo (on the north bank of the canal or the 'display area') for a simple enclosure for monkeys or to rehouse the gibbons. I believe that they could claim some extra land from Regents Park, but that has been the case for many years and they have never done it.
I understand your point about the Giraffe House, but I don't think the house is too bad and they have tried to improve the paddock. The other listed buildings - Tecton Penguin Pool, Round House and above all the Casson pavilion are bigger problems.

Alan

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

26-08-2008

After 3 pm on a very grey and rather damp day. I had to boost the ISO setting much higher than I would like, but I got some photos (as I hope you have seen). I only saw one, but ISIS says they have two. I'm sure they'd like to breed them, but it is unusual (I think we had a thread about this a while ago).

Alan

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

26-08-2008

I had presumed the monkeys at ZSL exhibited in the cat enclosures was a temporary measure for the species that didn't fit the African theme of Gorilla Kingdom. It certainly looks as if its a temporary measure but perhaps not... The Francois Langurs in particular deserve a much better exhibit to show them off- or be moved to a zoo that would do this.

26-08-2008

The North bank area of the zoo seems to be a wasted area of land in a zoo that could utilise more of the gardens for animals, is this area of the zoo quite steep leading down to the canal?
Looking at the map on the zoo website i thought it could make an excellent area for the Sumatran tiger, langurs, a gibbon species and Malayan tapir, leading on to the Snowdon aviary which could be used for Asian species with the Bornean bearded pig on the floor of the aviary.

Perhaps this should be a new thread?

26-08-2008

Actually if i had paid to go into Bristol on my last visit it would have cost me less than what i had to paid out to go round NAZF,and for me Bristol is far bettervalue for money than NAZF will ever be.

26-08-2008

thanks! have you got any of the photos on here?

26-08-2008

Of course Bristol is better value for a zoo specialist- I still hugely enjoy my visits there while I've never even bothered to visit the NAZF. But for all those families with small children, which is the better venue I wonder?

26-08-2008

Don`t know but will look into it when i visit the 2 of them at the end of October,wil be intresting to see the developments at the 2 collections and compare them.

27-08-2008

There's not a lot new at Bristol at present- since the new Monkey enclosures, and the covered-in Flamingo Aviary near the entrance.

I wasn't trying to compare the two places in terms of animal collections, as I'm sure Bristol Zoo is far superior- but I wondered which place 'family' zoogoers prefer for their day out? Maybe they alternate...