Orangutan Island/Lemur Wood » Paignton Zoo

02-09-2008

Well done secret agent Gigit- another mission successfully accomplished. It looks to me as if the Orangutan island/moat is unchanged - I reckon I'd have to visit again to understand the layout of Lemur Wood as I don't recollect this area very well. It will be good though to see some Gibbons using those taller trees on the Orangutans' island when they've sorted the teething problems out.

02-09-2008

Not wishing to be overly critical here but I've always felt the pathways and viewing facilities around the outside Ape Islands at Paignton are badly designed. Apart from along one side of the orangutan island(which is usually deserted anyway), there are very few vantage points where you can see onto the islands. Its particularly difficult to see the Gorillas outdoors, let alone photograph them easily. Cutting back some of the vegetation on the visitors side would help. I know they designed it this way to give a more natural feel but I think it just makes for very poor viewing. They should look at London or Bristol Gorilla outside exhibits, or at Chester's for Orangutans.

02-09-2008

Thankyou, M, or should that be P? Does that mean a pay rise?
I've noticed that since the orangutans have started to go outside again, they (the staff, not the orangtans) have cut back shrubs along the paths, particularly the dead end one, and round the edge of the island. You can still go all the way round and not see them though.

02-09-2008

No pay rise. You can go on stand-by for a while though as I have no fresh assignement for you just now...

worst thing about Paignton.
02-09-2008

I'll tell you the worst thing about Paignton Zoo- its not even in the zoo either. Its GETTING THERE! In my opinion Paignton is the worst major zoo in the UK to access by car. Nowadays I've taken to coming from the Totnes direction but even that road can be rather slow and the last bit with all the traffic lights, and turning into the zoo/supermarket area, terrible....unless its been changed recently?

Easiest major Zoo to access(by car)?- Twycross (my favourite )

worst thing
03-09-2008

Getting in and out of Torbay is a nightmare. There are plans, at long last, to build a bypass en route to Newton Abbot but it will still be years before it's completed. That awful road has stopped businesses coming here. As you say, the Totnes road can be bad too. Locals know about short cuts through narrow lanes but there are humps which attack low slung exhausts. Imagine what it's like trying to get past the zoo in summer and being caught up in zoo and supermarket traffic. It's a different story out of the holiday season.
For worst access from Paignton, I nominate Monkey World. Far too many single carriageways with slow moving rustic traffic on the A35.

03-09-2008

In case anyone thinks we are are changing topics here, this is actually a discussion on 'getting to Paignton's Orangutan/lemur islands'...

I'd rate Torbay one of the most congested areas in S.W. england. I'll probably be dead by the time the new bypass is complete
I'm surprised they can't do something about the access to the Zoo/Supermarket area though, after all the rest that bit is the final straw.

Paignton-Monkeyworld- yes a long journey but lots of nice views...

03-09-2008

Yes, the problem with getting to Orangutan Island/Lemur Wood is that if the main car park is full, you have to go round the mini roundabout to the overflow car park and so get mixed in with the supermarket traffic, hence the queues. I can't imagine them spending a lot of money solving a problem which is only really bad for about 8 weeks a year. And traffic jams are the price we locals have to pay for living here. You see why I live just a walk away from the zoo
As for the A35, yes the views are lovely but are no compensation for your orangutan viewing time being shortened by a slow journey!

03-09-2008

I find the main problem getting to Paignton's Orangutan island/Lemur wood is getting off the main road in the first place-not something you have to suffer as a local pedestrian. I did visit in March once and noticed there was far less traffic then. I can remember the days when Paignton's only car park was a rough area on a slope- probably the auxilliary carpark nowadays. Paignton is an example of a Zoo that has really projected itself in recent years- it used to be quite an archaic place for a very long time with next- to- no development happening. All that changed about the time the Apehouse was built..

03-09-2008

. . . just around the time of my first visit (but I'm too modest to take all the credit, I'll share it with Pertinax the First and all the other gorillas and orangs)
I agree completely about the undergrowth around the islands - rather romantic, but flipping frustrating too.
I had little problem on the way in to Paignton - just getting getting past the long queue to use my Chester card at the Member's gate. But the traffic on the way out was awful. I guess that's Devon in August.

Alan

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03-09-2008

I do know what you mean about getting into the entrance as I often drive to the supermarket. The overflow zoo carpark is the old original one, no longer attached to the zoo.
It's amazing that all the new developments have only taken place in the last 12 years - since they received money from Europe and sold land to the supermarket. Although I have only been an ardent visitor since Bulu's arrival and the building of the Orangutan Island, I did go occasionally before 1996 but struggle to remember what it used to be like. It feels as though this is how it's always been now.

03-09-2008

Having a membership card is supposed to make things easier - but not at peak times. I like to get there early during term time (to be first at the Orangutan Island) but so do the school parties, who all queue at that same gate. As they are just milling about waiting for their leaders to sort things out, I now work my way to the front and get let in.
You are right about Devon in August!

03-09-2008

The problem is that there are only a few viewing places around the perimeter- the path all the rest of the way along serves no purpose except that you walk long distances along it. And the vegetation at the viewing place nearest the entrance to the house(gorilla side) has grown up and obscured the small open area, it all needs hacking back and opening up. The gorillas can only be seen outdoors if they are in one or two 'vantage' spots only and (apart from the cave area), always look far away. Ii would be better if you could walk out of the house and be able to see over the island immediately but you can't do because of the high palisade fence(the first one had to be quickly replaced- it was too low...) They can't change the design but they could improve the amount of viewing possible. e.g. why not clear the whole length from the swamp monkey area to the cave? Contrast with GK at London- you can see the Gorillas clearly from any point along the visitor path.

03-09-2008

In the 'old days' it felt rather like a Botanic garden, but with animals there too. You entered via the little old 'lodge' entrance on the main road. Lions and tigers were on the hillside to your left along the main path. It was very tranquil. Lots of old buildings- some pretty awful cages along from the old monkey house for animals like Mandrills, Leopards, Black bears. The very large 'cattle sheds' (now Monkey Heights) always seemed two thirds empty. Giraffes above Baboon rock. Old elephant house etc. They had a very extensive parrot collection.
It probably feels the same as its always been because a lot of it still is as the site & layout is very long-standing. Its just that some big new buildings and exhibits have been incorporated too.

The 'Mary le Fevre' Ape House was funded by a bequest from the old lady from Exmouth who used to visit in bygone days to 'feed the Monkeys'. Without this single benefactor they may never have been able to afford to build for Orangs & Gorillas. Bulu & Co arrived from London some while before it was built(though it was in the planning stage). They lived in that small mammal house first.

04-09-2008

I've been watching Demo, Mali and Gambira demolishing one of the platforms on Orangutan Island this morning (the first one after the bridge). They seemed to be stashing the logs somewhere, probably for future use. A good bit of pongo-an vandalism to brighten up the morning
I remember the elephants and giraffes from the 'old days' and the lions near the entrance and wasn't there a chimp in the end of the small mammal house? I seem to recall him being taunted by visitors (nothing changes). I first saw Bulu in the flesh in the small mammal house, and later fought my way indoors to see her with a tiny Gambira in her arms.
Re the difficulties of seeing onto the Orangutan/ Gorilla islands, Pertinax (I think it was him) used to enjoy sitting in a little hide facing the lake so you could get a good look at him there. I don't know whether the gorillas damaged it or what happened, but it was demolished and has never been replaced.