Join our zoo community
sooty mangabey

"Wild Encounters"

"Wild Encounters"
sooty mangabey, 29 Jul 2015
DelacoursLangur likes this.
    • sooty mangabey
      Main paddock, with Marwell Hall to the rear. All three species on show - a shame that more couldn't have been added perhaps. And these three appear to have no real link, beyond the fact that two of them have done well at Marwell, and one needed a new enclosure...
    • Pertinax
      Marwell nowadays reminds me rather of a National Trust property, but one with animals....
    • sooty mangabey
      ...although I think most National Trust properties are rather more tasteful and thoughtful in their provision of playgrounds, fast food etc!
    • dean
      The branches -presumably hot wired- look rather odd like fallen stalk nests
    • dean
      looking again I don't think oak trees give an African feel, if they had used hawthorn or even hazel and coppiced it it would look a little more African scrub than English woodland
    • Pertinax
      Maybe its for the longerterm. Apart from the grove of oaks which runs through the central area of the park, and the southern boundary, much of the rest is pretty open. Also a 'scrub' feel would not overall create an attractive vista. I agree the stork nests are quite curious, presumably with Rhino in the paddock they had to find an alternative to simply fencing the trees for protection.
    • sooty mangabey
      To give Marwell credit, I think tree-planting on an enormous scale is long overdue at the zoo, and thus it is to be applauded that some trees are being planted here. As @Pertinax says above, the zoo as a whole can feel very open indeed - particularly around the paddock for roan antelope, down to the Sulawesi macaque island (or the macaw island, as I overheard one visitor correcting her son - who was pointing to the gorillas he had just seen.....). If, forty years ago, an enormous number of trees had been planted, the zoo would look a whole lot better now.
    • Pertinax
      When Marwell first opened, the lack of trees was quite noticeable. Its sometimes described as being set in parkland, but it isn't really as apart from that central belt and the southern boundary, there isn't very much tree cover, apart from, ironically, the car park area which is(or was originally) real woodland. I don't think any serious planting has ever been done up until now either. There could be constraints possibly on what can be planted- but English Oak(like these) would certainly be welcome.

      The other thing lacking was running water to create lakes etc but JMK went ahead with the purchase as pretty much everything else was suitable for what he wanted to do.
    • Pertinax
      I despair sometimes.
    • sooty mangabey
      I think a number of British zoos could do with more trees - they do make a difference to the aesthetics of a site! Twycross and Hamerton spring to mind, particularly. And not, please, straight lines of evergreens....


      In many ways, the Marwell site is perfect: gently undulating, but not hilly; close to relatively big clumps of population, and a distance from any other major zoo; surrounded by fairly affluent locals. It's just a pity that the management of the zoo is as it is!
    There are no comments to display.
  • Category:
    Marwell Wildlife
    Uploaded By:
    sooty mangabey
    Date:
    29 Jul 2015
    View Count:
    1,709
    Comment Count:
    11