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Hamerton Zoo Park A visit to Hamerton

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by Sand Cat, 24 Sep 2008.

  1. Sand Cat

    Sand Cat Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Last year I wrote down some thoughts on Hamerton Zoo Park - yesterday I returned there and once again had a thoroughly enjoyable day out. I will try to summarise the zoo, but if anyone has any questions then feel free to ask.


    Hamerton is split into two main sections in my view: on arrival you are greeted by some simple wooden framed enclosures predominantly housing small carnivores, primates and various birds. Then there is the paddock section which has less rarities, but makes for a much more attractive and stimulating display. The zoo is effectively a circular walk with a few additional exhibits in the middle - it's important to make sure you don't miss these as there are some really amazing animals to see! One of the zoo's best points is that there are covered walkways around many of the exhibits, so if the weather is bad you can see many animals without getting wet.

    The first animals I came to were the binturongs which unsurprisingly were asleep - there is indoor viewing of them however, indeed this goes for many of the mammals here. Nearby are various lemurs and a nice Marmoset exhibit. The indoor house is a bit bleak but the outdoor runs are very good indeed, they are densely planted and a bit similar to the enclosures at Twycross. Species kept here are Goeldi's Monkeys, Cotton-Top Tamarins, Silvery Marmosets and Geoffroy's Marmosets.

    Further up are some slightly dilapidated looking aviaries, housing Hooded Vultures, Scarlet Ibis and Pied Crows amongst other things - this certainly isn't your average small zoo, even if these enclosures are rather unremarkable. There are also some small cats nearby, Jaguarundis and an Oncilla. By going back to this area later in the day I managed to see both species very active - the Oncilla is adorable and very active when it does decide to come out, and the Jaguarundis are just amazing! Last time I visited I saw two of the three colour forms but no sign of the red one, but this time the red cat was very showy, its a fantastic looking animal.

    Close by are more lemur cages - as well as the usual Ring-Tails, Red Ruffs and Black & White Ruffs you can see the more unusual Collared Lemurs which are housed in at least 3 seperate enclosures, 1 of which contained a youngster. One of the most noticeable things here is that they don't tend to keep many animals in pairs, quite often they are kept in much larger numbers which probably explains their good breeding record. The zoo is clearly dedicated to some of the rarer animals and although I doubt the general public appreciate this policy, it's good news for the animals and also for zoo enthusiasts.

    There are some owl aviaries in this area, highlights include SIX Great Grey Owls sharing a cage! There are also a couple of Aardwolves, one put in a very brief appearance mid-afternoon but then went and hid. Then we have more Jaguarundis, Black Howler Monkeys and an endearing Lar Gibbon family. There is a small nocturnal house with Sloths; last time I went to Hamrton they seemed to be overrun with the things, but this year I only(!) counted four.

    Approaching the paddock section there are several groups of Cheetah and Maned Wolves, both of which were very active. The Maned Wolves particularly were strolling around their large enclosure and enjoying the long grass, as there is viewing through glass I got an incredibly close look at these beautiful creatures. There is also an enormous enclosure for tiny Corsac Foxes - I saw at least ten of them but there could have been more as they move very quickly! They have a superb enclosure and are definitly the best exhibit at the zoo. I spent a good long time watching their antics both times I passed their pen, it's worth the admission fee just to stand and watch the foxes in my opinion.

    There is a barn and spacious paddock housing two Tigers, one of which is white, and a scaled-down version of that exhibit for a Serval. Going round the back of the tigers, there is a new tunnel which has been built since my last visit, and this leads to some paddocks housing domestic hoofestock which has been relocated from elsewhere in the zoo. There are also some Bactrian Camels which are a recent addition, and it's hoped to add Giant Anteaters to this area fairly soon.

    Passing some cranes, more vultures and some very friendly donkeys, there is a children's play area, a small cafe with ample seating outside, and a small but nice gift shop. Outside next to the car park are spacious grassy fields for some endearing Minitaure Donkeys and enormous Pouitou Donkeys. I won a bet about what they were as someone with me had never heard of that breed before, so no admission fee for me to pay!!!

    Finally, onto my highlight of the day. At smaller zoos I always like to visit the cafe, then re-visit some of my favourite species later in the day when most visitors have gone home. This was a very quiet day and so many of the animals were very active late in the afternoon, and walking down the path I glimpsed a very unusual animal in the distance. It was a jackal! I know there are Black-Backed Jackals in the guide book, but I didn't see any evidence of them last year and assumed they didn't have them anymore. Well, here was an absolutely stunning Jackal, with a look on its face that seemed to say, "Oh bugger, I thought all you people had left for the day!" It was very timid but some patience and quiet rewarded me with some amazing views of a beautiful species I've never seen before anywhere. It was quite a moment, made all the more surreal as I'd given up on seeing the species at Hamerton, the enclosure wasn't labelled and looked empty, and also the enclosure was really not what I'd have expected to see a fairly big carnivore in; no safety barrier for a start! It was one of those special animal moments that I'll remember for a long time, and I feel very privilaged to have had this experience.

    Hamerton is definitly a rough diamond. A lot of the enclosures could be a bit better, but those that are good, are brilliant (Corsac Foxes and Maned Wolves in particular). Hamerton is obviously a place that aims to keep many very unusual species, mainly small carnivores, and it does a very good job of this. If they kept more crowd-pleasers they'd probably get more visitors and be able to build bigger enclosures, but then I feel that the place would lose what makes it special. If you want zoo rarities, then go there, walk around a few times, take your time and you could well be rewarded with some very special memories, particuarly if you stay after 4pm.
     
  2. Trigger

    Trigger Well-Known Member

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    I went last year and really like it. True some of the enclousres needed replacing, tarting up but the new ones were great. They were in the middle of doing the Tigers area, is it finsished now? My fav part was the Cheetah enclousre, 2 of them were running full pelt and it was amazing to watch. They were on about having anteaters. have they managed to get any?
     
  3. JamesB

    JamesB Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    great review, hope to visit here one day. sandcat would you say most enclosures were small, medium or large in size compared to the animals housed in them?
     
  4. bongorob

    bongorob Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I couldn't find any jackals when I wnet last year, but I did manage to see most of the other animals, including the oncillas which came outside only when the zoo was quiet.
     
  5. Sand Cat

    Sand Cat Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    To answer your questions:

    Trigger - As I said in my review, the zoo has expanded a lot around the back of the tiger enclosure with new paddocks and the tunnel I mentioned. The anteaters aren't there yet but plans are afoot to get some soon.

    Tigerlemurguy - That's a hard question! I'd say different enclosures fit into all 3 categories. The Corsac Foxes have a MASSIVE enclosure, others for the Tigers, Maned Wolves, Cheetah etc. are pretty big. A lot of the older enclosures are quite small - e.g. Oncilla and Jackal, but it may just be that I'd expect to see such unusual species in more glamorous accomodation. So, overall I'd have to say that the enclosures are reasonable.

    Bongorob - Sounds about right, as on my two visits I've only seen the Oncilla at about 4:30pm. As for the Jackals; the one I saw was in a fairly small yet well-planted aviary style cage, which was next to a row of cages housing Yellow Mongoose, Collared Lemur & Aardwolf. I'm not sure if it was there last year but I don't remember seeing anything else of note there, and as I commented in my review, there is no label on this cage. Maybe it was there, but just hiding?
     
  6. zoogiraffe

    zoogiraffe Well-Known Member

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    They should be getting the Giant Anteater from Edinburgh when they get their new pair.
     
  7. JamesB

    JamesB Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    some smaller zoos can be on the small side, thanks for the info anyway!