Quite simple best monkey exhibit in UK either as a display or walk through. Will include Lemurs & marmosets will not include Apes in any way !!! my choice Lemur walk through at Cotswold Wildlife Park. Honourable Mention to Squirrel Monkey walk through at London zoo Honorable mention Barbary macaque enclosure Owl and monkey sanctuary - Isle of wight.
I personally think the Colobus/Gelada enclosure is very nice. I would put the Paignton baboon enclosure second.
I would have said the old Siamang enclosure at Monkey World, the one about halfway along on the left with the big trees. Instead I'll say the rainforest exhibit at London Zoo.
Trentham Monkey Forest. Pretty much the perfect monkey exhibit. Shame there's nothing else on site, but in answer to your question its the best I've experienced in the UK.
It would probably be more helpful to those not familiar with every exhibit, for posters to explain why they have chosen a particular exhibit. Is is it the style/size of the exhibit, furnishings, group size, animal interactiveness with the public? Difficult to get a balance of all factors, but a successful mix should give a damn good exhibit. Example: We have all seen large open mixed lemur species walk-throughs, but most are far from 'great' exhibits. Usually a fenced in paddock with artificial climbing frames. For my mind the Trentham Forest macaque exhibit is pretty hard to beat. Nice established park trees within a walk-through design with a large group of confident active primates.
Howletts Lion-tailed Macaques- reasons; 1. Nice spacious layout to enclosure, with plenty of climbing facilities etc. 2. Good viewng from all along the path frontage and a barrier to lean on so you can watch at leisure. 3. Good large interactive group of these interesting( and endangered) Macaques. I like all four of the newer Primate enclosures at Howletts/PL, but think this one is overall the best one.
1 Trentham monky forset for 2? rival troops of macaque to show most natural behaviours in a natural setting. 2 Port Lympne colubus exhibit, some crappy bits of fence but overall good exhibit with nice variation of trees. also mixed species that live at different levels, Debrazza's spending most time foraging low down whilst the colubus sit up in top of high ash trees digesting. could consider adding another species perhaps Drill? and hoofstock, maybe dik-dik or situtunga. 3 Wooly monkey exhibit at monkey world, nice trees linked up well with ropes etc with nice group
That one for me too. Large exhibit, great viewing and fabulous setting, especially when it gets cold.
London Zoo tropical house - three species who get on really well, viewing from three sides and above plus they have the freedom to run on the paths and around you. I do love Howletts' lemur walk-through as well. You don't always see animals but they have half a (large) dozen fruiting trees, it's about 80 yards from top to bottom, lots of places to hide from public and keepers alike. When the black lemurs were in there it was also very much a erm, interactive experience too whether you liked it or not. All of the ones at Monkey World which include tall trees are really impressive as well.
As an aside, I may go to Colchester, Whipsnade or Drusillas on Sunday. I haven't been to any of them for maybe 20 years. Which is the best for primates and niche species (eg sun bears at Colchester)? Colchester is closest but apparently the chimps are off-show so I may wait. Edit: Lemurs that aren't ring-tails are also a bonus (unfortunately Cotswold WP is a looong way by motorcycle).
It's a bit further for you but Banham may be the best bet for lemurs. I think I would also go for Port Lympne's Colobus exhibit. Naturalistic, spacious enclosure, so much so that it can be hard to spot the monkeys, which I quite like in an exhibit. An interesting curve ball answer would Shepreth's common marmoset island. When I visited on a sunny warm day seeing them high in a cluster of silver birches was a unique and enjoyable experience. For interaction its hard to beat a large baboon troop. Exhibit quality seems to matter far less here. Paignton's concrete monstrosity offers much the same experience as PL's spacious grassy paddock.
The lemur walkthrough at Cotswold Wildlife Park is excellent; free-roaming ringtailed lemur, crowned sifaka, collared lemur and red-bellied lemur, a handful of interesting birds and herps, with greater bamboo lemur and belted ruffed lemur held in enclosures to one side.
I have been thinking about this and I have used some strict criteria: spacious outdoor enclosure with suitable vegetation and proper opportunities for climbing (except perhaps for geladas), spacious indoor enclosure with free choice between enclosures for most of the day (allowing for cleaning etc) and good viewing of both enclosures. These criteria eliminate many good enclosures which otherwise rate very highly, such as the Living Forest at Regent's Park, which is purely indoors, and both Cotswold's lemur walkthrough and the colobus/De Brazza monkey enclosure at Port Lympne because they have no indoor viewing. It also eliminates some poorer enclosures where the indoor areas are off-show, including the ugly hamadryas baboon rock at Paignton and the macaques at HWP, where the viewing is also very poor as the ground slopes away from the viewer and you are always looking against the light, although the pool is a redeeming feature. I think Edinburgh has some good primate enclosures, although I haven't been there for several years, so my opinions may be a little out of date: the gibbon cage is very tall and spacious, although that doesn't make for easy viewing; the gelada paddock is very good, although the indoor area is nothing special; the paired enclosures of Living Links used to be very nice although gulogulogulo's latest photos are a disappointment because they show only dead trees in the outdoor areas, but my favourite is the little walk-through just above the flamingos - I remember seeing blue-eyed black lemurs there and also white-faced sakis, but it has held other species too. Although the indoor area is not brilliant, I like it because although it's a walk-through it is quiet and thickly planted, so that the monkeys show themselves well, perhaps because they can retreat out of sight when they wish. I can't quarrel with Pertinax's choice, which meets all my criteria. But I think there will soon be a new champion, once the outdoor enclosure is ready, the crested macaque exhibit in the Monsoon Forest at Islands will be better than any other monkey enclosure I have seen in the UK. Alan
The newish ring-tailed lemur walkthrough at London Zoo meets all your criteria with both outdoor and indoor enclosures, choice of "rooms" indoors, lots of climbing opportunities... and it's almost a mixed exhibit as there is also one black-and-white ruffed lemur!
Thanks, I do forget about Banham. If the weather’s good I may just trek to Cotswold, I have to visit some time. On the ‘criteria’, I think it’s good for an animal to have a house or shed without windows. We may see less but the animals will probably be happier. Enrichment is also an important part of keeping primates.
I agree with both these points, but they can be hard to evaluate. You may not know about accessible off-show areas unless you can see the animals entering and leaving them (which you can in the Monsoon Forest at Chester ). It's good to see enrichment activities, but you may watch an exhibit for as long as you like and leave 5 minutes before the enrichment starts. Alan
