Not a lot IMO...Cotswold's is just too small, Marwell's too barren. IMO Marwell's is the worst, but did you ever see their original enclosure?
I would go with Monkey World, purely on the basis that any enclosure that allows their primates into actual trees/provides a forest animal with decent cover is a tick in my book. The pair of siamangs at Monkey World have actual forest they can use! Whereas Twycross have two groups of three siamang, one of which has the above enclosure and the other of which has one a lot more similar to Cotswold's.......but lower in height!
@pipaluk the house at the bottom of Monkey World held a family of golden-cheeked gibbons and a pair of Mueller's gibbons at first. However, the siamangs moved from their original home in the centre of the park (the one you refer to) to the bottom of the park when the Mueller's pair moved behind the scenes in mid 2013! Unrelated side note: the Mueller's pair are no longer offshow, the male passed away due to old age so the female is being introduced to a single male in their gibbon row at present.
Thanks for that, strange I've been at least 3 times since 2013 and couldn't remember seeing the Siamang anywhere but the enclosure in the middle of the park, I obviously wasn't paying enough attention!!
Monkeyworld do cater for their primates' needs very well. Even in the old range/row of Gibbon enclosures, swinging ropes or bars are set at correct intervals so they can brachiate right through the enclosures, allowing maximum use of the space.. And yes, their newer wooded gibbon/siamang enclosures are very good. Twycross' 2nd enclosure is just an ex Chimp nursery cage, quite basic and low as you said. And while the design of the Gibbon Forest enclosures is very modern, I think the exposed/windy location is a big minus, and must impede usage of the outside. Certainly I've only very rarely seen any of the gibbons there outside and then only briefly.
Probably the worst cage I've ever seen erected in a modern Zoo- of course Marwell are not historically primate-orientated and that certainly showed, it was a shocker...
On the topic of Twycross I have to say that while I agree re the exposed location having a degree of impact - I have actually seen the Siamangs outside using the space on all of our visits since it was built. The second Siamang enclosure is nothing to write home about though. I believe Monkey World is the clear winner here - they have a lovely area of actual forest and high quality indoor quarters. I don't see what Twycross has that would top this.
I'm surprised that Manor WP hasn't received a single vote - whilst their indoor accom isn't the largest, or as impressive as that at Twycross, the outdoor exhibit is great! Plenty trees, offering something far more natural than most of the other exhibits (not that natural is *always* better).
I guess perhaps not as many people have visited Manor House(I haven't) as the two frontrunners, Monkeyworld or Twycross so maybe not so familiar with it. The outside treed location does look good from the photo.
If people look at the photo, I'm not surprised, the housing looks temporary (being kind! ) and it doesn't show many trees.
I keep switching my vote between Twycross and Monkey World,but I have no gone with Twycross because the new enclosure in the bottom of the zoo is,while it does have a better indoor area than the original exhibit,rather small.However,I am likely going to change again.
I've changed to Monkeyworld now, based on the fact that the indoor enclosure where they are now is nearly as good as at Twycross whilst the outdoors in natural woodland is clearly better. There seems little point in doing the other gibbon poll really as the golden cheeked exhibit on the other side of the house is probably even better than the Siamang one from memory!
I remember Howletts being a rather open exhibit with a lot of climbing structures scattered about but the front area is rather barren.The indoors is quite good though nowhere near as good as Twycross or Monkey World.They either share or rotate with Javan Langurs,although on my 2019 visit only saw the latter. The thing is the natural,wooded enclosure has a terrible indoor exhibit and the large indoor enclosure has a much smaller outdoor enclosure although it is still impressive and certainly my second choice.
Score update. Monkey World currently have a five vote lead over Twycross in what is turning out to be a two horse race.
Yes, but there are other gibbon exhibits that may contend with it so may not be completely pointless. Will have to leave that discussion to another poll.
Howletts is a fair sized open topped enclosure with a few climbing structures at the front and then a small natural wooded behind that. It is middle of the road I would say - not really a contender. The Javan Langurs next door have a much larger climbing structure but no trees as far as I remember. I don't know if they do rotate though - not seen that myself.
They probably don’t rotate but the exhibits did seem able to connect and the area on the map is marked ‘Siamangs and Javan Langurs‘. Are there multiple indoor rooms for the Siamangs at Twycross?
