Bristol does have one of the smallest lion enclosures in the UK, I would say on a par with Newquay. IMHO, it is overdue demolition or a change of use. Perhaps the sedentary nature of lions, especially in captivity, lends itself to their exhibition in this enclosure being acceptable to the public, provided there is enough greenery in the exhibit and modern 'finish' in the public area. Certainly, other species could be housed here instead, but I think with lions being one of only two large mammal species left at the Clifton site (unless you count seals and tapirs), their departure wouldn't go unnoticed and it would likely generate some bad press, with connotations of an urban zoo being unsuitable for some of its inhabitants. I am unsure what the current Masterplan is for Bristol or Wild Place, but AFAIK there are/were plans for a large tropical house on the site of 'Zona Brazil', and a Barbary macaque/Barbary sheep enclosure around the Monkey temple/aviaries/pudu enclosure? If these are still in the pipeline, it seems unlikely that Bristol plan to do anything about the lions for some years to come, however perhaps the development at London will have a knock-on effect.
Any cat species is going to pace in that enclosure and invite negative comment. Opposite the lions is a chunk of land with just a willow maze on it. I'd extend into this area and keep lions which seem to pace less than other cats. Of course, this would interrupt the historical look of the promenade up to the aquarium, but it might be possible to link the current enclosure to the land opposite via a tunnel. The other alternative is a new lion enclosure on the land opposite and change of use for current enclosure.
Plant the enclosure up a bit, and get something along the lines of Asian Golden Cat or Clouded Leopard
I can't imagine Bristol extending the current Lion Enclosure much, perhaps another metre of height might be added and a few extra metres might be taken from the lawn at the front, but I don't think they would go right up to the line of the Terrace. Neither do I think that they would want anything smaller than lions, or perhaps tigers: as we have said before, Bristol is particularly oriented towards families with small children and so big cats are important. I don't feel that the current enclosure is unsuitable for lions, as communityzoo has said the lion is a notably sedentary species; although a modest extension to the enclosure seems like a good idea to me, it may not be high on the list of priorities at Bristol. Alan
I have a feeling it may already have been extended slightly once already, that's after its original conversion from the five 'cat' cages. Like you I'm sure the Lions are a permanent fixture and I'm not expecting any changes, either with species or enclosure- just a move of one of the current two brothers in exchange for a female.
I see they now have Blue-eyed Black Lemur on the lake island that formally held saki monkeys, has this been mentioned? If so I missed it. Also the netting is going over the wallaby walk-thru. It is a string type netting so probably rules out any destructive bird species.
I checked after visiting Bristol and seeing the size of the enclosure, because it crossed my mind that the enclosure might hold climbing mammals too: the plans said that the roof would be nylon mesh. We need not expect possums or cockatoos - but I am still wondering what will occupy all that headroom Alan
A "whistleblower" has given an interview to a local paper, judge for yourself; Shock at Bristol Zoo tragedies: From endangered animals being eaten alive to parrots on loose in city | Bristol Post
I agree, nothing unusual about a few birds escaping and accidents like the tamarin one must be fairly rare. I suspect a life of solitude at Wild Place may be the outcome for the male Warty Pig though! They probably won't get him a new mate.
This is front page news on the daily telegraph web site, at least they don't ask P**A for a quote Rare warty pigs are lost when male eats his entire family at Bristol zoo - Telegraph
Piglets in the news again.... Last line of the article is interesting- sixteen Warty Pigs born in UK Zoos in the last 12 months. Something of a population explosion... This is an unfortunate catalogue of events for Bristol which usually manages to avoid headlines of this sort. We all know that most zoos experience these sorts of episodes on occassion (even Jersey had a Chough escape last year) but most manage to keep them under wraps. Of course had these events all happened at a certain other collection further North, the thread would be pages long by now, but this is Bristol which is a highly respected and professional Zoo, so invites less criticism. I think maybe giving these animals 'cute' names can sometimes backfire on occassions like this too.
Whenever something like what happened with the Warty Pigs happens I inevitably find myself thinking "well maybe he realized something about the piglets that humans didn't and he thought he was doing what he was supposed to do." Also, is Bristol really so warm that Lorikeets can survive there? My impression was that they were tropical birds that wouldn't last very long. Or maybe the so called "whistleblower" was either ignorant or trying to stir up trouble. As for the Tamarin, incidents like that are rare as far as I know, and its mathematically impossible to prevent every last escape.
