Hemsley Conservation Centre Hemsley Conservation Centre

A single Rusty Spotted Cat kitten has been born:

Hemsley Conservation Centre

 

Just returned from a fleeting trip to Hemsley by public transport.It seems that Otters maybe arriving at some point as a small dip pond enclosure is being constructed. My first impressions are that whilst this place is small and cramped,and not really ideal for the cats,Tayra,Meerkats or birds and the enclosures are made from simple pallets,netting and tyres and the animal houses are sheds,there is a lot of potential if the funding and the ability to expand,is right, to make this a better small zoo. There is no sign from the road to give passing people the hint that Hemsley exists down the lane,but that's not the fault of the owners. The owners,employees really do have the enthusiasm for educating visitors and the care of their animals,and for me,in some ways the layout of the small zoo is rustic and quaint in its natural appeal and use of recyclable material (as the owners had replied to an irate tripadvisor visitor).Had it been bigger,clearly signposted and been easier to get to via public transport,it would be almost,i stress 'almost',as good as Tilgate.

 

Three sister Asian small-clawed otters have arrived at Hemsley Conservation Centre.

Information comes from the centre's Facebook page.

 

There have been some updates on the news section of Hemsley's website:

- The parma wallabies and rainbow lorikeets have moved into a new mixed-species walkthrough enclosure.
- There are more marsupial species due to arrive at Hemsley very soon; some come from Australia and some from New Guinea.
- The old lorikeet aviary has been revamped and now houses a channel-billed toucan.
- Work has started on extending the lemur facilities and indoor housing.
- Building work has started on a new area for the zoo's current turtles and tortoises which include hingeback, sulcata and radiated tortoises and Annam leaf and yellow pond turtles.

All of this information comes from the single article linked below:
https://www.hemsleyconservationcentre.com/zoo-news/winter

 

We visited Hemsley today and managed to spend a 3.5 hours there - which was unexpected! We had great viewing of Geoffroy's cat / Tayra / Brazilian Porcupine / Palm Civit - had to show a bit of patience but it paid off. Also very pleased to see and touch a Woma Python in the reptile talk - keeper said they have a male also and hope to breed them.

There was a sign up saying they have built the new enclosure for the meerkats but have delayed moving them in due to pups being born.

On the whole the place was as expected for me and I was impressed by the attitude / enthusiasm of the staff and think there is potential here.

 

Heard from various sources (Zoochat and another very reliable source) - apparently they now have an offshow Eastern Aardwolf - One individual from Park Cottage Conservation after its mate passed - I can imagine they must have paid a pretty penny for this individual.

 

That'd be great news if so!

Any news on when the clouded leopard and lynxes are coming?

 

@Zia did you happen to see if any of these new marsupials had arrived?

 

Aardwolf, Lynx, Clouded leopard , more marsupials.... I just can't see where all these could go? There isn't a lot of space to build new enclosures.

 

I was there last week, I personally didn't see any Clouded Leopards ??

 

That's because they're not there (yet?) but have been rumoured as possibilities or likely additions over the last few months, along with several other new species!

 

No - I don't believe I saw any new marsupials. What exactly would I have been looking for?

No Lynx or Cloudies either - and I'm not sure where they would put them if they did arrive?

 

Don't see where they could put them. It's a small sight and it's pretty packed in as it is. To build an exhibit for Clouded Leopards would require room that simply doesn't look there.

I done a Carnivore VIP and they told me they had a few small animals off show which they would be building exhibits for this year, but they gave impression it was smaller species rather than bigger ones like cats or anything.

 

I agree, I can't see where all these rumoured species could fit in!

 

They used to have maned wolves at one point, not sure if that space is still unused.

 

People should be thinking more sort of Nocturnal animals. As the impression I got was they want to have a nocturnal area with 3/4 smaller nocturnal species.

 

Where were they at the centre, if you can remember roughly, can tell you what's there now.

 

I believe they were not on the main site but only viewable by guided visits up a path.

 

Sounds like it could be in the area where they have build the Lorikeet walkthrough and Parma Wallaby in an Aussie themed area.

 

Based on this old FB post you are quite right: