Hi all I was thinking of something a little fun and interesting that we could have a go at and I have come up with this.... If you could take over one zoo/safari or wildlife park in the UK what would you do with it? Would you upgrade existing exhibits? Would you add new species? I've thought of mine and im interested to hear what you all have thought!
Ooooooo I do this so often, I’ve got a couple of plans for different zoos sketched out - fixing London Zoo being the big one but I’ve got a few thoughts on Hamerton and Whipsnade as well.
I would like to buy South Lakes Zoo. I think the site has great scope and they have loads of expansion room as well. There is plenty I would like to do with it as well. I would love to take the current Anteater and Capybara section and have the Pygmy Hippo's in that section like they used to. I would like to take the Pygmy Hippo enclosure and change it for Dholes or some other small dog. I would convert the Jaguar/Tiger exhibit into a Large Jaguar Exhibit. I would get rid of the Arctic Wolves and use there hilly section to house the Baboons. The large paddock where the Baboons go, I would have Elephants there, and Giraffe and Zebra. Keeping the Bottom Africa House for just Wildebeest, Rhino, and Nyala. I would move on the Lions, and house Cheetah in that exhibit. I would make the Discovery Centre a full scale Reptile House, and I would construct the building next to it to be a massive nocturnal house. I would add Pelicans to the Flamingo pond and make it some kind of walk through. The Tropical house, I would convert to house 2/3 species of Crocodile. I would like to add Toucan's to the unused buildings next to David house. I would like to scrap the train station and use the mound that surrounds it to have Chiru on there, using the grazing and the high ground.
I’ll do my quick one for Hamerton before I head to bed, and tomorrow I’ll see about getting my notes for London together but BASICALLY it’s a general clean up, with a reduction in the collection’s domestics and more common species (Bennet’s wallabies, ring-tailed lemur and so forth). My most drastic change would be moving the zebra herd from where they’re practically off-show in the carpark into the actual zoo itself - specifically a half-acre paddock where the current goose and Bennet’s wallabies are. The free standing lemur and coati cages would be torn down and their inhabitants relocated (I believe the coati’s have already gone?) I’d be looking at rehousing the inhabitants of the two hexagonal aviaries (either ruffed lemurs or gibbons, can’t remember exactly which) with a view to building a new zebra stable on the site. The next biggest change would be finding a new purpose for the old tiger enclosure. Pure pragmatics tells me it should be given over to one of the two white tigers as (I believe) they currently can’t be housed together, but that’s very much the boring option. I’d much sooner see the exhibit remodelled for a bear species - preferably sun bears OR divided up a new primate section on either side of the path. This would feature a larger open-topped gibbon enclosure, with climbing frames to give them some much needed height, and a similar but perhaps more modest set up for the howler monkeys. I’d possibly refit covered section of the former tiger enclosure for indoor housing. Across the path I’d be looking into consolidating the zoos lemur collection into a new breeding centre, possibly with a walkthrough component housing non-reproductive animals (surplus male ring-tailed and such). Given that baring a miracle import of some kind the zoos days of keeping southern aardwolf are numbered I’ll plan for an empty exhibit. Here I’d like to divide up the enclosure diagonally with a guest path running to the area behind it through the copse of trees which would lead round to the back of the flamingo pond, where the current cassowary enclosure is. Since the zoo seems to be working on new cassowary accommodation up by the Outback Aviary and the swamp wallabies I’m going to assume I’m working with an empty paddock here as well. In the empty cassowary paddock I’d like to rehouse the Chilean pudu in this dense thicket, with a new enclosure for the tayra nearby, incorporating the natural trees (I’m imagining a similar set up to Twycross’ marten exhibit). In the former aardwolf enclosure that the new path cuts through I’d like to rehouse the grison. Finally, (and here it becomes a little speculative as I’m now heading into off-show territory) I’d like to continue the path I’ve laid here to loop round the back of the anteater enclosure to emerge near where (I believe) the nocturnal house (holding sloths and Sheba’s bats) is going to be, tying together this new little South American loop. Having vacated the howler monkeys, grisons, and ruffed lemurs from their old exhibits near the Outback Aviary I should now have ample room to move the scrub-turkeys and potoroos into rough geographic proximity with the tiger quolls and wombats, along with the bettongs, ringtail possums and barking owls (though I confess I’m a little muddy on where some of those species are currently held). I’d take that oppotunity to improve some of these older enclosures and introduce some better interpretation focusing on the diversity of Australasian wildlife on display and the environments they inhabit - not just the outback. As a knock-on effect of having freed up the scrub-turkey and potoroo enclosures I’d consider combining and raising the ceiling of these aviaries to incorporate the macaws into the South American loop. And that’s about it off the top of my head.
Easy-peasy. I'd take over Noah's Ark and rename it as the Darwin & Wallace Experience. Then I'd employ someone to burn all the current signage and replace it with dozens of quotes from Darwin, Wallace, Richard Dawkins et al. When that work was completed. I'd be able to visit the zoo for the first time and make plans to develop the collection
I will take over Longleat. I will acquire another Elk to accomodate the other Elk. The White Rhinoceros will be given a field exhibit to hold in. The pelicans will not be allowed to free range. The wildebeest will be given a separate offshow field exhibit. The monkey drive thru will not include the Nyalas and feature Macaques and Bongos. The current animals will get a separate field exhibit opposite to the rhino field exhibit.
Unfortunately not I'm not sure if I admire him more for writing The Selfish Gene or for marrying Lalla Ward.
