The aviary at Leeds castle, Kent is to close from the end of October, home to around 100 species of bird. The aviary has had some notable breeding events in the past including toco toucan and one of the first collections in the UK to breed Von der Decken's hornbill. The Kent tourist attraction is to close its aviary to save the facility's £200,000 annual running costs. The castle plans to retain its collection of waterfowl and peacocks. That's 2 collections in Kent closed within a matter of months. BBC News - Leeds Castle to shut its aviary to save £200,000 Leeds Castle, Kent - Great Days Out in Kent, England - Aviary
Is it supposed to be the end of this month (October 2011) as the BBC says: "Leeds Castle in Maidstone plans to shut the attraction, which houses more than 100 species of bird, in October 2012." Or is this just another case of the media getting information wrong again?
Sad. It's a very well put together bird garden. Good stand alone bird collections are getting to be thin on the ground in southern England.
Very sad news that this place is going to close,but I would say that a good stand alone Bird Garden,was hard to find anywhere in the UK unless you live near Leeds in Yorkshire.
A real pity as the collection was not only very nice but a superb addition to the castle and grounds. I have met the curator/head keeper Laura several times in the past and she (and presumeably her team) was highly considered within the Bird TAGs and wider zoo community for the work that this very small but important collection were achieving.
I have never been to Leeds Castle, but I wish I had and I've read plenty of complimentary articles on the place. Was there no inkling of this very bad news? "Cage & Aviary Birds" of 5th October included an upbeat interview with Laura Gardner/feature on the collection (described as "wonderful"). I'll not be using that page in my Parrot cages now!
They are right with October 2012 they have given us 12months to re house all the birds. All the birds that are involved & on breeding programs will be re homed by the studbook holders, Members of public who have donated birds to the collection have been notified & we are awaiting their answers. We had no idea of the trustees decision. The collection at the moment still stands we havent started rehousing birds yet as you can appreciate trying to rehome over 70 species of bird (with a minimum of 2 to every species) is going to be a mammoth task so if you havent visited before please do come see us.
Sorry to hear this news RIEE75. Your collection was on our "must see" list on our last visit from Australia. We were not disapponted. We wish you well with the mammoth task of rehoming your birds.
Thank you Steve. We are still hopefull that somebody somewhere may be interested in the collection as a whole ( & maybe some keepers!) but at the moment we are still trying to get all of our heads round it.
Ive said it more than once,in many years of zoo watching ive seen many UK collections come and go-most of which are not missed to be honest..Belle Vue,Winged World,Kilverstone,original Birdland,original Norfolk Wildlife Park, perhaps Cricket St Thomas,maybe one or two others.Leeds Castle will take its place amongst those..a good place,serious intentions.The trustees should be ashamed of themselves..shows how much conservation meant to them.By the way RIEE75 i met someone from Leeds Castle at Dallas World Aquarium back in April[i think] was it you?
Might have been March and of course i meant that the collections i named are missed not the converse[which you can read into it if you want].I suppose Glasgow too for what it should have been rather than what it was perhaps Penscynor too.Anyway good luck at Leeds Castle you deserved better.
Good luck with your endeavours RIEE75, by all accounts you have an excellent place. Although I haven't visited you, if there is no reprieve and you do close yours will be the saddest closure for me since Rode (I was very, very sad about that as it was such a special place and I am sure many people have a similar love for Leeds Castle Aviary).
Hi Tim yes it was me with my Toucan research hat on which I will continue to do in my own time! Thank you for everyones kind words myself & the team really appreciate them the public have now started writing emails & letters in about it all & there is a petition started in one of the villages although I seriously doubt it will make difference on the outcome there is a lot of questions being asked about justifying ticket prices & more things being taken away from the day vistor attraction, certainly a lot of people have said on my tours they are seriously considering renewing their ticket for a year when up for renewal!
for those who have been waiting to comment on this, comments are now open here Last tweets to sound at aviary
