I've just been reading Chester Zoo News Spring 1986 and the arrival of a male coati is reported. This originated from Malvern Wildlife Park, which is a collection I don't remember hearing of. Does anyone know anything about it? I presume it is now closed.
No, I haven't heard of it either. It seems to have always been a UK tradition for people who keep a few exotic mammals and some bird aviaries, to then call it a 'wildlife park'....
This is the Malvern Hills Childrens Zoo run by Chris Cox. He died in 98 and the park closed in 99. See press clipping regarding 'escaped' capybara.... Giant rodent sighted near Severnside town
Im amazed we have never heard of this collection! It seems to have closed fairly recently aswell, do you no anything more about this parks history newzooboy? Or what species they kept? Many thanks
Thanks. This is what I like about this forum, if anyone needs to know something, there is usually someone who is able to help. I just found this. Zoo man dies | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com
I seem to recall that the Brown Capuchins from Malvern Hills went to Churnet Valley when it closed. Presumably they are the ones now at Galloway Wildlife Conservation Park.
A bit late to add to this one, but I have only just seen the thread. I visited Malvern in about 1997. It was one of the worst places I have seen in Britain in recent years - its only real rival being Carrick Green (?), a place behind a garden centre in Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire, with lost of ex Howletts primates. But that's another story. Malvern had all the usual things you'd expect - rheas, for example, in a paddock so muddy that their feet were entirely covered in a Somme-like glue - as well as lar gibbons in a disgusting wood and wire mesh cage. Thye thing which sticks in my mind is the house in the middle of the zoo, where one entered a sort of garage in which, alongside some pretty crappy 'educational' displays, was a racoon curled up in a dog basket. I drove for several hours to get to this place - I think I'd heard the news stories about the escaped capybara, and was curious about the zoo - but it took about 20 minutes to see, before leaving in horror. Unfortunately, no photos. What I can never understand is how somewhere so awful can ever get off the ground?
Carrick Green was an extraordinary place. To get to the 'zoo' you had to go through a very tatty garden centre / pet suppliers into what looked like a larger-than-average but not enormous back garden - complete with one of those washing lines that spins round in the wind, with an array of freshly laundered smalls pegged up on it. There were an array of rather nasty breeze-block cages round the outer edge, and that was it. The only species I can remember for certain is colobus - and the reason I remember them so clearly is that (1) I was shocked to see that these were ex Howletts or Port Lympne animals (as evidenced by the distinctive green hand-painted sign which was on their cage, giving their individual names) and (2) I took a photo of them - at which point a really very rough-seeming man appeared and told me not to take any more photos. When I took out a note-book to jot down some observations, I honestly thought he was going to hit me. So my memories of the place are fuzzy, I'm afraid. The only other place where I've been ordered not to take pictures was at Genk, in Belgium - another delightful zoo! No, I never made Southam, but I've heard tales of its wonderfulness. Looking at the photos and film of Plymouth Zoo which have been put on the internet by some chap (I forget the address, but there's a link somewhere on Zoobeat), that was hardly at the cutting edge of modern zoo design either. What else would rank as the worst Britsih zoo of modern times? Basildon?
Having never visited Basildon, Southam or any of the others mentionet i cant say however they all look/ sound horrible. Glasgow was picked on a lot aswell and some of the enclosures at Dartmoor were very bad, actually no, a lot of the enclsoures at Dartmoor were bad. The worst zoo i've visisted though is a zoo which i dont think a lot will have heard of. The Animalarium at Borth, it's been a while since my visit since i only visited once for obvious reasons. The collection was of fairly common zoo animals. Lemurs, Capuchins, Monkeys, Parrots, Llamas, Domestic Aniamals, Racoons, Reptiles, a small cat species and probably a few others aswell. Tiny enclosures especially for primates, the cages and housing was so tiny it was unbealiable. Visitors were also allowed to feed animals. There was a set list of which animals to feed and which not to. Do you think the public listened? Off course not and lemurs and monkeys were begging for food throughth cage mesh. Awful place.
At its worst, Glasgow was a shocker - although there were things about it, especially when Graham Law was working in the carnivore section, which were very good indeed. The last visit I made, shortly before it closed, was just awful. A car boot sale had taken over the car park. There were pheasants in the old cat house. The polar bear pit, which had been converted into a wonderful thing for ocelots (or margays) was empty (but full of litter). The tropical house was falling down. The whole place was just shabby, shabby, shabby. Borth Animalarium - even the name is enough to make you shudder.
I visited a reptile collection (actually tacked on to shop) in Kendal, Cumbria in 2002. It was all inside with a long row of boring tanks where you couldn't see any animals (hiding under the only vegetation or rock provided) or otherwise the exhibits were empty (including an obvious ex-marmoset aviary without any natural light). I don't believe that it is still open, but there were tourist signs in the town's centre.
the true sign of a zoofreak... You mention some other 'shockers'- its interesting that Glasgow was so bad as it was actually a larger zoo whereas the others were mostly small private collections. Glasgow was indeed awful- I only went once and was shocked at the state of things generally- especially having previously read erudite articles and features written by the Director, which would never give you any inkling of how bad things were there. He must have been in denial, I think. Southam was pretty grim from memory too. Many of these places are thankfully long gone while Dartmoor is in the process of a quite public 'revamp'. Are there any 'shockers' among our smaller Uk zoos that are still in existence?
people in glass houses.... I know my place has its faults but I didn't like Mole hall wildlife park much, just my opinion. Basildon was notreous and we actually took some of their animals in years ago, the oddest set up and really rather grim.
Beaver Water World......also sea life centres always seem to get overlooked. Many have penguin/otter facilities very recently constructed that I think would be severely criticised if they were in a zoo, but for some reason being an aquarium seems to leave them slightly unnoticed.
Yes, as far as I know Mole Hall is still there. And still pretty awful. The chimpanzee enclosure in particular is just horrible. It makes me laugh when I read that this place specialises in otters – it conjures up an image of some sort of otter paradise. The reality on my last visit – ten years ago – was of ‘pools’ that looked like drinking troughs for cattle. And Basildon! Just totally awful. I can’t think of a single redeeming feature about the place. No loss at all when that one closed down. Trigger - you said your place has its faults. What is your place?
I may be wrong but think the original owner died and its nowadays carried on by his widow?)- perhaps an unequal struggle. I don't remember it being so bad when I went but that was a VERY long time ago now...
I would agree that Beaver Water World pretty bad but also the mammal enclosures at Eagle Heights in Kent (absolutely the worst otter & meerkat enclosures I have ever seen) and now they have cheetahs!! Broxbourne Zoo was probably the worst I have ever visited (1980s) but now transformed into Paradise Park is OK if a little small for hoofstock.
