Just a couple of updates to start the thread Manor House has now gained full EAZA membership White Rhino will be arriving later this month (1:0 from South Lakes and 1:0 from Colchester) A major new species for the park
Nice to see them actually adding species to the collection at long last,just think how many they could add if they did up the old walled garden,which they closed very soon after they took over!
Slight delay with the White Rhino: 8th June is now the current target date for both moves (assuming everything goes to plan)
Totally agree here zoogiraffe- As far as I can see the collection has far from flourished since they took over, seemingly having been greatly reduced. Closing the walled garden was a shame and a real testament to there amateur approach-the thinking animals should not be in traditional 'zoo' cages. I think its a similar situation at Dartmoor, where you also have a totally unqualified zoo director making decisions based on his own idealistic view of 'what animals like' and rows of empty cages deemed unsuitable for use. Are the primates at Manor House and Dartmoor really that much happier now they have been 'liberated' from there cages and moved to moated or hot wired areas of grass?? I doubt it. JZ
Was the Walled Garden at Manor House unsafe in any way? Otherwise their sheltered locations are ideal for Bird Aviaries, Marmosets and Tamarins and other small sun-loving mammal species like Mongooses or Lemurs. Cotswold probably have the very best example of what can be done. Maybe it was too expensive for MH to do it up again but IMO they have lost a lot of potential if they don't intend to re-use it ever. I think Dartmoor did a good job with their Vervet(?)Monkey enclosure though I haven't seen where they lived before. I think whether 'open' enclosures are better for Primates depends on how much climbing ability they allow, probably this is at least as, if not more, important than the extra space.
An ownership should know their limitations ... I guess. Agree re. walled garden area ... a real shame!
No the actual walled gardens were not un-safe for visitors,although some of the enclosures were starting to show their age,and were in need of a major rebuild to bring them up to standards.It was closed more because the new owners didn't like the idea of keeping animals in cages!
Made my first visit to Manor House today, and wow, it's a really lovely place, one of the best looking zoo's i've been to, But animal wise it's lacking, in fact i'd say it's one of poorest collections i've ever been to. I hope they get more species in because i felt short changed, but well done to all concerned on the design and work that has gone into the park.
I have posted a number of photos from my visit a couple of days ago . Not a lot to report . Everything looks OK . Bull-dozers have been working on Prezewalski Horse paddock and behind the House , no idea what for . The old Reptile House has opened as a Hatchery . A scimitar-horned oryx has been born and the female red-fronted lemur is heavily pregnant . The flamingos have gone . It is more expensive to visit here than Folly Farm . They are very different , but you get far more for your money at FF .
A male Damara Zebra has arrived. Unlike the parks current males this one is intact and they intend to breed from him...
Manor House is due to join the EEP for Sumatran Tigers this summer: A male and female will arrive as a potential breeding pair - these will be the first big cats housed in the collection Rarest big cat in the world to be part of a new breeding programme at Anna Ryder Richardson's Zoo - Wales Online
Well that's a definite shock, maybe so they can compete with Folly Farm's incoming lions? Also, love the headline of the article; I know Sumatran tigers are rare but surely their population hasn't suddenly plunged below the numbers of the Amur or Arabian leopard?
A bit of a pattern here ? Manor House have white rhinos , Folly Farm are getting black rhinos this year . Folly Farm got lions last year , now Manor House are getting Sumatran tigers .
Or indeed - using the popular conception of a "big cat" rather than the accurate definition of a member of the Panthera - the Asiatic Cheetah.
