Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News 2019

I wasn't comparing it as a collection! I was saying the set up was similar !

 

I don't think anyone would disagree that Marwell has potential - but going by recent form, if any of the above come to fruition I will eat my hat... and yours too.

 

Well you did say the exhibits and range of animals are like Whipsnade's - so I'm sorry but I'm a bit confused by what you are trying to say.

 

Come on, you can't criticise Pipaluk for disliking Marwell for not being what it once was and then defend it by suggesting what it might be.

All of the things you suggest would make Marwell a really nice place but their recent record of developments and speed of developments is not good.

 

Thanks Shorts, my reasons for criticising Marwell so often are simply that it could and should be so much better than it currently is.
For the first time in over a decade I didn't visit last year as a protest against the ridiculous amount of money spent on the tropical House which really added very little for the cost (and I've heard this from several sources).
I don't hate Marwell, I actually care about the place, just have no faith in those who have led it into a downward spiral.

 

A couple of comments after a quick read of the above:
I have an in-law relation who knows nothing about zoos except that 'they're places for taking children' and she thinks Marwell is wonderful. Probably the ideal visitor as far as zoos are concerned.
Paignton is a bit of a sad place at the moment, but only if you know what's going on with the TB. There is still a lot to enjoy, however, even when you are aware. It's been busy this week and I haven't overheard anything negative.

 

I think a lot of people would enjoy Marwell. It was heaving there yesterday.

I was at Paignton last week, was also quite busy. They really need to sort the cafe out though. Queuing for 45 minutes to get food on a weekday in winter really isn't ideal and having one till for card, and one for cash is also a nightmare.

 

They seem to try to get by with the bare minimum of staff in Paignton's restaurant, out of the summer season. It does need a shake-up and don't get me started on some of the staff who don't know how to make different types of coffee. I think the till problem might have been beyond their control - it's not normal practice.

 

Paignton(whatever its current problems in the mammal department), is I think, far more of a rounded Zoological collection than Marwell will ever be, due to its antiquity. Plus Marwell was set up intentionally with just Cats and Ungulates as the specific focus, modelled on Al Oemings 'Game Farm' in Canada(?). Since then many other unrelated 'fill-in' species have been added- and many subtracted too over the years. Incidentally, regarding the 'deer and horses' remark,- I know it was a throwaway one and for deer read antelope- I don't think there are many(any?) deer species there nowadays? The recent aquisition of three Grants Zebras after jettisoning the Chapman's quite recently, seems to exemplify lack of direction there nowadays too.

However the majority of public will always visit- geographically, zoo visitors tend to just go to their nearest big collection for a visit 'to the zoo'. They may miss a few species but unlike Zoochatters, by and large, are not too concerned or selective about these things.

 

I think it was Roland Lindemann's Catskill Game Farm that inspired John Knowles to build Marwell.

 

Yes, correct, I had the wrong 'game farm.' This was definately the model he was working on. He had little interest in many other species.

 

I know this is a Marwell thread, not a London one, but I am baffled. The Pygmy Hippo exhibit at London is rather good, in my opinion, with a decent amount of space, with varied terrain, and a good internal area too. An odd one to pick out to criticise. And when you say that the Okapi space is "boring for them", what do you imagine they might wish to do that they are unable to do at London? It's a fairly standard, lightly undulating paddock - not unlike those at Wild Place, Chester - or, indeed, Marwell.

Good grief! To suggest that there is a correlation between having a healthy interest in maintaining a diverse collection, and displaying that collection in substandard accommodation, is just wrong: you yourself have sung the praises of Hamerton, for example. And as for the names things.... A rose by any other name would smell as sweet - it is exceptionally naive to believe that because somewhere chooses to label itself a "wildlife park" or even - heaven forfend! - a "sanctuary", it is materially different in any way to a "zoo".

 

I agree. Some years ago Marwell was much better. Many exhibits are not as good as they were at one time. I was unimpressed, especially considering what it costs to get in!

 

Marwell staff happy despite getting a Christmas present that really stinks

 

Please clarify; what do you mean by this statement?

 

They've replaced one group of Plains Zebra with another. Why remove the Chapmans in that case?

 

The Tropical House was to be built on part of the Chapman's zebra paddock and the construction site required the remaining space so the zebra needed to be moved. As another collection was keen to acquire a group of zebra they were relocated there. Marwell never planned to go out of having 3 zebra species, hence the arrival of the new animals.

 

Thanks for the explanation. I don't know if this was mentioned publicly at the time the Chapman's left, but you can see why it might seem like an 'about turn' without knowing that. I can't change the particular comment in relation to that move now unfortunately, but would obviously rescind it if I could.

I remember the Chapman's from their initial arrival. The original stallion lived many years in retirement at Whipsnade I believe and reached a longevity record for the species. Its a pity they (the descendants) have left Marwell but where have they gone to?

 

Port Lympne along with the last male Congo Buffalo.

 

Indeed this stallion is listed in "Longevity of Mammals in Captivity" (Weigl; 2005) as holding the longevity record for a Chapman's zebra. According to this book, he arrived at Marwell on 12th January 1970 and was sent to Whipsnade on 18th July 1991 where was was still alive on 12th August 2004 at an estimated age of thirty-six. And he lived for some years after this.