Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News 2015

A 2015 thread needed to be made so i thought i would start it of. Visited today and have a couple of points.

Firstly, there was a crate in the 2nd anteater enclosure and i could find the anteater in the 2nd enclosure. Has or is she moving anywhere?
Secondly, gloria and wendy have been seperated. Gloria was in the middle pen and wendy in the left one. Anyone know why they've been seperated... Is gloria moving or was it that time like in the wild where they would leave mum? Also i only saw two snow leopards today. I could tell there were not the cubs, have they moved collection yet? In the 2 visits i made in two months, The rhinos were only allowed access to there house and yard, not the grass pen which the oryx were in, are they ever allowed in the grassy pen as they will eventually be mixed together wont they for wild explorers?

Also quick question, wild explorers marks the start of a 17 millon pound investment for marwell over the next ten years. After wild explorers, a 4 million pound tropical house will be bulit but dose any one know what other things will be built/improved?
Many thanks guys xo

 

I know that criticising Marwell is just too easy, but this plan - which I have heard mentioned else where - just makes my soul shrink, a little.

£4 million is a lot of money. It would go an awfully long way to addressing some of the issues that hinder Marwell at the moment. Proper viewing of the valley field could be constructed. Some of the really horrible scruffy areas of the zoo could be sorted out. Something could be done with the area just beyond the entrance. Dare I say it, but some of the empty exhibits in, for example, the bongo and buffalo house, could be filled. And there would be a great deal of change left over.

Instead, it'll be a tropical house - and my guess would be that £4 million, substantial sum though it is, won't go very far in this direction. So we'll get a nice, big greenhouse, an improvement, certainly, on the tropical house that the zoo currently has, but nothing earth shattering. Forty million might bring about such a thing, but four million? I can't see it. An unfair comparison, possibly, but I wonder how much the Yorkshire Wildlife Park have spent on their tiger, baboon, lion and bear exhibits - all of which would fit in very well at Marwell.

The place never ceases to baffle!

 

You beat me to it! They could probably build a lion and a bear enclosure for less than a quarter of the cost of the New tropical house and the change would go a long way towards paying for a great ape facility! All species that a zoo of Marwell's size should hold.

 

I have never had a lot to do with Marwell, perhaps that stems from the seventies when on holiday as a kid , I was not really, interested then because it did not have elephants, much preferred Cricket St. Thomas. Present day I find it very sad that a respected member of zoochat who does not just come on here to spout S*** states that he is not renewing his annual subscription after deliberating this matter for some time , I conclude from this that there is definitely something wrong by your writings.

 

The tropical house seems a crazy investment, the current tropical house has been in decline with various species leaving it over the years, I don't see the point of building a new one when for a fraction of the cost they could do the current one up, add some new species, bring monkeys back in. They also have a reptile barn in the encounter area, I don't know what they are aiming at with a new tropical house, it won't add much. Some of the recent decisions have really baffled me, as has been said, the money could be well spent in many other places, if not keeping species from leaving the collection.

 

The new tropical house should improve the bird, reptile, invert and small mammal/primate collection! Still a lot of money yes, but it's sure to be a vast improvement on the current tropical house!

 

Does John Knowles have any remaining influence concerning the current running of Marwell? The current changes/departures are worrying to say the least.

 

To my knowledge John Knowles has not been back to the park since he left.

 

After the tropical house the next thing could be the

 

After the tropical house the next development could be the Wetlands area at the front of the zoo,walkways would join both sides of the zoo through the flamingos,walk through aviary with other birds taking in the tapirs and on to another new house for pygmy hippo,and maybe a squirrel monkey island so you could walk across from what I call Marwell drive to the south rd,it would seem from the takin area down to the end of the zoo would be closed of and just become a service rd,as people know there are not many animals there now.

 

I really need to stop bothering to read the Marwell threads, I know 90% of news posts will irritate Me!
More money to be wasted on cosmetic changes, with less enclosures, less animals and more empty space! With the proposed changes I've read about already this year, I am so glad I didn't renew that annual pass, I'm not even sure I'll bother with one visit!

 

has anyone tried emailing them asking why so many animals have left?

 

I fully intend to email the zoo advising them why I tore up my renewal form, I have been too busy to do it yet. I am not expecting a reply though!

 

I will try and if i get a reply i will put it on this thread

 

From marwells website:

Experience the African wilderness first hand when we open our brand new and biggest exhibit to date - ‘Wild Explorers’ -in 2015.

Visitors will be immersed in the animals’ environment as they take in some incredible views of white rhino, zebra and scimitar-horned oryx.

The exhibit will provide a range of entertaining activities, both indoors and out, focussed on discovery, learning and the natural history of these magnificent creatures.

Marwell is actively involved in conserving these three species so its setting and design will reveal how we study and observe these animals in the wild.

What’s more, the exhibit will offer covered areas for exhibitions and education sessions plus a new, themed play area for our younger guests.

Wild Explorers marks the start of a £17m investment programme for Marwell Zoo over the next 10 years, creating improved habitats for our animals and more immersive experiences for our visitors.

Wild ExplorersAs soon as Wild Explorers opens in summer 2015, we’ll start work on a new £4m tropical house that will be heated by our own anaerobic digester, powered by our animals’ waste and designed to hold an array of current and new species!

 

There are many fundamental basic problems at Marwell these days, but throwing a lot of money at one or two individual projects is not really the answer. Yes they need to attract people with new exhibits, but they also need to deal with the myriad of smaller issues as well as a top priority.
Sadly John Knowles has nothing to do with the place anymore, which is precisely why it is in the state its in these days. It will never be the same as it once was.

 

Marwell has replied saying that the curator will give me a full explanation soon but to be honest i am not really expecting a reply.

 

There are two curators in fact, but I agree I wouldn`t hold your breath on that reply. But I can guess at what any response might be, and it certainly wouldn`t be anything that would surprise you I am sure.

 

The Animal Inventory for 2014 is now available on Marwell's website via the following link and makes interesting reading:

Marwell Wildlife: Animal List