After making a complete rookie mistake on trying to visit Beale Park today (it's closed for winter, who'd have thought it?), we found ourselves with no zoo to visit, but as we were in the general vicinity of The Living Rainforest, we headed there. We've been there once nearly two years ago, and my boyfriend has been pretty clear that he didn't much like the place. I was willing to give it another try, but was a little reserved, remembering how small it was. Well, it was smaller than I remembered, and nothing much had really changed in two years. The toucan aviary had been updated with new mesh, with a sign announcing it as a new exhibit for 2018 (otherwise it looked the same). The new extension from a few years back has lost species already, no marsh crabs, the varanus species replaced with a green iguana, no visible mudskippers. The snake enclosures in the far corner were interesting for comparing two species of tree boas, but otherwise not much to mention. There are some free flying birds, including a rather impressive Yellow-knobbed Curassow, but it could do with a few more small, active species to add interest This visit I also noticed now uninspiring some of the planting is. For somewhere touting itself as a rainforest, seeing standard garden centre species hanging in the pots they were purchased in just looked shoddy (for the record, I've worked in a Botanic garden and visited many others, and grow orchids and carnivorous plants at home, so I know it doesn't take too much to make and keep planting looking nice. I recognised some species still in the pots they came in as the same as specimens in my own collection). I'm not saying there aren't impressive specimen plants there, but they could be presented in a much more inspired way. The price is also quite high for what is an hour-long visit, although every ticket is automatically a year pass. It's somewhere I wouldn't mind popping into on the way back from somewhere else, but I don't think it's somewhere to actively aim for in its own right. It does seem to have a loyal base of local visitors, and the kids we saw there seemed to love it. It would be good if they stopped people taking buggies in, the paths are just too narrow for them. So, after this unintended second visit, I can now see more of the flaws my partner saw last time. In my opinion though the place has potential, and with a bit of tidying up, more 'levels' for ticket types to reduce cost for one-off visits, more inspired planting, a few more birds, and maybe even some outside exhibits if possible, the place could be much better and aim higher than it currently does.
Do they still have the pair of Tocu Toucan, or is the exhibit empty with where it says it's been revamped ?
This is interesting to read. I am going there in a few days, as I will happen to be in the area, and have never been before. I won't be raising my hopes too high!
Thanks , it looks like going by the map, the new toucan exhibit has replaced the old one. With one Channel Billed Toucan replacing the pair of Tocu's . I love Tocu's as they are very friendly and bouncy, but the Channel Billed is one of the larger toucans and they don't fly much, so it kinda makes sense them going down that route.
If you love them, I’m sure you’ll want to get their name right: they’re Toco Toucans, not Tocu. Wasn’t Tocu a villain in Breaking Bad?
I was very pleased to have read Crowthorne's mini review before visiting, I felt I went in with realistic expectations when I visited this morning. With the best will in the world and if I'd have tried my best, I couldn't have spent more than the 30-40 minutes we were there, and that was with taking time to photograph / video as many of the animals as possible. It's a perfectly pleasant place which makes for an entertaining diversion, but I don't think there was much, if anything, animal-wise that can't be easily seen elsewhere, and I am afraid I am not terribly interested in the plants. My main gripe is the cost. First of all they try and force you to get the "annual pass" which requires them taking all your contact details. I didn't want to give away my details just for a one-off visit and they begrudgingly admitted I could have just a day pass (same price) but they would need a manager to run this through. Secondly, why does it cost more than Linton Zoo, which has lions, tigers, snow leopards, etc? Why does it cost more than Crocodiles of the World (which you could argue is more comparable with their heated interiors and large amounts of water - though CotW is larger and has more animals)?
Visited this week. Agree with all of the above comments. I had to visit because it was a zoo I had not visited but can not imagine going back. Saw a mudskipper.
I have not visited this place in a few years - though given I am in the general area of this location, I supposed I would give some of my general thoughts. The Living Rainforest is something of a, as @BeakerUK puts it, a 'perfectly pleasant place' - in that if one takes it as it is, a fairly-well done educational display about rainforests, then it is something of a pleasant attraction in itself - for most families in the area without much access to the rainforest, the attraction is executed quite well - and I feel I should give additional applause to the fact the attraction does not exploit 'Hollywood Geography' to any excessive degree, as can be found with other collections, [Amazon World Zoo, perhaps?] and, as opposed to other similar 'little rainforests' does not feel the need to shoehorn in a desert section as so they can have the obligatory meerkat exhibit. These are good points I will commend it for. Though, as a zoological attraction, it does, from what I can recall, feel a tad undercooked - the number of '900 species of animals and plants' given on their website appears impressive at a first glance - but it shouldn't take one too long to realise a good 800+ of these are, invariably, plants - leaving about 40 or so species of animal. The size is actually not far off Marwell's own Tropical House [perimeter ~155 metres] - The greenhouses at TLR have a combined perimeter of ~148 metres - 2 larger ones, which are roughly equal in size, and a third, smaller [~40 metres perimeter] greenhouse, which is home to the recently-opened Islands exhibit. The space can seem a bit under-utilised, perhaps - the outdoor area, I feel, could have some interesting animal exhibit of its own. But, as an educational attraction, I feel it works fairly well. As for zoo-enthusiasts - I find it perfectly pleasant as a 'side-dish', though not so much as a 'main course'.
