Tilgate definitely needs some money put into it, but I don't think Crawley is the best place for the attraction.
This is a great shame, and typical of the small-mindedness that benights our country. Tilgate Park Nature Centre is really pretty ghastly. It needs investment, or closure. Laurence Smith (owner fo Drusillas) is no zoologist, but he knows how to run a good zoo. This could have been really pretty exciting. And it would have given me a local zoo! Oh well. A few over-grown paddocks for domestic stock, a crappy waterfowl lake, and a few red squirrels can still be seen for free. Hurrah!
- The zoo now has 2.0 golden lion tamarins. They have been mixed with the saki monkeys. When the saki exhibit was originally built, the sakis were mixed with golden-headed tamarins but they didn't mix well so the tamarins left the zoo. Drusillas previously kept golden lion tamarins in the late 1980s for a short time. - They now seem to have cuisamese where the tree shrews were, ISIS no longer records any tree shrews so I assume they have left the collection after only a short stay - 4 young rhinoceros iguanas have arrived recently. I think they are in the old crocodile pool, which IMO was way too small for (even dwarf) crocociles. ISIS no longer shows crocodiles as present at the collection. - A male sloth is due to arrive as a mate for the female. She is mixed with the bats in their walkthrough and was the first sloth at the park AFAIK. - The elderly pair of rockhopper penguins were on eggs as of 27/03 - A litter of (3) fennec fox cubs was born in April, I think the third for the park.
Further details about the male Sloth... He will be on loan for the time being but should Paignton manage to get another female sourced then he will probably return to Devon as a mate for her Paignton Zoo sloth Seb's on the slow road to romance in Sussex | This is South Devon
5.0 Rodrigues Fruit Bats have arrived from Durrell Five Flying Foxes Swoop in for Halloween - Days Out in Sussex, The Best Fun Family & Childrens Days Out
0.1 Red Panda (Mulan) arrived from Paignton to join the male who came from France last year. Both are now on show in a newly opened exhibit
Can anybody please describe exactly where the new red panda enclosure is situated within the zoo? There was talk of redeveloping the area between the bat house and the penguins where rabbits and guinea pigs lived in an area resembling Telly Tubby Land.
I haven't been recently, but from the link below it looks like they are in the former raccoon enclosure (which was itself adapted from the original exhibit - 'Otter Valley' for river otters): Red Panda arrival - ITV News
Absolutely right Johnstoni, I went today and had a good look at the new exhibit. The raccoons that formerly inhabited this enclosure have been moved in with the coati's (and seem to be getting along well with them) and the enclosure has been redesigned for the pandas. Quite heavy use of hot wires on the trees so that the pandas can't go up very high, but overall they've made a good job of it.
That's a shame, I think if you're going to situate a red panda enclosure in an area with trees, at least give them access, rather than making it look like they do.
They have access about half way up the trees, then the hot wires are attached. I guess it stops them from being clear of the enclosure when they wonder along the limbs of the tree and limits the chance of escape. I have to say the pandas were very active when I visited, both climbing and moving around on the ground.
Racoons on the loose: One has now been caught within the zoo... 2nd is still on the run Racoons escape from Sussex zoo park (From The Argus)
Surely it would cost less to just trim the branches back from the edge of the enclosure, thus allowing them access to the whole tree and no electricity bills for the hot wire?!
