Black wildebeest at Newquay According to their news page, they currently have 1.3 plus this new calf( it says they were hoping for a female as a male would have to go elsewhere later as they can't have two males together). This raises a few questions as the pair(?) from Marwell were moved here also. So has one of the two adult males died and if so, which one? Or did one of them go as the replacement animal to Trotters/Lake District Park? And is the female that has just given birth one of their original ones, or the Marwell one? Finally, is the new calf fathered by the existing male they have, or the one they(evidently) haven't got now?
Newquay by a newbie When I took out membership at Paignton last year, I knew that free visits to Newquay were one of the benefits, but I didn't manage to get there until yesterday. Luckily I picked a very good day for my first visit with nice mild weather, diffuse sunlight and the zoo was only moderately busy (I hear that it can get very crowded in the summer). My first impressions were that the outside of the zoo looks pretty awful, but the inside is much nicer. The gardens and planting were nice, although some of aviaries were rather overgrown at the end of the season. I managed to arrive a few minutes after opening and to leave a few minutes before closing time, seeing almost all the animals and taking an embarrassing number of photos. Urban zoos like Newquay always have a problem of fitting exhibits and gardens into a limited space. The Newquay combination of one large paddock with smaller displays is an unusual one. I liked the chance to watch the black wildebeest which are spirited creatures when they start to move around - but when all the animals are inactive, it seems rather a waste of space. Some of the other exhibits are generously sized, particularly the newer ones like the fishing cat enclosure (although I did not even see a whisker), the macaw aviary and the crested macaque pit. I felt that the older monkey enclosures were OK for the pairs of capuchins and group of squirrel monkeys. The lion and lynx enclosures are just about adequate, in my opinion, because cats are such lazy creatures. On the other hand, although the Tropical House is nice I couldn't help feeling that it would be even nicer if it were 20% larger. Likewise the islands for the lemurs, marmosets and tamarins are not very large or particularly attractive although they do allow some privacy for the animals and good views for the public. Incidentally I think that the recent dry weather had affected water levels, if the marmosets had been brave enough they could almost have waded across their moat without getting very wet. The tapir and capybara pool had a notice saying that it had been drained for cleaning and it was just mud. The animals were on their hard standing and the emperor tamarins from the island were in pen behind the ring-tailed lemurs. I did like some of the mixed exhibits: such as the meerkats and yellow mongoose and the African aviary behind it, although I wish that it were a little larger too with rather less luxuriant vegetation; it was nice to see cordon bleu, munias, Namaqua doves and white eyes. Likewise the parrot combination of scarlet macaws, blue-throated conures and spectacled parrotlets made a nice display. The other obvious examples are the Madagascar exhibits with crowned lemurs and narrow-striped mongooses enjoying a pile of dead leaves as enrichment and then the Madagascar lovebirds with the greater vasa parrots, which are old favourites of mine, there are said to be partridges in the aviary as well but the grass was too long to see them. Of course there are some older exhibits that are not particularly spacious or attractive; some are due to be replaced when old animals pass on and funds allow, as discussed in previous threads here. Leaving the best until last, I had seen the Owston's palm civets asleep in their ingenious nest box (which has a mirror so they can be sen without disturbing them). But when I returned about 4pm they were awake and grooming each other. I took a quick tour of the Tropical House and returned about 4.30. The Prevost's squirrels which share their enclosure were active so I watched them and after a few minutes a civet emerged for a moment. Then a keeper came to feed them just outside their house and I was able to shoot quite a few photos. For the record they got some unidentifiable meat (I think) plus a couple of mice and a large handful of earthworms. The photo below is a taster, more to follow Alan
I do believe that photograph is worthy of that rarest thing, a Lucky Bastard award relating to a taxon that I *have* seen a bloody nice taxon at that.
The Crested Macaque enclosure was originally designed for Himalayan Bears. The Monkey cages are okay for the smaller species they have now, but in the past housed at different times, up to six Diana Monkeys, a pair of Sooty Mangabeys- and later the Red Capped Mangabeys that went on to Paignton, and even a pair of young Chimps- one was born at Bristol Zoo. The Lions used to occupy the very small round-shaped enclosure near their current one- I can't remember what is in there now. Small cats? It was definately too small for a Lion. I first went to Newquay zoo circa the early 1970's. It was originally council run and was very small indeed then, both in area and in the animal stock held. But both have been enlarged over the years and its not a bad little place at all now.
I did know this, I was trying to imply that it had been remodelled for the macaques, although it probably didn't need much. I agree with your other comments. Newquay certainly gave me a good 7 hours of entertainment yesterday. Thank you, but wait until you have seen the other photos Actually not all my luck was good. I had to go because some feeble-minded jobsworth decided to close the road past my new home for the whole day to hold a triathlon (it sounds like a bit of Stonehenge, but I believe that it's some form of exploitation for poor souls who want three times less fun than a half-marathon!). I had to sneak round the Road Closed signs at 6.30 am to escape! Alan
Did you happen to observe whether or not the singleton Hoffman's Sloth was still present, incidentally?
I didn't see it, but there was a lot of foliage at the top of the tree in the Tropical House which could have hidden several sloths. I did see some lettuce in a feeder high on the wall beside a branch, which might have been sloth food. Alan
The sloth was there and quite active when we went in mid-September. I think we were lucky, it was hiding in a corner when we first entered the tropical house but came down while my other half was taking photos of the chevrotain and came really close. By the time we were ready to leave, it was back up in the corner and I doubt you'd have seen it!
Nice shot of the sloth, that when I visited it was asleep on top of the roof of a vivarium - so was pretty easy to see!
The male Lion (Samson) was transferred to Dartmoor today following problems between him and the female who arrived earlier in the year
I really hope the zoo now makes the long overdue decision to cease keeping lions, and instead devote this cage to a species better suited to it.
It appears Newquay will continue to hold Lions, the plan (According to their Facebook page) is to acquire the current female's brother from Longleat for companionship.
Don't know, but for some reason the name change was decided before he arrived Statement from Newquay confirming a replacement male lion has already been sourced (brother of the current female) This morning Samson, our 7 year old male lion left Newquay Zoo and this afternoon he settled into his new home at Dartmoor Zoological Park. We hoped Samson would bond with our new lioness Amahle but sadly that didn't happen so we had to find him a new home and this is the perfect solution for both lions. Samson's new enclosure is alongside a female lioness named Josie so the two lions are able to interact through the fencing. If they bond well the zoo will be able to keep them together in the same enclosure but at the moment they are giving them time to get to know each other. We will keep you up to date on Samson's progress over the next few weeks. We now plan to bring Amahle's brother from Longleat as company for her, we will let you know when this is likely to happen as soon as we finalise the plans
As one who knows the place better than most (certainly me!), what species would you suggest? There should (just) be enough space for a large carnivore at Newquay, would you agree?
