Maybe he means improving staff retention, boosting staff morale and fixing some of the immediate concerns on site at PZ e.g. Orang islands, Giraffe & camel area, empty enclosures and completing big cat moves. Finding some investment to increase revenue would be sensible i.e. glamping camp like WildPlace & Durrell ?
I am quite surprised Paignton don't do camping already, London manage it on a much smaller site. I think it would be a brilliant way to boost revenue after the last year.
Yes, it's a good idea and there are several large empty enclosures that could be used, as long as slopes aren't a problem eg the former lechwe field, the zebra field - only the lower third is in use now and the zebra are supposed to be moving in with the giraffe. Local residents might object of course. Most of the parrots have gone and the nearby tortoise enclosure is out of use - that's a rare flat bit of land that also has access to the carpark and isn't adjacent to local residents, and probably already has utility services available.
@Gigit I've just had a brilliant idea that builds on your already fantastic idea. Could the former indoor Tortoise (Giraffe) enclosure be converted into holiday homes with the outside enclosure becoming a Glamping \Yert camp? The former surrounding Parrot enclosures could be demolished to become an out of hours restaurant and shop selling essentials for the people staying on the Zoo grounds.
@Rajang21 I was indeed referring to the Giant Tortoise enclosure. @Rajang21 as you can probably tell by my inaccuracy I haven’t visited Paignton Zoo for over a year at least. Thanks for pointing out my mistake. I don’t mean to sound stupid but what Tortoise enclosure was @Gigit talking about?
Does Simon Tongue’s positive blog post, mean that I can now breathe a sigh of relief as Paignton Zoo is now out of danger of permanent closure?
@Pertinax unfortunately my health has been poor and now the Coronavirus has hit the nation. Both of thease factors mean that I haven’t been able to visit eather Paignton or Dartmoor Zoo for ages. @Pertinax please don’t fret as I’ll be visiting both of these wonderful Zoo’s when my health,The Coronavirus and the weather allows!!
Although the glamping sounds good I'd guess that the security issues being in the south coast would be an issue. I remember when shaldon had animals stolen it was a case of several sites along the south coast were hit over a few consecutive nights leading to alot of investment into security systems. If this could be worked around sounds like a great idea in the school holidays and a good income.
I excitedly clicked on 'Keep an eye out for what's coming in 2021' on the website only to discover this: "In 2021, we're hoping to be able to run more of our standard plan of events, depending on the restrictions in place with the Covid-19 pandemic. Please continue to keep an eye out on our social media channels and our Events webpage for the latest updates."
It’s good, and there is a tortoise one too! Good on the zoo - this is a good move forward & should be supported.
The latest video from the zoo, featuring the Bongo: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=363544518082388
How did they become reduced to a single female and now just one pair? Didn't they have over half a dozen or more until quite recently?
I have a note that there were 0.4 in February 2018. I believe two died during the infamous Beast From The East storm in March that year, and another died in April 2019. The last male died in 2014 so having a new one is quite something! Let's hope Azizi can cope with the new experience!
I'm sure I've seen more than 4 on past visits- more like 6 or 7. So possibly/probably there were a couple more deaths of females between 2014 - 2018.
