I suspect others readers of these thread do too. Presumably these decisions were made by the two different managements, one before and one after the changeover.
I assume so and for one am glad it is so. Of some importance - I believe - was the departure from the untenable primate zoo of the world tag and a more general zoo appeal. Not that TWZ will completely depart from primates, I would say that on the basis of the plans put forward they would like to make them more appealing to the general public. It would be nice if the exhibit design as proposed for gibbons will be used for other future primate areas too. The Chimp Eden and Great Ape area also looks very appealing. Way to go!
For me the Chimpanzee Eden is the best news. I think all those Chimps have lived in poor accomodation for so long now. The Gibbon housing, although old, was not as bad IMO as what the Chimps had- and still have, to a lesser extent.
On a side note, Twycross have posted an update on their website coming the Giraffes have arrived but may not yet be out and about. Plus they've posted some marginally clearer images of the plans also. Message from Sharon Redrobe, CEO | Twycross Zoo *Edited as new plans show much better where Chimpanzee Eden will go. Exciting that it contains new homes for Gorilla's, Bonobo's and the Orangutan's - plus 4-5 other tiny exhibits too. From 2017 Twycross is going to be a very different Zoo!
Looks good-ish (I notice the Ape complex seems to cover the current Gorilla and Chimp (ex Gorilla) enclosures, so it remains to be seen quite how the whole thing's put together). It's really nice to see some serious dynamism at Twcyross after a long time treading water, but.... "The Twycross team have been working hard over the past year to create a masterplan that will take our zoo forward and develop it into one of the best in the UK ( we are already in the top 10)." Come on, in who's opinion? I'd struggle to imagine anyone with an extensive visiting experience of UK zoo's would concur with this. I'd be very happy to see Twycross back in the top 10.
Shorts, they have to drum it up somehow …! We amongst ourselves know that is not so much the case. Probably, the PR department looks at attendance and figures related to size and all and probably you would come up into the top 10-20 grouping. I am seriously hoping some of the old great ape exhibitry will be replaced in order to give it a more challenging feel. I suspect that is also what current management and the Brummie design team are trying to achieve. I noted that for now some of the older orang and chimp buildings will remain - see right hand side of design plan -.
1. Phase 1 is only for Chimps. It appears to leave the existing Chimp and Gorilla houses untouched. I notice two outdoor islands are shown,possibly an insurance against not being able to get all the Chimps into one large group. Again the wide water moats do show just how much land is potentially lost to the Apes by using them 2. Phase 2 is for the other three Ape species as well, and will join up with Phase 1. Phase 2 appears from the plan to cover all the ground where the current Gorilla and Chimpanzee houses are, so they will evidently be demolished completely if/when it gets built. (Hooray!) 3.The CEO message says work on the existing Orangutan house has begun. Not sure if the work is being done with the Orangs still in situ, or whether they have moved. 4. The statement about being in the top 10 zoos is perhaps a slightly exaggerated claim but only to be expected. I found another comment; 2015 is the first step in developing Twycross Zoo into a modern world class conservation park equally telling. Its almost an admission they aren't in that league now, but if they can really pull off all these planned changes, things could really be different there in the future.
I think you can expect the Chimpanzee Eden part by 2017.The rest of the Apes would be later I think (in the planned Phase 2).
Was it not agreed on zoochat a while ago that Twycross did just scrape in on the list of the UK's top ten zoos?,
they will have got it from one of any number of random "top ten" tourist sites on the internet. I found this one in a two second search: Travel tips | Britain for kids & families | Top 10 zoos in Britain
Two interesting things in this plan are the mention of a new penguin enclosure and "Twilight Realm". I'm guessing the Twilight Realm will be something of a replacement for the tropical house.
Fair play to the marketing people then (I'm with the late Bill Hicks in my opinion of those people ). Though I would reiterate my "struggling to imagine anyone with an extensive visiting experience of UK zoo's would concur with this" (it's just got too many "blind spots") I accept that we're not the people making up the vast majority of zoo revenue so I can't be too churlish. Full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes!
interestingly, though, it is not in Tripadvisor's top ten UK zoos (but they have so many categories it could well feature in some other top ten on there).
It seems the zoo is quite serious about the plans they've released so far, and the fact they've delivered on the new Giraffe enclosure and have started work on the Gibbon complex suggests the master plan and Kingdom of the Apes complex is a far more serious project than Kuno or the Gorilla Exhibits of the last few years ever were - so I think we'll see phase two open in 2017/18. It's interesting that there is currently no mention of bringing back major lions or introducing tigers. It's no secret your average visitor wants to see big cats and it's interesting you can see one of the two species Twycross olds for free! I'm hoping as they planned in the past to bring lions and tigers back (with the ill fated Kuno) - they'll be in the master plan again at some stage. Hopefully not too far down the line!
I tend to agree. I think this may really be a metamorphosis for Twycross if it all happens. Here's hoping.... I just wish they didn't use watermoats for the Apes though.
