Saw the two new giraffes today, beautiful boys. I was really impressed with the house. Very spacious. A large area, then some individual pens at the back. There are a lot of mobile feeders suspended from the ceiling. I liked the large outdoor area too, though it doesn't look quite finished outside yet.
Are there any "future" plans to have an African savannah area up there (over the fence). It is now somewhat at the back of the zoo, whereas the nyala / zebra area is in the central part. The map drawn up does not show anything there though …. I would think that the area behind the Asiatic elephants would be filled with some Indian subcontinent style themed animal exhibit (previously …). What do you all think! All the same: nice to know the Giraffe House looking so well. Any pictures?!!
It does seem a little odd, and will now clash with thr rather good in places Indian theme going off that side of the elephants. The masterplan labels that entire area, including the zebra enclosure as Elephant Creek. Perhaps they'll do a little work to merge the continental themes... but I doubt it too much and I guess swapping out the herd for African elephants has slim to zero chance of happening.
I'm really not sure about the future plans. There is a small section (very small) behind one of the viewing platforms, I was wondering if they were going to use it for a feeding experience, like Chester. The enclosure seems to go right up to the fence line, so they couldn't ecoand that way, though there's plenty of room going behind it towards where Kuno would have gone. I was wondering if they might link them up to the grass paddock that the elephants use. Though this is just speculation I've put a couple of pics from my phone in the gallery
I thought the fenceline (with conifer hedge) alongside the Giraffe paddock is the Zoo boundary. No? There appears to be a lane running along the other side of it. There is a small section of undeveloped ground between the tapered end of the Giraffe paddock and the main road though. I wasn't sure why the Giraffe paddock has not extended to incorporate that too. Presumably its earmarked for something else. This enclosure is very much 'at the back' of the Zoo now. There is also some conflict of zoning now- African Giraffe alongside Asian Elephants.
you betcha... I can't see that happening in a month of Sundays. The current set-up means geographical zoning is next to impossible. I think the zone names maybe reflect that.
I too wondered about opening up the grass elephant paddock as they seem to rarely use it. If the could fit in a house for the zebra at the back corner, the giraffes/zebra could share an extended "Savannah". This opens up a fair bit of space in the centre of the zoo for redevelopment. The land for Kuno is where Kingdom of the Apes will go.
That would all be possible. They might have to level the grass paddock more though to make it suitable for hoofed stock. It would also deny the Elephants valuable space though I agree it does seem rather underused (closed off) at present.
Thank you Maz for your information regarding the new giraffe house. I see there are two animals in residence at the moment, are they to be joined by a third later or they are just keeping two?Interesting that you describe the outside enclosure as spacious, however Pertinax described it as adequate only after his recent visit, I have never known him be wrong in the past when commenting on anything here.
I think the Elephants need the ditches that were built into the design of the paddock. Giraffe need a flatter surface if accidents are to be avoided. I can't see them ever being able to share usage of the same area.
Having visited today, I was fairly impressed by the New giraffe accomodation. The paddock, though not massive, is several times larger than the old one and the house much larger too. I would say the facility compares favourably with most of the ones built in the last 20 years in the UK, or those that I've seen at least.
This plan from Weedon Architects shows us what to expect next year. It shows phase one of Kingdom of the Apes... or Chimpanzee Eden. Pretty impressive scale. I really do hope we get phase two too! http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/images/HIGH368466_932411.jpg
'Chimpanzee Eden' plan shows two seperate islands for two Chimp groups, not one single large one as I had previously hoped they might attempt. There could be several reasons for that though, including; 1. Eventually keeping pure 'Western' Chimps in one group, and their current generics in the other( as these slowly die off from age, there will be less than now obviously). or 2. Being able to continue keeping the two main groups in the two current houses seperate with no need to attempt further major integration (though the ones in the colony building are still in two seperate groups afaik.) 3. Easier to manage in 2 subgroups, or some other reason I haven't yet thought of...
I would think too one of the Chimp exhibits is eventually planned for a pure-bred breeding group of chimps. This could be verus, it could equally be troglodytes or schweinfurthi as all 3 ssp. can now be identified and the studbookkeeper is planning to create breeding groups for the troglodytes and schweinfurthi too. This rationale - whereas not based on any factual evidence or communications from TWZ - goes down to the fact …, why intend to build 2 chimp exhibits with a slowly aging population from which you will never will breed at all. That would leave one exhibit empty in future and not a good investment for the future. For now, I guess … it is to get all the chimps out of the outmoded stale enclosure rings they have been in for the greater part of their lives. As such it is quite rightly a huge improvement of the chimp accommodation of the day.
It does seem to be the way most Zoos with large Chimp groups are going. Being so long-lived,the changeover to 'purebreds' has of necessity to be very gradual, but I suspect that this may be the longterm aim behind this plan. Of course they could always turn two islands into one if need be at sometime in the future.
Having two islands and two large indoor halls obviously allows the chimps to be kept in two groups: however it does not preclude running all the animals together and allowing them to choose their area and their companions, provided there are sufficient passageways between the different areas (as in Budongo in Edinburgh). I can't see enough detail on these plans to tell if this could be possible with this design, but I hope that thought has been given to allowing the new building to be used flexibly. Alan
Given that I suspect - I dunno for sure for now - that a good number of the TWZ chimpanzees have been checked up too recently, it is now possible to distinguish between hybrid and pure-bred chimpanzees. The long term aim undoubtedly will be to maintain 2 groups of chimpanzees indefinitely. As the breeding program requires both space for maintaining the hybrids in good chimp exhibits for a good number of years and NEW accommodation for absorbing the identified individual chimpanzees of known lineage / subspecifically identified genetics into socially functional breeding groups. With TWZ having conservation relations in situ it is one of those prime centers able and probably very keen to do so. If and when the Chimp Eden opens you may expect to see chimpanzees on site leave their current housing into the new realms. With planning for Chimp Eden you should see some transfers in and out of the TWZ collection from just prior to filling up the new Chimp Eden with chimps and on opening or just thereafter. Given that TWZ has an in situ project with great apes in Cameroun it would be fair to assume the pure-bred group will be from the troglodytes subspecies (the Nigerian subspecies vellerosus might also be a candidate long term, but individuals in captivity in European zoos are few, if any.
I wonder... comparatively few Great Apes have ever left Twycross over the years unless its been absolutely necessary e.g. male Gorillas, male Orangutan etc+ just a few others. I think they may well keep all(?)of the 23/24 Chimps they currently have- unless any of them are wanted/could be satisfactorily placed elsewhere. So I think maybe the 'purebred' part theory could be later down the line. We will have to see but meanwhile it will be interesting to see how it all pans out with time.
