Yes the Kuno carnivore exhibit did get to this stage, there was also a model of it on display at the zoo stating "coming soon", just as well we didn't hold our breath!. I am not saying this will happen with the proposed new facilities for the great apes, for the benefit of the animals themselves I sincerely they get the best housing money can buy.
The "Kuno" plan was a fantastic idea, the best zoo-exhibit plan I have seen for a long time! I have seen the plans, I also know of at least one extra species that was considered which would have added to a fantastic exhibit but these plans never came to fruition. Alas, this never came to be... Nowadays you have a new giraffe enclosure and gibbon complex to look forward to, re-vamped orang accommodation, add that to the zebra and nyala which have not long arrived and then the long talked about "Chimp Eden" in the long term. Twycross could be a zoo on the up!
As far as I can see the order of planned completion will be Giraffe(soon) Gibbon Islands(this summer?), alterations to existing Orangutan House( soon?) and then 'Chimpanzee Eden' next year. Looking at the photos accompanying the press release, it appears that 'Chimpanzee Eden' will be situated in the 'long' strip of the Zoo bounded by the new Giraffe House to the North, and zoo boundaries to the West and South. The footprint looks similar in size to the new Giraffe area. Chimp Eden would be the first phase of eventual new accomadation for all the other Apes too, extending the complex toward the Lemur Walkthrough. Personally I would be happy to see just the Chimpanzee complex get done. I wonder if the rest for the other Apes will ever materialise while I'm still around. I just wish they wouldn't go for water-moated enclosures though- they are dangerous and waste so much space the animals could have instead.
I thought after all the hype when Ms Redrobe became CEO the first thing that was so important was the new home for the chimps but it is now on hold so it is fine for so many chimps being where Jo lived ? Has anyone noticed that when ever she is on the TV/Radio or in the Paper the first thing she mentions is money it wouldn't be that bad if Ms Redrobe actually listened to what people actually say about the zoo. I know I will get slated for this but I am not bothered Ms Redrobe is not business minded in my opinion and please note that is my opinion.
If they are going to have water moated enclosures I do not like the sound of that, remember what happened to Beau the Twycross orang when he was living at Blackpool with their water moat.
I agree the water moats are a waste of space, yes I remember what happened to Beau perhaps they are going to be the water park for the children. LOL
Miss Badham and Miss Evans never had water moats for their great apes as years ago they sent a chimp to another zoo and it also drowned in the water.
If it was Brook, that was the first chimp to be born at Twycross, no prizes for guessing where the name came from.
He's not the only one. There have been plenty of others too, around the World, and of all three species-Gorilla, Chimp, Orangutan-both adults and young. At least three adult male Gorillas. Several juvenile Orangutans. More than one Chimp mother has drowned trying to rescue a baby that had fallen into the water. Prague recently nearly lost a young Gorilla that fell into the water- the group just sat and watched but the keeper managed to jump in and save it just in time. Some zoos of course have not had any accidents. But Apes that have not previously been kept with water barriers (such as at Twycross) are obviously at greater risk still. The plan definately shows islands and what appear to be water moats. Apart from the danger factor, these moats, because of their necessary width, mean the actual display areas for the animals is often small and use up large areas the Apes could have instead if it was dry land. Although I don't like other aspects of the Twycross Ape enclosures overall, I think the glass viewing walls and dry ditch system is actually a good one, both for viewing and the Apes can use the ditch areas too.
They may use hot wire to prevent access to the moat. But then this would just make the moat even more a waste of space.
I don't know about an Orangutan but definately a young Gorilla. The keeper who saved it had to climb out on the Gorillas' side with them in the enclosure as he could not climb out on the visitor side! Apparently the youngster was in shock but soon recovered and was running around within the group again within an hour or so- they were lucky.
Is there a dedicated site for the masterplan or somewhere where i can blow up the illustrations for a closer look?
I could only find the ' View Gallery' link on e.g. the 'CoventryTelegraph' release about these developments(sorry, I'm not very good with links). There are a dozen illustrations but I could not enlarge them though. The BBC link on Page 4 of this thread also shows the Ape Complex plan. I've now worked out that it seems that 'Chimp Eden' will be the first phase(on the left of the plan, involving possibly two seperate islands) followed eventually by matching developments later on for the other Ape Species. The whole complex would then fill that whole corner of the Zoo.
here is the link to Coventry Telegraph (hope it works) Twycross Zoo unveils £55m 'masterplan' aimed at doubling visitor numbers - Coventry Telegraph
I thought that too. London spent around £3-4 million on e.g. Gorilla Kingdom though admittedly these plans involve completely fresh buildings from scratch, but even so- £55 million over twenty years? Regarding the Orangutans- I think a revamp of their existing quarters is definately on the cards now, though possibly as an interim measure, until the new Ape complex is built. Though its not made clear how long that might be (Chimp Eden phase excepted)
Many bad ape enclosures do indeed still get opened. There seems an obligatory tendency to create the most impressive-looking buildings and enclosures possible, but they are not always for the animals' best benefit. A simpler cheaper enclosure can sometimes achieve that better if its well -planned and large enough to allow vegetation to remain undamaged to a greater extent.
