Twycross Zoo Twycross Zoo news 2014 #1

The 'video' group seems to be the largest one.

'Chimp House'. There seems to have been no advance in getting these individuals into a single group since the two additional males moved in.

Oldest Gorilla House- just three in here then?
.
Joe's house. I'm wondering if all the Chimps in this house are now in one single group- there certainly looked a lot (8-10?) on the video.

 

In the old Gorilla House next to Norton Grange this is what I found out yesterday Benji is in with rose, choppers and noddy at the old gorilla house. Mongo and Jambo are next door to them. I was told they are hoping to introduce them to the new chimp conversion group soon. This will be done slowly and overtime depending on how they react/settle with each other. I hope it is not going to be one very big mistake. I don't know where they are going to build this new 3 million complex there is no where left other than where Iris is buried.

Then I looked on Trip Advisor and here are a few quotes:-

Lots to look at and very informative all around good day out but word of warning there were some huge brown rats running around free especially where there was food so be careful with children on grass areas etc. ensure they keep their hands washed

Lot's of empty overgrown cages, except for rats maybe these are the new exhibits but they all appeared to be brown rats.
Ordered food in the Himalaya Food Hall, disgusting quality, took it back and asked for a full refund, which was given without hesitation.
The choice of food was very poor and the quality was like the cafe's of 35 years ago.

The zoo has changed dramatically for the worse since my last visit many years ago.
I cannot recommend Twycross Zoo as you certainly do not get value for money.

These are just a few of the things I have read I mean it is bad to see rodents(rats)out and about in the day, OK people will probably have a go at me but all this but over grown runs is not good how can you find the waste food poo etc. at least in the old days when the grass in the runs were cut short you could make sure all the poo and old food was removed.

From what I was told they only clean out every other day how true it is I don't know, if there are rats running round in the sight of visitors who is dealing with the rats etc. because who ever it is they are not doing a very good job, and they want to be careful because of the Environmental Heath could close them down.

 

Yes that is a negative aspect of letting the grass grow high, as opposed to cutting it short in days previous, it is harder for the keepers to clean up the unwanted food, animal waste etc, if it is the case that they only clean out every other day then that cannot help matters at all, perhaps the next new species the zoo should consider is Jack Russell terriers if the rat problem is as bad as stated by trip advisor commentators.

 

Can you explain that bit please, not sure what is meant here.

Rats- Rats and Zoos go hand in hand. I did a thread about it once. It seems a problem at a number of places e.g. South Lakes and Colchester, not just Twycross. Probably most zoos in the UK really. I guess those that have the most efficient Rat control programmes are the ones where you don't notice the rats though.

 

Can you explain about the Chimps? (see my query above)

 

Not sure what you are asking ?

 

Pertinax was asking re this quote: "In the old Gorilla House next to Norton Grange this is what I found out yesterday Benji is in with rose, choppers and noddy at the old gorilla house. Mongo and Jambo are next door to them. I was told they are hoping to introduce them to the new chimp conversion group soon. This will be done slowly and overtime depending on how they react/settle with each other."

I too would like to know what is really meant.

Besides with these individual chimps at Twycross it is hard to have a bang on location for every one individual … at the best of times (LOL)! No disrespect .. meant!!

 

To tell you the truth I don't really know, I am guessing they are going to introduce Jambo & mongo to Benjie and the others but as for putting them with the others there is isn't any room. Sorry I can not help any more.

 

This was the bit I was asking about- 'chimp conversion group'.

But as you say I can't see they can really make any of the groups any bigger at this time, except for putting more of them together in the three Chimp houses they are already in.

 

When I last visited Jambo and Mongo were residing in Joe's gorilla house, one in each of the two groups. So they now both live in the old gorilla house separated from Benji and co.This old gorilla house has for some time not allowed visitors into the inside viewing area to see the chimp residents, the only time they can see the chimps is when they are outside. Both Jambo and Mongo suffer from alepetia and are both bald, could it be the case that the zoo considers both of them to be an embarresment and by placing them together out of the public gaze they hope it will be a case of "out of sight out of mind" as far as the visitors are concerned?, also I would like to know how often both Jambo and Mongo are allowed outside into the area that they share with Benji and co.

 

Chimps

It could be this or another explanation has been suggested- see below.

Seems like Chimp moves at Twycross are still ongoing between the groups.

 

You can see rats in virtually every other zoo to some extent. If you have ever worked in a zoo you'll find that rats are virtually impossible to eliminate completely and even if you implement eradication measures these will only ever help to keep numbers in check. Just because rats have been spotted by visitors gives no indication of the extent of the problem, nor does it indicate what measures have already been taken to control them. I am not saying that Twycross have not been negligent with their vermin control but without more evidence I don't think you should conclude that the vermin problem is out of control.

I am sure that the equally significant problem of feral pigeons entering animal enclosure space goes largely unrecognised by those who are quite prepared to point out the presence of rats.

I know that Twycross comes under a lot of criticism, justified or not, but lets not loose all objectivity.

 

When I last visited (in January) they'd had all the chimps DNA tested for their subspecies and were trying to create a solely P.t.verus group which is why I assume there has been a big move around. I think the old gorilla house (being a less pretty enclosure) will be a non-breeding group hence why jambo/mongo would have been moved down there. (they wouldn't be suitbale breeding animals due to the alopetia incase its genetic) and I believe Tuli was needing a chimpanzee role model to "put her in her place" as she was being a bit teenagerish in the old Gorilla house.

 

See my previous post- I did say exactly that earlier on. I also made a thread about this subject in the past, not relating to Twycross, but zoos in general.

The fact that rats can be seen running around- whether at Twycross or any other places. e.g. South Lakes and Colchester have both been mentioned in the past and I myself have seen plenty at the latter, still indicates to me that their controls aren't working fully. I'm not accusing Twycross or any other zoo of negligence in this respect, but it does indicate (to me at least) that the rats have the upper hand if they are so visible.

 

I wish Twycross would publicise/explain what they are doing with the Chimps a bit more than they do- it would avoid endless curiosity and wrong speculation if they did. So it sounds as if they may be following the EEP guidelines and trying to establish a 'pure group' with any West Africans they have, perhaps for future breeding. This would have a bearing on all their future groupings too. (I think the baldness is hereditary so they definately wouldn't allow those two males to breed).

So the leading question is how many, and which chimps there, have proved to be verus?

 

The bigger question is were any of the wild caught ones already hybrids and did they find any other sub-species when they did the testing!

 

If I understand correctly, the genetic testing can only identify pure verus reliably. All the other races and hybrids, wild-caught or zoo-born, are in the other basket.

Alan

 

Nope, things have changed quite a bit since the earliest genetic tests. They can now at least recognize more subspecies from among the captive lot in Europe. Contrasigna: Koebenhavn Zoo.

 

I think they had verus 5/6 boys but no girls would were hoping to do a swap/get some girls in to form a breeding group. not sure if that is still the plan though

 

And the even bigger question, where do they go from here?