New app for more zoo-experience : http://www.newsnorthwales.co.uk/new...mobile-app-to-enhance-visitor-experience.aspx
A male Sumatran Tiger is due to arrive from London later this year - Welsh Mountain Zoo lends support to Global Tiger Day
From a visit yesterday: Polecat are no longer in the collection. There enclosure (near the Gibbons) has now been demolished and benches put in its place Two new bird species have arrived - a pair of Boat Billed Herons are mixed with the Amazon Parrots (near the entrance) and a pair of Black Faced Ibis are now with the Andean Condors Work is also underway on a new Wallaby enclosure to the right of the Lemur house. The Wallaby's are currently in the former Otter exhibit. No sign of any work taking place on the Snow Leopard exhibit as yet
Visited today for the first time in nearly four years! Being a fan of this zoo and not living that far away I'm surprised I don't visit more often. Last time I went they were building the new Himalayan areas, which are definitely an improvement. I really liked the feel of the Red Panda exhibit as it provided height climbing opportunities and if the pandas are high enough in the tree you can see them from the Penguin café adding to seeing the Penguins, Flamingos and of coarse the chimps. Glad to see the chimp group is still going strong, at the 'Chimp Encounter' talk, they spoke about the group and that soon females Jessie and Euro may go to other collections to breed at other collection (Jessie is P.t.v and Euro is non-sub) and either the possibility of getting new females or breeding there chimps again when they have the freed up space. Last time I visited the zoo I tended to stay round the non-wooded areas (Not going past the tigers) but today I actually did go in to the wooded areas and saw the owls and other bird of pray. The Common Rhea has now moved in with the Swamp Wallaby leaving there old enclosure empty but talking to a keeper they said that another bird species will be kept there. The Sea Lion show was also very interesting where the keeper said they intend to breed the Sea Lions now the male is of breeding age. I think now for the zoo the only way is up as they have definitely improved from my last visit with the new gibbon enclosure (I personally like the semi-circle enclosures as they are unique to the zoo's style. I look forward to the new Snow Leopard enclosure and Tropical House whenever they come along. The only now shows where the Bears and Margay (I have still never seen a Margay ) I really did enjoy today's visit and all the staff were very friendly and happy to answer questions, I will definitely be visiting again.
In the 2014 studbook the chimps Jessie (verus) and Euro (non sub ..?) were both still listed as hybrid, all be it that the male sire was an unknown. It might just be that they sorted out the subspecies question on both, but it requires confirmation somewhere somehow. BTW: they had 3.2 (before Jessie ..): males Sixpence, Groat and Nickel plus females Mabel (too old to breed - born 1966) and Tuppence (ex Chester).
I visited the zoo today and saw quite a few unusual bird species, many of which are not listed on zootierliste so I thought I'd post an update here in case anyone is interested. I should note that none of these species were signed at all (generally it seemed that the zoo adopted an aquarium approach to signage - sign the main species in each enclosure and never mind any of the others) so there is the possibility of misidentifications, but I think I've IDed everything correctly. I hope to upload pictures eventually. Species particularly worth noting : Lemon Dove Yellow-necked Spurfowl Ruddy Ground-dove Yellow-crowned Bishop The first three are, according to zootierliste, the only UK holdings for those species and the same can be said for African Golden-breasted Bunting, Jungle Myna, Red Turtle-dove, and Black Francolin. Quite the collection for such a small zoo!
Interesting to know they intend on breeding the sealions, have they bred them here before ? Sea lion pups would be a great attraction for visitors BTW is there any other species that other zoochatters would like to see at WMZ ? Obviously space isn't in abundance but possibly more colder climate animals. What are people's thoughts ?
Had a short and enjoyable visit today; -The zoo have opened a new exhibit called 'Flamingo Lagoon'. This is a walk-in exhibit for the zoo's colony of Chilean Flamingo. It is also home to some Red-crested Pochard, Rosy-billed Pochard, Common Shelduck, Common White-eye and Yellow-billed Duck. It also now provides the Flamingos with a new house with indoor viewing. -The zoo now have Darwin's Rhea in the old Greater Rhea (they are with the Swamp Wallabies now). -Signage for the porcupines has been taken down and all bedding from there indoor removed. -The Asian Short Clawed Otter enclosure is being refurbished, with the Otters being off-show for the time being. -Some construction work is also going on between the Red Squirrel enclosure and Grey Partridge. Extensions have been made to the Pine Marten enclosure aswell. -Although many of the species would've counted for the 2018 UK Zoochat Challenge, I will be revisiting in the next few months to tick them off for the challenge.
Revisited today and only thing of note being the arrival of Nepal Kalij Pheasant (1 male and 2 females) in the Macaw aviary by the car park.
The zoo have unveiled plans for a new £1million Snow Leopard enclosure The Silk Road Project - New Home of the Snow Leopard - Welsh Mountain Zoo
I am sure it will be decent (and I like the Chinese cultural connection), but the rendering does not have me too excited. The exhibit looks more like a rich person's yard than a recreation of the cats' habitat. The manicured lawn with a fountain in the middle does not look very creative, especially with the steep price tag.
It's just a graphic, not what it will actually look like. I don't know why zoos release these sort of bland representations that look like they only have options for "flat grass" and "concrete" on their computer programme, but they often do. But most importantly, it is a waterfall not a fountain. I do have to wonder about the English aesthetic, though, that would make people enthusiastically state that the picture looks like a great exhibit!
I meant it looks like the kind of "fountain" that rich people (at least here in the USA) have in their yard. Or that some private gated communities have at their entrance. They have tall artificial rockwork with a waterfall. Anyway I certainly hope @Chlidonias is correct and that the final product will be less sterile than this graphic. Is that a UK or European thing (releasing generic graphics)? Because I don't recall any USA zoos ever doing that. They always release artist renderings of what the final exhibit is supposed to look like.
