I want to know what you guys think is the best exhibit for each of these animals are in the country. The animals are: 1. Baboon (any species) 2. Rhino (any species) 3. Sumatran and Bornean Orangutan 4. Western Lowland Gorilla 5. Chimpanzee 6. Elephant (any species) 7. Bear (any species) As well as that, if you can manage, I would like to know what the worst exhibits are for these animals in the country.
1. Baboon - Edinburgh's gelada paddock 2. Rhino - Port Lympne's black rhino paddocks 3. Sumatran and Bornean Orangutan - ROTRA at Chester, but could soon be superceded 4. Western Lowland Gorilla - Blackpool's gorilla island 5. Chimpanzee - Edinburgh's Budongo 6. Elephant (any species) - Knowsley's African elephant paddocks 7. Bear (any species) - HWP's polar bear enclosures
Not sure you can answer 1,2 and 7. This is due to the varying species in the category have varying needs.
1) Guinea Baboon at Yorkshire Wildlife Park 2) Black Rhinoceros complex at Chester Zoo 3) Realm of the Red Ape at Chester 4) Gorilla complex at Howletts 5) Budongo at Edinburgh Zoo 6) Elephant House and paddock at Chester 7) Polar Bear enclosures at Highland Wildlife Park 1) Hamadryas Baboon at SLWAP 2) Rhinoceros house at SLWAP 3) Orang House at Dudley 4) Gorilla House at Blackpool 5) Chimp Houses at Twycross 6) Elephant House at Paignton 7) Spectacled Bear enclosure at SLWAP
I wouldn't disagree with most of these, but for gorillas I would put Port Lympne's Palace of the Apes first by a country mile. Honourable Mentions for Whipsnade's brown bears and Indian rhinos, although neither are perfect, and for Chester's elephants (I haven't been to Knowsley for many many years so I can't compare the exhibits). Like many ZooChatters I am getting tired of waiting to see the orangs in the Monsoon Forest. Alan
It's not dreadful by any means - it's just the elephant house which I like least in the UK, of those I have seen.
I was surprised by that choice too! I'm not keen on 'worst' threads because they imply that exhibits are inadequate, but I don't think I've seen many really awful enclosures anywhere in the UK. For that reason, I won't name the zoo, but there is one with a far worse elephant exhibit than Paignton!
