I have visited 9 collections so far this year and have taken lists of ALL species on show or labelled and have found many more mistakes than you would think with either species NOT at collection (I did ask keepers if they still had the species at the collection) or new species not on the lists. One keeper said they did try and keep the list for there own collection up to date but other people kept removing names from the list. I would now say what is the point of having a UK list unless the web site owners make it so a very few people can add or remove (from peoples requests) from the lists.
Well that will happen with any collection you visit and that includes Chester,as i know that is wrong on ztl. Again that doesn't surprise me because a few people in the UK seem to think because its not listed on the website or in a guidebook the species has gone,for example the Mouflon at West Midlands Safari Park,which are actually off-show but if you are lucky you can sometimes see them if they are in the right spot! Its funny this is a far greater problem for UK collections than the rest of Europe,which I think says alot about the standard of editing in the UK!!!!
It's often the same people as those who don't bother checking signposting and labels, and who end up asking for very obvious identifications..... A pity, really.
Following my visits to Cotswold WP & Crocodiles of the World today, I now realise just how out of date ZTL is! Species that maybe offshow are not marked as such & there are several species that are onshow but not even listed!
Maybe we could open a thread on UK Collections and what we see or know what they have in the collections and keep it with the thread for public transport.
Any suggested additions or edits would be more than welcome; I have a feeling I may be the only UK editor who isn't having log-in problems at the present time!
Many thanks will be passing on some info shortly how would you like us to let you know, on this thread or by private message?
I'll start with crocodiles of the world Seen not listed: Asian small clawed otter Laughing Kookaburra Bengal eagle owl Cotton topped tamarin Plumed basilisk Asian Water monitor no ssp Red footed tortoise? Can't remember if on ZTL Listed but not onshow or gone All snakes apart from reticulated python Fly river turtle Sand monitor Tomistoma Slender snouted crocodile
I personally added a lot of the missing species myself last year - so some prize idiot has removed them at some point, presumably because they assumed the collection couldn't possibly have them...... I'll get them added again. As for the stuff which you note is listed but not on-display - the Sand Monitor has indeed passed away, the two crocodilian taxa are off-display, but I am not sure about the status of the other taxa.
I take it from that you missed seeing the Common Peafowl that have arrived and the domestic chickens that have arrived as well? As for the snakes that aren't Retics they are all off-show and looking good,as is the Fly River Turtle!As for the Sand Monitor as tld said it passed away a few year ago and is stuffed in the education room!! The 2 Crocodile species you mention have never been on-show,but are being held off-show building in the case of the Tomistoma until the extension to the large Croc House is finished,and the Slender-snouteds will be sent back to Colchester as soon as the exhibit is ready for them there!!Alos off-show is a second pair of Siamese and some quiet impressive Morelet's!
Do they have a list of species at each collection in scientific names or do we still have to click on each species to get the scientific name?
If you're searching the collection and going down the species list the scientific names are listed alongside the common names.
All I get when I look up a collection is the usual English list and nothing else where am I going wrong please?
You can change the species menus to scientific names by clicking on the little flag icon next to the Current/Former drop-down - it will change to a mortarboard symbol when set to scientific names.
nope still English only can't understand why I am looking through zooindex and lets say Chester zoo all I get is a second page pop up with a map to the left and an English species index to the right
