Molly's Zoo » Twycross Zoo

13-06-2008

can we remeber how long ago this was when they started this collection, if you were alive then im sure you would have understood her methods

i read in the book back then not enev london zoo knew how to look after wolly monkey properly!

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James Butcher

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13-06-2008

Really my criticism is not towards Molly Badham, its towards the people who run Twycross now. Its them who need to start improving some enclsoures for quite a lot of animals if they want to keep up with other zoos.

13-06-2008

Yes, it would be neater and a better social arrangement than the two 'halfgroups' they have now. My main concern here is that(unrepresented) Asante is allowed to breed before its too late though.
We can only hope things get resolved for the better soon...

13-06-2008

well it kind of reminds me of dartmoor wildlife park and marwell a few years back, no new exhibits, old technology and oldish cages but since they have picked things up and improved, maybe this is what twycross needs to do?

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James Butcher

My Photos

14-06-2008

In the 1950's the practice of tea parties was common in zoos. It was perceived as a "fun" activity benefitting the great apes themselves. We thankfully know better now, though debates about great apes in captivity still elicit a fair bit of anthropomorph reactions. For the latter I would say we Homo sapiens are great apes and no more no less (and no better for that matter then other animals).

Whereas the book aptly describes the emergence of Twycross Zoo and how a zoo enthusiast like Molly Badham established herself and the zoo in the wider zoological community, we may and will critisize the late and current management of Twycross Zoo for their past and present animal management practices and descisions. Most importantly this applies to those for all the great apes, the large primate collection and the Asian elephants.

I still feel the zoo lacks direction in terms of where does it want to be or go? It could be a showcase and learning center for primate conservation (viz Apenheul, Apeldoorn and La Vallee des Singes, Romagne), yet it is not known for its revolutionary approach to exhibiting primates in captivity nor its leadership in primate conservation. To me that is a serious missed opportunity for a zoo of Twycross's stature!!!

17-06-2008

I went to Twycross last year, my first visit for 15 years, and the sad fact is it looked exactly the same. Meanwhile, Chester Zoo today is unrecognisable from the Chester Zoo of 15 years ago.

I hope that, starting with the planned new entrance development (much needed!) we see step-change in the design of exhibits and facilities. The good thing for Twycross is that their visitor numbers are very good so they must have the revenue to make improvements.

18-06-2008

I revisited Twycross today. I must say very little has changed since my last visit a couple of years back. Even more strongly I felt it really isn't a very good place for some of their animals. None of the chimps in the old cages had access to any neighbours with all the doors firmly closed they are still just pairs. One of the two Bonobo groups is shut indoors for half the day(or more if the other group can't be coaxed back in).

The new Orangutan climbing equipment is very ordinary-firehoses and tall log cabins on stilts. It can't have cost £10,000 which was raised for new equipment. Here was a chance to add some good climbing equiupment but it hasn't really been taken. All the Apes are given material/clothing to play with, why not natural foodstuffs and materials which would be more interesting for them and allow them more dignity? Some of them, particularly the orangs naturally like to cover themselves completely but they look rather stupid. Vegetation such as basmboo or palm leaves would give them similar interest and enrichment but look far more natural. Its old style management and detracts from the exhibit value I think.
Similarly the gorillas sit in their dark indoor areas hardly visible among all the ropes, boxes,plastic bread baskets etc (none of which they appear to use) so the inside cage looks like a junk yard, while the outdoor areas are quite the reverse- totally barren. It is a terrible display. Not to mention the male-less group.

Many of the older blocks of monkey cages are remarkablyly ugly and the old world monkeys are mostly singles or non-breeders nowadays The red brickwork of the buildings makes the zoo look more like a supermarket, or rather, a collection of supermarkets/oiffice blocks.
The 'Bornean longhouse' is okay but it doesn't feature Bornean animals does it- what exactly is its purpose?

No sign of any of the planned new building yet. I really think this could be my last visit there unless things improve radically...

21-06-2008

It is sad, that this zoo is not developping, because the primate collection is really unique, especially he gibbon species;-))
What strikes me reading about Twycross is this very high fluctuation in the staff. If you visit the EAZA homepage, everytime there are so many keeper advertisements, mostly also section heads or deputy section heads. In every annual report you read there are new names listed as section heads, but also in the administration there seems to be a high flcutuation. Does anybody know a reason for that? Do they leave on their own, are they fired? What is reason, why they leave? Has it something to do with this bad development of the zoo?

gibbon

22-06-2008

Too many great ape tea parties perhaps? And bad elephant breath, a real stinker ... that is!

22-06-2008

Yes, their Gibbon collection is very comprehensive- probably unique.

I have no knowledge of the high staff turnover, but it indicates things are not right there. Since Molly Badham retired, the new administration don't seem to have taken any noticeable new direction but high staff turnover indicates 'political' problems within the zoo.

During my recent visit I was very disappointed(yet not surprised) at how little change for the better there has been in management of some species(as mentioned above) over the last few years- and I don't plan to make any more visits unless there are radical improvements- which I'm not expecting to see happen.

06-08-2008

I worked at Twycross for a year a while back, I've been quite passionate about the place ever since. I thought I'd throw my hat in with a few observations from my time there.

Molly Badham may have been a pioneer of her time but she never changed and my opinion is that her approach, in the end, resulted in the zoo virtually stagnating. There seemed to be political instability back then, conflicts between people who wanted to modernise and those that still held archaic viewpoints and were focused on maintaining reserves of cash. The result was that a small amount of progress was made because there always had to be huge compromise.

That said, I hugely enjoyed my time there. I did used to wonder around thinking about what they needed to do to push forward. I always thought of Twycross as a rough diamond, I felt that they needed to focus on showcasing their primate collection with better exhibits and begin to engage in in situe conservation projects if they were to raise their profile as a serious primate conservation entity.

I have to say that I am extremely baffled at the approach that the new management has taken so far, I hope they come good. The first thing they did was look at the zoos strengths and re-branded as the world primate centre. Subsequently, they have announced plans to massively enhance the facilities for animals and human beings but so far, the primates have been exluded. Strange!!

06-08-2008

Thanks for your 'insider' comments rubymurray . As an 'outsider' looking in it explains what happened in the past .
It really is sad that , with the new management , nothing much seems to have changed for the better yet .
For years the zoo has sat on vast cash reserves , yet there would be a Wishing Well in the 'Pets Corner' to raise funds for a new enclosure . The small amounts spent on insitu conservation projects have come from similar funds raised .

06-08-2008

From this it would seem theyhave been reluctant to plough any profits back into making improvements to the Zoo. It certainly shows....
I think perhaps they should pull it all down and start again- or maybe not bother....

07-08-2008

The 2006 Twycross annual report shows reserves of £13.1 million ( £9.5m in investments , £3.6 in cash/bank ) up over £1 million on 2005 . The 2007 report is not yet available . I hope they have good financial advisers as a lot of investments have fallen considerably recently .
That money would pay for a lot of improved primate accommodation .

07-08-2008

Money obviously has to be put away for a "rainy day", also maybe Twycross are putting money aside for their share of the new entrance complex.
I would also like to believe they are putting money by for a multi million pound set of primate enclosures, but then again............................