Twycross Zoo

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Coordinates: 52°39′10″N, 1°31′47″W

Twycross Zoo and pirate cove
Twycross Zoo logo
Date opened	May 1963
Location	nr Twycross, Leicestershire, England
Land area	120 acres (0.202 km²)
Coordinates	52°39′10″N, 1°31′47″W
Number of Animals	>1000 (2004)
Number of Species	188 (2004)
Major exhibits	Great Apes, Monkeys, Amur Leopards, Tropical House, Elephants, Bornean Longhouse
Website

Twycross Zoo (also known as the World Primate Centre) is a large zoo near the village of Twycross on the border of Leicestershire (on the A444 about 3 miles off the A42/M42). The zoo was founded in 1963 by Molly Badham and Nathalie Evans. In 1972 it became a charitable trust (The East Midland Zoological Society). The zoo attracts around 500,000 visitors a year. In 2000 Badham and Evans co-wrote Molly's Zoo, a book telling the story of the zoo's history.

The zoo is open from 10:00am all year round except Christmas Day, and closes at 5:30pm in summer (4:00pm in winter).

Contents 1 Animal Exhibits 2 Recent Developments 3 Future Developments 4 Facilities 5 Allowing Re-introduction of Hybrid Tiger Controversy 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Animal Exhibits

The zoo is notable for having the largest collection of primates in the world. It is the only British zoo to exhibit all four species of great ape, including the UK's only group of breeding bonobos (which joined the zoo back in 1992). It is also known for its large collection of chimpanzees, some of whom famously featured in television commercials for PG Tips tea.

Twycross Zoo also holds a diverse collection of other animals, many of them threatened species. They include the Amur leopard, the rarest big cat in the world with only 30-40 animals left in the wild. The leopards at Twycross are part of a European endangered species captive breeding programme. In December 2006, twin cubs were born, both male. Unfortunately their mother died shortly after the birth due to illness, so the cubs are being hand-reared.

A group of four female Asian elephants occupy a sizeable enclosure on the west side of the zoo. The females are all of breeding age, but the current facilities are not adequate for keeping a bull elephant for breeding purposes. Rather than extend the facilities or lose their elephants completely, Twycross are looking into the possibility of artificial insemination.

Also here are Asiatic lions, giraffes, Bactrian camels, Patagonian sea lions, penguins and many other mammals, birds and reptiles.

[edit] Recent Developments

The Tropical House, opened in 2005, houses a variety of South American species in a naturalistic walk-through rainforest. Groups entering the house are accompanied by zoo staff and are limited in size. Displays outside the house explain how people live in the rainforest, including a selection of plants and trees that can be harvested for food. Inside the house, a "ranger's hut" includes a specimen tank that houses endangered blue poison dart frogs. The main rainforest exhibit houses free-roaming species which include common marmosets, green iguana, Linne's two-toed sloths and many varieties of tropical birds. There are also turtles, fruit bats, spiders and a boa constrictor tank. The Tropical House formerly housed the zoo's reptile collection.

Improvements to the elephant paddock were completed in spring 2007. The new-look exhibit features a sand paddock with standing dead trees, a mud paddock, 3 outdoor sleeping pens and the UK's largest elephant pool. Other work continues around the elephant enclosure which is due for completion around summer 2008.

In July 2007, Twycross Zoo dedicated a new exhibit to Miss Mary Brancker CBE - a Founding Trustee of the Zoo, President of the Twycross Zoo Association for 15 years, the original vet for over thirty years and the first female President of the British Veterinary Association - in recognition of her lifetime commitment to both Twycross and animal welfare. The Mary Brancker Waterways and Bornean Longhouse features a walk-through exhibit with waterfowl and Bornean birds and turtles. Educational material explains how people live in the traditional longhouses in Borneo. An enclosure for Scottish wild cats is also featured.

[edit] Future Developments

In September 2007, Twycross Zoo announced that it had received a grant of £3 million from the East Midlands Development Agency which has helped it to achieve its fundraising target for a new £11 million visitor centre.^[1]

The project will transform the main entrance to the zoo, and will feature an eco-friendly building containing a gift shop, cafeteria and information about the zoo's conservation work. The development will also feature a new enclosure for snow leopards and a large aviary. Construction is due to start towards the end of 2008 and is expected to take 18 months.

[edit] Facilities

The catering facilities include the Monkey Bar Cafe near the main car parks, also the Cockatoo Cafe, Gorilla Outpost Cafe, Oasis Cafe, and a new healthy bistro which will open very soon.

The zoo has 2 main gift shops and an Information centre. There are also many toilets and baby changing facilities around the zoo.

For the children, there is a large adventure playground which includes slides, climbing frames, swings etc.

Also nearby is the fantastic Pirates Cove which was opened by Miss Molly Badham MBE and Miss Natalie Evans in April 2004. At Pirates Cove there is a Treasure Island ride, Swinging Pirate Ship, Zebra Spin, Asiatic Adventure, 2 Inflatable Bouncy Slides, a Bouncy Castle for younger children, an Inflatable Lion Slide and a 9 hole Mini Golf Course. The Lion Slide is the only one of its kind in England and has a moving jaw which gives the appearance of the sliders being eaten by the lion. The Asiatic Adventure was built in 2006 by Cove owners Mr and Mrs Benson and is planted with trees, shrubs and plants from the Asiatic Continent and was commissioned as a one off ride from the manufacturers and is unique. Pirates Cove was built partly with the aid of a grant for £140,000 from Defra (now known as EMDA) which was made in Autumn 2004. The total investment now stands in excess of £500,000.

There is also a narrow gauge railway.

[edit] Allowing Re-introduction of Hybrid Tiger Controversy

Tara, a hand-reared supposedly Bengal tigress acquired from Twycross Zoo in England in July 1976 was trained by Billy Arjan Singh and reintroduced to the wild in Dudhwa National Park, India with the permission of India’s then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in an attempt to prove the experts wrong that zoo bred hand reared Tigers can ever be released in the wild with success. In the 1990s, some tigers from Dhudhwa were observed which had the typical appearance of Siberian tigers: white complexion, pale fur, large head and wide stripes. With recent advances in science it was subsequently found that Siberian Tigers genes have polluted the otherwise pure Bengal Tiger gene pool of Dudhwa National Park. It was proved later that Twycross Zoo had been irresponsible and maintained no breeding records and had given India a hybrid Siberian-Bengal Tigress instead, although at the time, and taking into account information received regarding all of the tigers kept at Twycross Zoo, it was believed that Tara was a pure Bengal tiger at that time. Dudhwa tigers constitute about 1% of India's total wild population, but the possibility exists of this genetic pollution spreading to other tiger groups, at its worst, this could jeopardize the Bengal tiger as a distinct subspecies^{[2][3][4][5][6]}.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

With the advent of co-ordinated breeding programmes for numerous species help in captivity and standardised electronic animal record keeping systems (ARKS)it is now possible to track the different subspecies that are managed and ensure that these are managed as pure subspecies. Twycross Zoo is recognised as having a database of the animals in its care, both current and historically, that is comparable to any major zoological garden worldwide. Additionally several breeding programmes are managed at Twycross Zoo, including Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persicus), Patagonian sealion (Otaria byronia), siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) and saddle-billed stork (Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis).

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Twycross Zoo

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