shame Gorillas can't smile. The animals I have been putting on (except the swan) are taken at our local zoo which is dedicated to conserving endangered species. It is famed for it's monkey's.
Twycross Zoo is a medium to large zoo near Norton Juxta Twycross, Leicestershire. The zoo has the largest collection of monkeys and apes in the Western World, and in 2006 re-launched itself as "Twycross Zoo – The World Primate Centre".
Twycross Zoo was established in 1963 at the former rectory in the village of Norton Juxta Twycross. Having long since ceased functioning as a rectory, the house became a private residence known as Norton Grange. It was purchased in 1962 by Molly Badham and Nathalie Evans. The two women had been looking for a suitable site to expand their zoological collection, having outgrown their 3/4 acre site at Hints, Staffordshire where they had set up "Hints Zoological Society" in 1954. After the purchase of Norton Grange, Badham and Evans converted the 12 acres of gardens, outbuildings, stables and farm buildings into a zoo.
The zoo first opened its doors on Sunday 26 May 1963; the opening ceremony was performed by Jean Morton, a local television personality, accompanied by her popular children’s TV puppet show characters Tingha and Tucker.
In 1972 the zoo became a charitable trust and is renowned as a specialist primate centre with a wide variety of primates including all four types of great ape, boasting the UK’s only group of bonobo. Twycross Zoo has become known for breeding primates and has recorded first UK births for thirteen different species including the bonobo, siamang, agile gibbon and woolly monkey, contributing to numerous conservation breeding programmes.
In her time, Molly Badham was an expert in primates in captivity and highly regarded for her work with chimpanzees. Molly achieved many world firsts during her leadership, from breeding animals successfully through to being a founder member of the National Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland.
Badham provided chimpanzees for PG Tips tea commercials (noatably Mr. Shifter) and one of the Zoo's chimpanzees appeared in a Hammer Horror film with Peter Cushing. Chimpanzees were forced to dress up in cloth and act like humans, even ride a bike. Studies have since found that the apes were damaged by the experience and should never have been used.
Twycross Zoo has around 500 animals of almost 150 species, including many endangered species. Renowned as a specialist primate zoo, it is the only zoo in the UK where you can see the bonobo, and the only place with all four types of great ape: gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee and bonobo. Twycross Zoo has one of the largest collections of gibbons in Europe, and 37% of their animal collection is classed as near threatened, vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN. Many of the animals at Twycross Zoo are part of conservation breeding programmes which help ensure a future for species threatened with extinction.
The animal exhibits at Twycross Zoo are split into eight zones:
Conservation Way is home to a family of critically endangered Amur leopards, the world’s rarest big cats. In June 2014, female Kristen gave birth to cubs Arina and Alexei after joining Twycross-born male Davidoff in 2013 as part of a European Association of Zoos and Aquariums breeding programme.
Endangered siamang gibbons can also be found in Conservation Way, plus the new mixed ‘African Plains’ exhibit which contains a group of Chapman's zebras and nyala.
Meerkats can be found here in their enclosure, which in 2013, was renovated to give the meerkats almost double the space that they had previously. Their new enclosure boasts a tall artificial termite mound upon which the meerkats like to do ‘sentry duty’. Ground level windows also enable young children better views of the meerkats.
Nice shot, I enjoy reading your commentary. That is a big zoo. Whenever i visit a city that has a zoo I try to make time to visit. This year I have visited our local zoo in Nashville, TN several times. What i discovered is persistence pays off, I have some great images many I have posted on 365project.
My first job on finishing my university degree was as an education assistant at Twycross Zoo. It was a dream job for a zoology graduate who loved teaching and children. One of my fondest memories was of walking to our department at the far end of the zoo in the middle of a torrential downpour. Miss Badham (quite a formidable character!) stopped and gave me a lift in her car. It was only once I had got in that I realised that there was a young chimp sat on her knee holding the steering wheel - surreal!
Wonderful capture of this gorgeous gorilla! I love them and have been to Twycross many times to see them and all the other fantastic apes! I really enjoyed reading your narratives as I did.t know the background to the zoo. Jan @jantan what a wonderful memory! What a shame you didn't have your camera with you bAck then! Fav!
Love this portrait of the gorilla. I really enjoyed reading your commentary on the zoo as I'd heard of it but didn't realise it's conservation significance
Lovely capture and a very interesting description of the zoo and its history. Sounds as if this zoo is set up for the benefit of the animals and not just for humans to come and look at them (I was going to use a less polite term than "look" but decided not to).
What a great zoo you have there, and what amazing women that started it! It will be on my list of things to see when I visit your part of the world. Hopefully you can make it here to San Diego some day to see our zoo, which is pretty much the only place where I can tolerate seeing animals in captivity! Great capture of this guy!
December 11th, 2015
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