Anyways, I had the chance to go to Colchester zoo the other week and I have decided to make a post and review the zoo.
Once through the entrance, thought it was a good idea to start from the furthest point of the zoo then work our way around, and just go and see the enclosures we wanted to see. The zoo has improved a lot again since I last visited (well since I completed my placement) back in June 2014.
They have literally just recently updated their Penguin enclosure, they have also (Just before I completed my placement) opened their new Sun Bear enclosure, and also opened a new lorikeet walk-in enclosure (which I didn't get chance to visit, but I shall definately be sure to visit that exhibit next time!).
Started at the Africa section, so we went to the Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos and Elephants. These are incredible animals with a pretty good sized enclosure. The fact that the zoo have Zebras, Rhinos, Giraffes and Kudos in the same outdoor enclosure is great! It encourages natural behaviours because they would be in the same environment in the wild (although it would be over thousands of miles in the wild). The elephants are in a separate enclosure (most probably due to their size), but despite being in a one species enclosure, they still have a pretty good sized outdoor.
We then headed over to the lions enclosure, this enclosure is a good size, but could be done with being a little bigger although what do lions do all day?! They sleep and rest for most of the day apart from when they are hunting, so I guess this is a good size enclosure for the three lions (1 Male, 2 Females). Reviewing from a visitors point of view, it is a good enclosure as you can see all around apart from the bushes at the front being a bit high, but then the animals need their privacy don't they?!, however there is a small staircase with a high viewing point to be able to allow the visitors to see the lions more clearly from a different perspective.
The next enclosure I shall review is the new penguin enclosure along the Inca Trail. This enclosure has just recently been updated. It is the same size, just some of the visitor perspectives and I guess just the way it looks such as the substrates and the water is more purer and cleaner than it was previously.
The new enclosure has a new viewing platform for visitors, this overlooks the whole enclosure, it overlooks the penguin pool. It allows the visitors to see the penguins much better than before, but still giving the penguins privacy when needed.
The last enclosure I am going to review and chat about is the new (well new ish) Sun Bear enclosure. I really like their new enclosure, as it allows their natural behaviours to be expressed a bit more than it used to, and gives them a bigger space to express these behaviours.
Well all in all as a whole, Colchester Zoo is up at the top for my list of zoos that I've visited so far. It is a great zoo, with good visitor interactions such as giraffe and elephant feeding (where the public can feed the animals with browse), and with also many talks and encounters to encourage the public to learn more about the animals at the zoo. There is also many information boards around to educate the visitors about the animals around the zoo.
The zoo is always carrying out improvements, and I do mean every time I visit the zoo there is always something new to go and visit, no matter how many times I visit.
So I do recommend this zoo to anyone who hasn't or even has visited before to visit these new enclosures to see for yourself how great these are!
Once through the entrance, thought it was a good idea to start from the furthest point of the zoo then work our way around, and just go and see the enclosures we wanted to see. The zoo has improved a lot again since I last visited (well since I completed my placement) back in June 2014.
They have literally just recently updated their Penguin enclosure, they have also (Just before I completed my placement) opened their new Sun Bear enclosure, and also opened a new lorikeet walk-in enclosure (which I didn't get chance to visit, but I shall definately be sure to visit that exhibit next time!).
Started at the Africa section, so we went to the Giraffes, Zebras, Rhinos and Elephants. These are incredible animals with a pretty good sized enclosure. The fact that the zoo have Zebras, Rhinos, Giraffes and Kudos in the same outdoor enclosure is great! It encourages natural behaviours because they would be in the same environment in the wild (although it would be over thousands of miles in the wild). The elephants are in a separate enclosure (most probably due to their size), but despite being in a one species enclosure, they still have a pretty good sized outdoor.
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| Elephant Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| African Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| African Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| Part of the African Lion enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
The new enclosure has a new viewing platform for visitors, this overlooks the whole enclosure, it overlooks the penguin pool. It allows the visitors to see the penguins much better than before, but still giving the penguins privacy when needed.
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| New Penguin enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| New Penguin enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| New Penguin enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| Sun Bear Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| Sun Bear Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
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| Sun Bear Enclosure (Taken by Author at Colchester Zoo) |
The zoo is always carrying out improvements, and I do mean every time I visit the zoo there is always something new to go and visit, no matter how many times I visit.
So I do recommend this zoo to anyone who hasn't or even has visited before to visit these new enclosures to see for yourself how great these are!
