Paignton Zoo

Paignton Zoo

Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, in Devon, England, is one of the largest zoos in the UK. The Zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust (WWCT). It is a combined zoo and botanic garden that welcomes over half a million visitors a year. The WWCT also runs Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall. All three are registered charities.

Paignton Zoo has a collection of approximately 2,000 animals representing nearly 300 species. It also cultivates approximately 1600 different species of plant. It currently employs over 100 permanent staff and an additional 120 seasonally. A registered educational and scientific charity, Paignton Zoo is committed to the highest standards of animal husbandry and welfare, to scientific research, education and the breeding and conservation of rare and endangered animal and plant species.

Animals

Animals at Paignton Zoo include:

Agouti, Lowland Anoa, Armadillos, A large group of Hamadryas baboons, bats, Eastern bongo, capybara, Southern cassowary, cheetahs, 1 African elephant and 1 Asian elephant; Chilean flamingo, gibbons, lowland gorillas, Rothschild giraffe, red river hog, hornbills, Western grey kangaroo, lechwe, lemurs, Asiatic lions, macaques, macaws, mandrill, meerkat, monkeys, Bornean orangutan, owls, red panda, Chilean pudu, black rhino, tamarins, Brazilian tapir, Sumatran tiger, giant tortoises, maned wolf and Hartmann mountain zebra

Plants

Garden themes and plant collections include:

A broad collection of temperate hardy trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants arranged by habitat type, Collection of naturally occurring taxa of the genus Buddleja, A number of themed garden areas: Mediterranean Climatatic Gardens, Medicinal Garden, Economic Garden, Tropical House, Sub-Tropical House, Desert House, Wildlife Garden and the first public vertical hydroponic display house[1]

History

Paignton Zoo was one of the earliest combined zoological and botanical gardens in Britain and the first that was opened with education as its mission. It was founded by eccentric millionaire Herbert Whitley, initially as his private collection. Whitley was an early conservationist and a contemporary of people such as Sir Peter Scott and Jean Delacour, the famous French ornithologist. Paignton Zoo first opened to the public in 1923. After various name changes, it became Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in 1996.

A five year redevelopment programme, funded by the European Regional Development Fund, refurbished large parts of the Zoo and was completed in 2001. A new 10 year plan is now in place to redevelop the remaining areas to ensure that all animals are housed in modern enclosures of the highest standard.

Key dates 1923 - Paignton Zoo opened to the public 1955 - Herbert Whitley died 1995 - European Regional Development Fund grant started redevelopment of Zoo 1996 - became Paignton Zoo Environmental Park 1998 - Zoo Keepers BBC TV documentary series broadcast 2004 - Zoo Story ITV TV documentary series broadcast 2005 - Monkey Heights, the state-of-the-art monkey exhibit, opened 2006 - fire in the Giraffe House killed three giraffes 2007 - rare black rhino calf Zuri born - the first such birth seen on the World Wide Web 2008 - Crocodile Swamp exhibit opened 2009 - Creatures Like Us Animal Planet TV documentary series broadcast

Conservation

Paignton Zoo is a member of the British & Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). Its gardens are members of PLANTNETWORK, Plant Heritage (formerly NCCPG) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). It works with partner zoos and gardens in these organisations on the management of captive breeding and plant conservation programmes for endangered species.

Education and Research

Paignton Zoo has a large education team which teaches approximately 40,000 students each year from under-5s to post-16s, as well as adult community groups.

Part of the redevelopment programme included the establishment of a Science Department in 1997. Now renamed the Field Conservation and Research Department, this has grown to become one of the leading zoo science departments in Europe, with staff engaged in a programme of projects within the Zoo, at WWCT's other sites in the UK, and at various sites overseas. Projects are carried out at 'A' level, undergraduate and post graduate level.

Projects

The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust and its family of charitable attractions - Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, Living Coasts and Newquay Zoo - supports or is involved in conservation projects in the UK, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Madagascar, Vietnam and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Visiting

Paignton Zoo is open every day from 10:00 am. Talks, animals encounters and animal feeds take place throughout the day - information boards will tell you what is on when you arrive. The site is accessible for disabled and elderly visitors. Children under three get in for free. In addition, there are reductions for groups and disabled visitors (carers admitted free of charge). A joint Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts ticket is available.

The Zoo welcomes group visits all year round and offers free coach parking (please book in advance) and a coach drop-off point. There are reduced rates for groups of 15 or more. For more information contact Paignton Zoo telephone (01803) 697500, website www.paigntonzoo.org.uk.

Rhino Birth

Crocodile Swamp

A new Crocodile Swamp exhibit opened on 3 March 2008. Designed to match as closely as possible the reptiles' natural habitat and climate, it houses three species of crocodile and a further three species of snake.

References

1. ^ in 2009 the zoo together with a comercial partner (Valcent (EU) Ltd) installed the first of a new generation of innovative plant growing systems to support the growing of food for its aniamls in an energy effecient, local and nutritionally controlled way see http://blog.valcent.net/?p=506

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Paignton Zoo.