Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, is a zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 in Paignton

Paignton

Paignton is a coastal town in Devon in England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the unitary authority of Torbay which was created in 1998. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton's population in the United Kingdom Census of 2001 was 48,251. It has...

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust

Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust

Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust is a registered charity, set up to run Paignton Zoo after the death of its founder, Herbert Whitley, who established the zoo on his estate at Primley, Torquay in Devon in the 1920s....

 (WWCT). It is a combined zoo and botanic garden that welcomes over half a million visitors a year. WWCT also runs Living Coasts

Living Coasts

Living Coasts is a coastal zoo owned by Paignton Zoo as part of the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, which includes Newquay Zoo. It is a registered charity, and is based around sea birds and other coastal wildlife...

 in Torquay

Torquay

Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...

 and Newquay Zoo

Newquay Zoo

Newquay Zoo is a zoological garden located in Newquay, England. The zoo was opened in Cornwall on Whit Monday May 26, 1969 by the local council , it was privately owned by Mike Thomas and Roger Martin from 1993 until 2003...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

. All three are registered charities.

Paignton Zoo has a collection of approximately 2,000 animals representing nearly 300 species. It also cultivates approximately 1,600 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

Common agouti

The popular term Agouti designates several rodent species of the genus Dasyprocta that inhabit areas of Middle America, the West Indies, and northern South America. They are related to guinea pigs and look quite similar but have longer legs. The species vary in color from tawny to dark brown with...

, Lowland Anoa, Armadillos, A large group of Hamadryas baboons

Hamadryas Baboon

The Hamadryas baboon is a species of baboon from the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons; being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. These regions provide habitats with the advantage for this species of fewer natural...

, bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

s, Eastern bongo

Bongo (antelope)

The western or lowland bongo, Tragelaphus eurycerus eurycerus, is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate and among the largest of the African forest antelope species....

, capybara

Capybara

The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...

, Southern cassowary

Southern Cassowary

The Southern Cassowary, Casuarius casuarius, also known as Double-wattled Cassowary, Australian Cassowary or Two-wattled Cassowary, is a large flightless black bird...

, cheetahs, Nile crocodile

Nile crocodile

The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon...

, Cuban crocodile

Cuban crocodile

The Cuban crocodile is a small species of crocodile found only in Cuba's Zapata Swamp and the Isle of Youth, and highly endangered, though it formerly ranged elsewhere in the Caribbean...

, Saltwater crocodile

Saltwater Crocodile

The saltwater crocodile, also known as estuarine or Indo-Pacific crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles...

, 1 African elephant; Chilean flamingo

Chilean Flamingo

The Chilean Flamingo is a large species closely related to Caribbean Flamingo and Greater Flamingo, with which it was sometimes considered conspecific...

, gibbon

Gibbon

Gibbons are apes in the family Hylobatidae . The family is divided into four genera based on their diploid chromosome number: Hylobates , Hoolock , Nomascus , and Symphalangus . The extinct Bunopithecus sericus is a gibbon or gibbon-like ape which, until recently, was thought to be closely related...

s, lowland gorillas, Rothschild giraffe

Rothschild giraffe

The Rothschild Giraffe is among the most endangered giraffe subspecies with only a few hundred members in the wild. It is named after the famous family of the Tring Museum's founder, Lord Walter Rothschild, and is also known as the Baringo Giraffe, after the Lake Baringo area of Kenya, or as the...

, red river hog

Red River Hog

The red river hog , also known as the bush pig , is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests...

, hornbills, Western grey kangaroo

Western Grey Kangaroo

The Western Grey Kangaroo is a large and very common kangaroo or macropod, found across almost the entire southern part of Australia, from just south of Shark Bay to coastal South Australia, western Victoria, and the entire Murray-Darling Basin in New South Wales and Queensland...

, lechwe

Lechwe

The Lechwe, or Southern Lechwe, is an antelope found in Botswana, Zambia, south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, north-eastern Namibia, and eastern Angola, especially in the Okavango Delta, Kafue Flats and Bangweulu Swamps....

, lemurs, Asiatic lions, macaques, macaws, mandrill

Mandrill

The mandrill is a primate of the Old World monkey family, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill. Both the mandrill and the drill were once classified as baboons in genus Papio, but recent research has determined they should be separated into their own genus, Mandrillus...

, meerkat

Meerkat

The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...

, monkeys, Bornean orangutan

Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Together with the slightly smaller Sumatran orangutan, it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia....

, owls

OWLS

OWLS is a mnemonic used by general aviation airplane pilots to assess an unprepared surface for a precautionary landing.Like all mnemonics this check has become part of aviation culture and folklore.OWLS:* Obstacles* Wind direction...

, red panda

Red Panda

The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...

, Chilean pudu

Pudú

The pudús are two species of South American deer from the genus Pudu; the world's smallest deer. The name is a loanword from Mapudungun the language of the indigenous Mapuche people of southern Chile...

, black rhino, tamarins, Brazilian tapir

Brazilian Tapir

The South American Tapir , or Brazilian Tapir or Lowland Tapir or Anta, is one of four species in the tapir family, along with the Mountain Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, and Baird's Tapir...

, Sumatran tiger

Sumatran Tiger

The Sumatran tiger is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has been classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population is projected at 176 to 271 mature individuals, with no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 50...

, giant tortoises, maned wolf

Maned Wolf

The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees, in south, central-west and south-eastern Brazil The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the...

 and Hartmann mountain zebra

Hartmann's Mountain Zebra

Hartmann's mountain zebra, Equus zebra hartmannae, is a subspecies of the mountain zebra found in far south-western Angola and western Namibia.Hartmann's mountain zebras prefer to live in small groups of 7-12 individuals...

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

Buddleja

Buddleja, often misspelled Buddleia but commonly known as the Butterfly Bush, is a genus of flowering plants. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus honours the Reverend Adam Buddle , a botanist and rector in Essex, England, but who could never have seen a plant of the genus.-Classification:The...

, A number of themed garden areas: Mediterranean Climatic Gardens, Medicinal Garden, Economic Garden, Tropical House, Sub-Tropical House, Desert House, Wildlife Garden and the first public vertical hydroponic display house.

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 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 in the zoo's history include:

• 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

British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums

The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a conservation, education and scientific wildlife charity. Founded in 1966 within the zoo and aquarium community to see the principles and practices of animal management adopted in the British Isles...

 (BIAZA), the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

-External links:*...

 (EAZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the "umbrella" organisation for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal care and welfare, conservation of biodiversity, environmental...

 (WAZA). Its gardens are members of PLANTNETWORK, Plant Heritage

National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens

The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens , also known as Plant Heritage, is a botanical conservation organisation in the United Kingdom and a registered charity. It was founded in 1978 to combine the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists with the...

 (formerly NCCPG) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Botanic Gardens Conservation International is a plant conservation charity based in London, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, whose combined work forms the world's largest plant conservation network.Founded in 1987, BGCI is a registered...

(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.

Rhino Birth

On 5 March 2007, Sita a Black Rhino gave birth to a baby girl called Zuri. The whole of the birth was recorded by cameras set up by the BBC natural history unit. This was the first black rhino birth ever recorded on film and also the first rhino birth at the zoo.

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.

Death of Asian Elephant

On 9 March 2010, Paignton Zoo reported that the Asian Elephant (named Gay) was put down following prolonged difficulties with abscesses in all four feet. These were causing a serious reduction in quality of life; it was concluded that nothing further could be done for her.

External links

• Paignton Zoo
• Croodile Swamp