We were inspired by a story about some new captivity-born penguins on the local news to visit Twycross Zoo on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border. Twycross actually specialises in primates, and they have many species including Bonobos (the only breeding population in the UK), Chimps (some of whom were in the famous PG Tips adverts), Gorillas, Orangutans, Tamarins and Langurs, as well as a few standard zoo animals.
We knew that the Elephants were due to be fed just a few minutes after we'd got there, so we immediately raced up to the far end of the park. En route, we passed the giraffe enclosure. Olivia knows what giraffes look like - she sees them in books and on television - but when a young female strode out of the 'stable', she was literally shaking with excitement, all sharp intakes of breath and lots of pointing. They are magnificent creatures and I'm sure to see them through a child's eyes is something else.
At this point I have to apologise for the lack of pictures. Unfortunately, when we took out the camera and tried to take our first snap, we realised we were practically out of batteries and it wouldn't extend the lens. It took a while to get back to somewhere that sold new ones, so the pics are all from the tail end of the day (pun intentional).
I think my favourites were the Bonobos. Bonobos are an endangered sub-species of Chimpanzee found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They're smaller than your standard chimp and seem to be (there is some controversy) matriarchal, and possibly because of this, very much more peaceful than chimps and more egalitarian. They're also phenomenally sexually active, with sex being used as a part of all sorts of social rituals. These beautiful creatures share so much of their DNA with humans (at least 98% and possibly as high as 99.4%) that some biologists have argued that they should be classified as a part of the Homo genus, along with us (yet others argue it is us who needs to be reclassified into the Pan genus of Bonobos and Chimpanzees).
It was interesting that when we were in the Bonobo house, Olivia was very interested in the apes yet when we found their close relatives, the common Chimpanzee, she found them intimidating and when a baby poked its finger towards the glass where she was looking, she burst into tears. I was particularly interested in a father and son pair of chimps with alopecia (and not just because I'm bald too). As it's not my pic, I'm only going to link to a photo of the son, Jambo. Although chimps are very heavily muscled compared to us, you can clearly see that we're related.
Olivia particularly loved the penguins. As you can see, their tank has a cut-down side and you can go and watch them swim past underwater. They clearly reacted to Olivia's presence as the rest of the time they weren't going quite so close to the glass. Despite the news story, the new chicks were nowhere to be seen, by the way.
You can barely see it, but there's a leopard languishing on top of the platform in this shot.
Here we are outside some of the monkey cages. I believe that's a pair of Black and White Colobuses in the background.
We knew that the Elephants were due to be fed just a few minutes after we'd got there, so we immediately raced up to the far end of the park. En route, we passed the giraffe enclosure. Olivia knows what giraffes look like - she sees them in books and on television - but when a young female strode out of the 'stable', she was literally shaking with excitement, all sharp intakes of breath and lots of pointing. They are magnificent creatures and I'm sure to see them through a child's eyes is something else.
At this point I have to apologise for the lack of pictures. Unfortunately, when we took out the camera and tried to take our first snap, we realised we were practically out of batteries and it wouldn't extend the lens. It took a while to get back to somewhere that sold new ones, so the pics are all from the tail end of the day (pun intentional).
I think my favourites were the Bonobos. Bonobos are an endangered sub-species of Chimpanzee found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They're smaller than your standard chimp and seem to be (there is some controversy) matriarchal, and possibly because of this, very much more peaceful than chimps and more egalitarian. They're also phenomenally sexually active, with sex being used as a part of all sorts of social rituals. These beautiful creatures share so much of their DNA with humans (at least 98% and possibly as high as 99.4%) that some biologists have argued that they should be classified as a part of the Homo genus, along with us (yet others argue it is us who needs to be reclassified into the Pan genus of Bonobos and Chimpanzees).
It was interesting that when we were in the Bonobo house, Olivia was very interested in the apes yet when we found their close relatives, the common Chimpanzee, she found them intimidating and when a baby poked its finger towards the glass where she was looking, she burst into tears. I was particularly interested in a father and son pair of chimps with alopecia (and not just because I'm bald too). As it's not my pic, I'm only going to link to a photo of the son, Jambo. Although chimps are very heavily muscled compared to us, you can clearly see that we're related.
Olivia particularly loved the penguins. As you can see, their tank has a cut-down side and you can go and watch them swim past underwater. They clearly reacted to Olivia's presence as the rest of the time they weren't going quite so close to the glass. Despite the news story, the new chicks were nowhere to be seen, by the way.
You can barely see it, but there's a leopard languishing on top of the platform in this shot.
Here we are outside some of the monkey cages. I believe that's a pair of Black and White Colobuses in the background.
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