Twycross Zoo
Tortoise sex proceeds at about the same speed as a narrowboat.
I have a childhood memory of visiting Twycross Zoo, soon probably not that long after it opened in 1963. The chimps there were famous for appearing dressed as members of the working class in TV commercials for PG Tips tea. I remember seeing them performing at a tea party, and afterwards they came around and shook hands with the watching kids. Yep, I got to shake a chimpanzee’s hand.
These days training animals to perform tricks is not considered to be OK any more, and zoos are all about conservation and breeding. I can understand and appreciate the need to respect animals, but at the same time I feel a bit sorry for all the kids visiting Twycross today who don’t get to shake a chimp’s hand. Oh, well, at least there is a video of the Twycross Tea Party.
They do let you hand feed the lorikeets. Not as cool as shaking the hand of a TV star chimpanzee, but at least the kids can go away with some sense of connection with the animal kingdom.
Here’s some more animal pictures. Since I can’t be bothered to remember what is what, once again I am going to caption them with headlines from today’s Guardian.
Boris Johnson faces questions over ‘arguably racist’ comments
Actually that last one is Tigers Recreated In Lego. It’s a bit like suddenly being in a an early Atari video game.
4 thoughts on “Twycross Zoo”
I once had an orang utan throw a clod of earth/ grass over the moat and glass enclosure towards me . Being an ex cricketer I caught it with both hands and threw it back. The orang caught it with
one ( rather large hand) and threw it back. A modest crowd gathered , there was large Applause for the orang but strangely none for me. After three throws the orang put the clod down and decided it was time to have a good scratch ! The crowd dispersed and I returned to being a mere spectator , but what wonderful animals
Great story!
Margaret & I were both (independently) struck by the state of British business, which seems to have hunkered so hard that all its hair has fallen out. Extraordinary photo, whatever the hell it is.
It’s a chimpanzee with alopecia. He’s the alpha male in the group, so looking like a human is apparently good for chimp status, at least at Twycross.