Monkey business in Twycross Zoo

1.6.2024 – Photos by Pat Waldron

This is how the zoo presents itself:

Set in the heart of England on the Leicestershire/Warwickshire border, Twycross Zoo is a internationally recognised conservation charity and award-winning visitor attraction, giving visitors a day out with a difference.

Twycross Zoo is fun for all the family to enjoy, with hundreds of amazing animals, outdoor play areas, splash pad, indoor soft play and The Gruffalo Discovery Land.

Our incredible zoo spans across 100-acres and exists to support conservation, education and research of some of the most endangered species on the planet.

Twycross Zoo is proud to be the only UK zoo, and one of few worldwide, home to all four great ape species. That’s chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and our closest living relative, the bonobos. There are also a large number of other representatives for ‘our cousins’.

Western Lowland Gorilla

Gorillas are one of the four great apes, along with orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos. Great apes are different from monkeys in that apes are bigger, tail-less and more intelligent. If it looks like a monkey but doesn’t have a tail – it’s an ape!

Separate dining rooms 🙂

Bornean orangutang

Bonobo baby having a snack

Schimpanzee on the green grass

Silvery marmosets are New World monkeys, a term describing monkeys from South and Central America. The silvery marmoset has a silvery white body, a dark tail and bare ears and face. Like all marmosets and tamarins they have claws on their fingers rather than the nails common to all other primates (though they still have nails on their thumbs). This helps them grip the bark of the trees they climb.

Emperor tamarins are small New World monkeys, a term describing monkeys from South and Central America. Their name originates from their distinctive white moustache, which is said to have reminded explorers of the German emperor Wilhelm II. Their fur is mainly grey-yellow with a reddish tail and black hands and feet.

Diana monkey

Pilated gibbon

Not only monkeys live in this zoo. You can meet some of them here:

The Aldabra tortoise is one of the largest tortoises in the world. They have a thick, domed shell with robust limbs covered in scales.

Aldabra tortoises age very slowly. In 2005, an Aldabra tortoise was found dead in India. Its shell was carbon-dated showing it had reached the age of 255 years old. These can be social animals, often gathering in herds in the grasslands. They are good swimmers being naturally buoyant and able to hold their breath for 20-30 minutes.

The Aldabra tortoise is the only African giant tortoise to have survived in the wild. Their population was severely threatened between the 17th and 19th centuries due to hunting for meat. Now they are struggling against habitat destruction and introduced species. These introduced species include predators such as rats and cats that eat their eggs, and competition for grazing with goats. They are now protected and have conservation breeding programs on the island of Mauritius.

The Humboldt penguins have a nice home.

Tiger is the king/queen of the zoo!

Presentation of the animals in the Twycross Zoo

Pat Waldron’s album

As a charity, every visit makes a difference to our mission.