We're not zoo people, uneasy as we are about holding animals captive. However, the Cotswold Wildlife Park is only ten minutes away and we had an afternoon to fill, so why not?
I went to the park probably more than twenty years ago now, but it's barely changed. Built around a big Victorian house in some nice park land, it's been home to a growing number of animals since 1970. It's not, thankfully, one of those places where animals are kept in bare concrete cages. Each type of large animal, and there's not many of them, have their own enclosures. I can't say for sure, but I'm fairly certain that all the animals were bred in captivity, so while they might hanker for more space, none of them will have known the Serengeti, or Indian jungles, or whatever. Not that I'm justifying zoos, I'm not, but the park is as good as it's going to get, given that it's in rural Oxfordshire.
Because it's midweek, the place wasn't too busy, although the coaches in the car park looked ominous. They were for parties of school children, of course, and once again we watched the harried adults marshalling long lines of hi-viz jacketed children around the park. There was also a group of Royal Air Force types, in uniform, milling around. They don't normally go out in public in their uniforms these days, but RAF Brize Norton is just down the road, and that's where all the foreign deployments leave from, so I'd guess they were waiting for an flight out.
Charlie was more interested in the little narrow-gauge railway that runs around the park, and went twice around the circuit behind a small locomotive that was a diesel, but was masquerading as a steam engine. When he's older, he'll be aware of that, but today he just loved being on a train.
What animals we did see were all supremely indifferent to the visitors. The lions, leopards, giraffes and monkeys (of various types) kept themselves to themselves, and at one point I was sat on a bench watching two rhinoceros grazing on the grass just like a couple dairy cows, which was almost surreal.
I had to visit the Fruit Bat house, because to watch those beautiful creatures wheeling around in a simulated cave environment, in near darkness, is just sublime. There was fresh fruit out on the ropes there, and they were having a right good feed, and squabbling over their spoils.
Apart from the school parties, there weren't too many children around, only those young enough not to have started school, and their mothers, fathers and grandparents of course. There were plenty of oldies like us, and a few work-age folks who were on a non-work day. The park has lots of toilets, lots of little outlets selling hot and cold drinks, ice cream and snacks, and of course there's the inevitable gift shop. There are also covered picnic areas, and quite a few little rain shelters should the weather not behave, which was a nice touch. As it happened, the weather did behave and it was really nice wandering around the extensive gardens and admiring not just the animals and birds, but the flora as well.
Did it alter my views on zoos in general? No, not really. But, if you're going to have a zoo at all, then this park is probably the right way to do, at least when you have a limited space. In the YouTube age, though, you have to wonder how long zoos are going to retain their relevance. That said, it was nice to sit quietly on a bench and listen to the quite tearing of grass as two rhinoceros graze the green pastures of Oxfordshire.
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