Zoo Memories Trail: Meerkats • Paignton Zoo

All creatures great and small

It hasn’t always been kids swinging from play equipment in the park near the meerkats! This area was previously home to small mammals, antelope, monkeys, and even our orang-utans when they first arrived at Paignton from London Zoo in the 1990s. Rodent City housed colonies of prairie dogs and other small mammals, where our meerkats now live.

aerial paignton crop1 — ^{Aerial view showing the area now occupied by the Vet Centre and Play Area down to the Ranch. The ‘white enclosure’ is the newly completed Giraffe House. Baboon Rock has yet to be built.}

^{Rodent City was home to prairie dogs and other small mammals.}

glt — ^{The Golden lion tamarin also lived in this area.}

Shirley Carr old binturong — ^{The original binturong enclosure looks very different from our current binturong residence. [Credit: Shirley Carr]}

brian baxter with orang — ^{The orang-utans being given tea by long-serving keeper Brian Baxter.}