BOTANICAL GARDENS
Like many zoos, Newquay was created as a "zoological gardens" - the original 1960s flowerbeds and trees now enhanced by more exotic palms, bamboosand other plants from many countries around the world (just like our animals, in fact).Plants and timber from the site provide browse (food) and animal enrichment, shade, shelter or just some good tough gnawing on bark if you're a porcupine.
Plant Zoo?
Planting or keeping plants for pleasure has now been joined by the zoo's role to educate visitors about plants, their links with the animals and ourselves and to play a future role in plant conservation.
Our sister zoo www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/botanical-gardens.php is a registered botanic garden and Newquay Zoo supports the work of botanic Gardens Conservation International www.bgci.org and Botanic Gardens Education Network www.bgen.org.uk worldwide.
Cornwall has a famously rich heritage of gardens for pleasure, display or education, often with links to the plant hunters who brought back to Cornwall new plants that thrived in the mild, damp maritime, almost subtropical climate of Cornwall.
Find more about Cornish gardens in www.theguide-cornwall.co.uk and Cornwall gardens websites: www.gardensofcornwall.com www.gardensincornwall.co.uk
Daring tales of plant hunters are often featured in our events and education trails. You can find out more about plant hunters and explorers on http://www.plantexplorers.com/explorers/index.html
As well as being endangered, plants can be dangerous too! They need to defend themselves with prickles and poisons whilst carnivorous plants thrive in jungle and marshy areas - we have a small and suitably caged display of these.
Many animals are threatened by loss of habitat, the plants that provide their sheltered, cover and food supply. Protecting areas such as through the BIAZA reserve www.worldlandtrust.org/wildspaces is important for plants and animals, especially in a changing climate. It's also why we try to be green and sustainable at the zoo.
So zoo gardeners do practical recycling using zoopoo compost, mulching and composting and reusing any felled timber from the site. Bark chips end up on paths and as digging areas for foraging animals like coatimundis.
Our Tropical House features rainforest plants and animals amongst lost temple walls.
Not being too tidy in a public garden is important for our native wildlife - the zoo is home to a host of native bats, birds and insects encouraged by wilder corners of the zoo around the stream, wildlife hedges and wooded areas, reflecting the zoo's origins as marshy farmland and grazing. Part of this wilder area is the Cornish Dragon Maze, a hedge maze established as one of his early works by world famous maze designer Adrian Fisher in 1982/3. www.mazemaker.com
