Twycross Zoo
Twycross Zoo Logo
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The zoo entrance, on the A444
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| Date opened | 1965 |
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| Location | Norton Grange, Norton Juxta Twycross, Leicestershire, England |
| Coordinates | 52°39′10″N 1°31′47″W / 52.65278°N 1.52972°WCoordinates: 52°39′10″N 1°31′47″W / 52.65278°N 1.52972°W |
| Land area | 80 acres (32 ha) |
| No. of animals | 900+ |
| No. of species | 150+ |
| Memberships | BIAZA, EAZA, WAZA |
| Major exhibits | Great apes, monkeys, Amur leopards, snow leopards, elephants, Bornean Longhouse |
| Website | www |
Twycross Zoo is a medium to large zoo near Norton Juxta Twycross, Leicestershire. The zoo has the largest collection of monkeys and apes in the Western World, and in 2006 re-launched itself as "Twycross Zoo – The World Primate Centre".
The zoo attracted 450,000 visitors in 2014.
Twycross Zoo was established in 1963 at the former rectory in the village of Norton Juxta Twycross. Having long since ceased functioning as a rectory, the house became a private residence known as Norton Grange. It was purchased in 1962 by Molly Badham and Nathalie Evans. The two women had been looking for a suitable site to expand their zoological collection, having outgrown their 3/4 acre site at Hints, Staffordshire where they had set up "Hints Zoological Society" in 1954. After the purchase of Norton Grange, Badham and Evans converted the 12 acres of gardens, outbuildings, stables and farm buildings into a zoo.
The zoo first opened its doors on Sunday 26 May 1963; the opening ceremony was performed by Jean Morton, a local television personality, accompanied by her popular children's TV puppet show characters Tingha and Tucker.
In 1972 the zoo became a charitable trust and is renowned as a specialist primate centre with a wide variety of primates including all four types of great ape, boasting the UK's only group of bonobo. Twycross Zoo has become known for breeding primates and has recorded first UK births for thirteen different species including the bonobo, siamang, agile gibbon and woolly monkey, contributing to numerous conservation breeding programmes.
In 2000 Badham and Evans co-wrote Molly's Zoo, a book telling the story of the zoo's history.
In her time, Molly Badham was an expert in primates in captivity and highly regarded for her work with chimpanzees. Molly achieved many world firsts during her leadership, from breeding animals successfully through to being a founder member of the National Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland.
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Wikipedia