Chester Zoo Black Rhinos. » Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo Black Rhinos.
09-10-2007

Following on from the feature in the TV series on Rosie and Quinto's introduction;

1. Does anyone know how many times they have been put together so far?

2. Are they currently in the original rhino house and paddocks, or the new offshow area?

3.Did it say whether Rosie was in oestrus at the time, or was it just to try and see if they could be kept together?

4. Presumably no other female at Chester is currently pregnant?

10-10-2007

1. not sure

2. They are housed in the off show house

3. All i know that they were only planning to introduce when rosie was in oestrus, some animals they will place to together to see when they come into seasons

4. Kitani and manyari (spelling is prob wrong) have been mated by sammy but konw pregnancies yet.

10-10-2007

Keep our fingers crossed for Sammy! Nothing wrong with the girls ...

10-10-2007

Thanks for the info. So that means the Czech female 'Ema' (confusingly they've had two 'Ema's now) and male Magadi are in the original rhino area?

In that case I deduce that on my recent visit the female I saw in the old area was 'Ema' and the male I saw in the offshow paddock was 'Quinto'... (I should have been a detective...)

13-10-2007

Would this put it at

Original Rhino Area - Ema and Magadi
Tsavo - Sammy, Manyara and Kitani
Off Show - Rosie and Quinto

Who's in the other rhino paddock between the Lechwe and the Cranes/Waterfowl then or is that empty. Im still saying the Bongo should be moved there. Or come to think of it the Bongos could go in the old Lechwe paddock??

13-10-2007

But it would not fit in with the theme chester are trying to do, with the west side of the zoo mostly or will become all grasslands animals.

see am confused i thought they only had the six, when did the female ema arrive?

13-10-2007

They could pass Bongo off as grassland species though.

Ema arrived in 2005 along with a male Jeremy who left a few months later along with KataKata to a zoo in France.

13-10-2007

The old lechwe paddock will be reubilt for the cheetahs.

13-10-2007

oh yeah, forgot about that. Is that really wise with the deer right next door. Though Marwell have done it well with their Cheetahs and Gazelle.

13-10-2007

when are the cheetahs arriving again?

cannot wait for these back in the collection

13-10-2007

I have seen the Cheetah at Marwell stalk the zebra housed in the next door paddock, it was quite interesting to watch and the zebra did not seem to care, I guess it gave the Cheetah something to do watching pray animals as they would do in the wild

14-10-2007

When Whipsnade bred their first cheetahs, over 30 years ago, they thought that one of the things that might have contributed to the success was that the old cheetah paddock (which was where the chimp island is now) had a long view over the neighbouring paddocks, which used to contain musk oxen and cape buffalo - if I remember correctly. If I understand the idea correctly, they didn't really think that the cheetahs viewed these species as potential prey; the point was that they could see no potential predators and that they could see that the herbivores were undisturbed too.
I don't know if anyone still thinks this is important. Am I right in thinking that it's the introduction of the pair which is the key?

Alan

15-10-2007

I remember the old Whipsnade Cheetah Paddocks. Wire mesh and the cubs were born in a little shed at the back. The original breeding pair were 'Juanita' and the male ? (I seem to remember he was very tame, even 'leash-trained')

They attatched a lot of importance to the 'vista' theory at the time. Tied in with the theory they could see the herbovores were undisturbed was the idea Cheetahs don't like being kept near Lions- not surprising for a timid species which in the wild often has its kills stolen by them.

As far as breeding goes, I seem to remember it was always thought better to give a female Cheetah a choice of mates to stimulate interest. This was not the case at Whipsnade, but the first captive breeder,( a private owner Victor Spinetti,) in Italy bred from his tame female by introducing two males from Rome Zoo.

I'm sure many single pairs have bred since then, so I don't know how valid that theory was.

15-10-2007

I've remembered- the breeding male cheetah at Whipsnade was 'Jack'
The Italian gentleman who bred from his Cheetah was Spinelli(not Spinetti)
I think his female Cheetah was called 'Beauty'...(?)

The first one or two litters bred at Whipsnade suffered badly from Rickets. The cubs ended up in the Regents Park Hospital and eventually had to be put down as their legs didn't grow straight..

03-11-2007

Ther is talk of mixing Cheetahs with black rhino at Port Lympne in Kent in the same exhibit, now that could be very interesting. I've heard one or two of the keepers discussing the possibility recently. Do you think it could work at Chester?? they will probably wait to see what happens down south first!