Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Spring 2015

Chester Zoo count up their animals (WATCH) - Liverpool Echo

A few pictures of the more unusual (i.e. not cuddly, fluffy mammals with forward facing eyes) species.

Big-bellied Seahorses and Giant Freshwater Pipefish are on show in the Aquarium.

The zoo has a lot of Bleeding Heart Pigeons at the moment.

Astro turf has replaced the grass in the vicinity of the Zoo History signs by the banteng.

 

Spring? It felt more like bleak midwinter here a few days ago - earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone. But, with December 21 gone, the only way is up! I salute your optimism

 

When you live in Stoke, you have to be optimistic.

 

It must have been the astroturf that made it seem more like spring!!

 

Black rhinceros BASHIRA, born at Chester Zoo in 2008, gave birth to a her first calf at Ebeltoft Zoo yesterday.

 

Bashira was born May 2009 but brilliant news all the same

 

Chester wins the prize this year for the first publicity I've seen regarding the great Annual New Year Stocktake. After all these years why does Media still treat this event as news!!!

 

video of Bashira giving birth
Næsehornet har født | Skandinaviens første sorte næsehornskalv - Ree Park Safari

 

Don't worry, ZSL & Colchester plus plenty more will soon follow!
I agree it's hardly news any more, but Anglia tv news even bothered to do a piece on it last year at Colchester! No doubt zoo websites & Facebook pages will soon be filled with pictures of animals with discarded Xmas trees. Meerkats with pumpkins at Halloween seems to be the favourite.

 

Don't I know it... Good publicity for the zoos of course though I fail to see why media consider it news any more, maybe they have shorter memories than 12 months, or perhaps more likely, its a good 'filler' at a quiet time of year.

As for the rest, don't start me off... Meerkats & Tigers(and just about everything else too) with pumpkins/Tigers/big cats and recycled Xmas trees, Gorillas with birthday presents and Xmas stockings. IMO its a creeping form of animal humanisation-the modern version of Chimp Tea parties. Some people will say-ah, but its just some harmless fun and provides good enrichment- fair comment but IMO it also detracts from the animals' dignity and you don't really need the human-style 'props' for good enrichment, do you? Sorry, Chester people, not really the right thread for this. (rant over)

 

In the video link posted by bongorob, i noticed a red-fronted brown lemur alongside the ring-tailed lemurs in the video, which I was unaware the zoo had, probably because I don't spend much time at lemur island. Are any other species housed on the island?

 

Red Ruffed Lemur as well, I think.

 

I think ZSL London Zoo actually got in there first with that one from what I heard on Friday ? But yes I agree, its not really news though they seem to think it is!!

 

Think you've hit the nail on the head there. Nowadays all forms of media love a cheap, spoon-fed, no-effort human interest story -zoo stocktakes are just one example, the annual GCSE & A Level results are another. I swear in all those cases they could use the same footage each year and hardly anyone would notice.

 

I think I count as a 'some people' here so I'll duly offer the other side of the argument.

It is true that as a 'ZooChatter' I too find the whole stock take/Halloween/Christmas tree routine to be rather repetitive, but I would argue that they have significant benefits. All three are, first of all, positive publicity which is undoubtedly beneficial to zoos. The stock take being publicised is primarily for this reason but also serves a secondary purpose as it dispels the common misconception that zoos still buy and sell animals (there were accusations at the time of Jangoli's departure of her being 'sold') by giving an albeit simplified explanation of studbook and zoo licensing systems.

I would deny that the Halloween/Christmas publicity shoots detract from the animals' dignity in any way - whilst the pumpkins and discarded trees are 'human props', they are not being used in a way which could be particularly considered as anthropomorphising. There is also an argument that using recycled trees etc. (orang-utans/fire hoses spring to mind) puts forward a good example in terms of environmental policy.

(I would however agree with the point about it not really being 'news'!)

 

They are no longer in the zoo, only two species of lemur on Lemur Island

 

No, I did imply that but was thinking more particularly about Apes with Birthday cakes and Christmas stockings in that context.

I think Orangutans and Firehoses is a different issue- they are popularly used as it was found they are a good substitute for 'vines' so replicate natural climbing methods. Ugly but effective.

Rather than hijack this thread any further, I'll start a fresh one in the General Discussions on these issues.

 

Hi everyone. Been lurking a while on here and I've been a member of chester zoo for a good few years now. Just wondering if anyone knows what the situation with kirana (Sumatran tiger) is regarding pregnancy? I'm here now and the pool has been drained, the window is boarded and fabi is out alone, along with her recent behaviour change against the last cubs is making me wonder whether we can expect cubs any time soon?

Also do the zoo still have a melanistic jaguar?

 

Regarding the tigers I have no idea, but the zoo does still have a melanistic jaguar, a female called Goshi.

 

In the interests of pure excitable speculation my personal postulation is that the good lady Kirana is yet again "with cub" for me her behaviour is very similar to her previous pregnancies and yesterday she was digging out under her favourite den spot at the base of the podium - this is of course the fevered ramblings of a big cat fan and absolutely not based in insider knowledge or privvy information - one might call it 'wishful thinking' - even zoochatters are allowed to indulge in a bit of zoo gossip occasionally!