Jitu is off to Spain » Blackpool Zoo

29-09-2008

I know its kind of different, what i meant is that nothing pro-active has been done to solve the situation, they have neither moved a bull in or moved the females out....they are just there.

Anyway sorry for pulling this thread in a totally different direction.

EDIT: did'nt realise one of the cows was pregnant, thats good news. I still think they should move a bull in though, maybe one of whipsnades youngsters in the future?

29-09-2008

To do that they would have to build a new house for the Bull as there is no way the present one could contain one if it decided to get out,but that will not happen as they can only throw money at new entrances,catering(much needed) and Snow leopard enclosures with working snow machines.

29-09-2008

I'm continuing with this here, as despite not being about Blackpool, its to avoid it getting 'lost'....

I would go for option 'No 2' also as SamSam seems unlikely to breed again- he only ever bred once (offspring Sekondi at Edinburgh- sent to Twycross) and seems pretty disinterested in females.. Bongo has always been a rather 'butch'(masculine) female and is also unlikely to breed with any male at her advanced age. So making them into a pair would be a good option. That leaves 'Biddy' 'Asante' & 'Ozala'(plus her son Matadi) for a new male.

One reason Twycross have been so slow to replace' Sekondi' in the existing 2nd group is because they're worried about the safety of the juvenile 'Matadi' (SamSam's 5yrs old grandson). 'Kesho'(10) at Dublin lives in their group with his two younger brothers, the elder being the same age as 'Matadi' so I'm sure they would get along fine. He's also completely unrelated, mother-reared and ready to be moved- what more could they want!!

29-09-2008

One of the younger ones born at the Zoo is now living at Whipsnade, though the reason was more to do with her being disruptive in their group than because they wanted to breed from her.

I don't think Twycross will ever keep a bull -unless there's a huge shift in their policy. And by the time any of the young bulls at Whipsnade are old enough to breed, Twycross's females would all be facing reproductive problems from lack of breeding.

29-09-2008

I heard that she was also become aggresive towards the keepers and because they didn't want to stop free contact with them they moved her

29-09-2008

Because of the way there outside enclosure is designed they could keep a bull in the house and lead the females down into the secound half of the enclosure and then close the gate given the male the house and the outdoor bit near the house. Not ideal I know but one why for them to get a natural breeding herd started.

29-09-2008

I knew about Karishma moving to whipsnade. What with the high number of young asian bulls born recently, its a shame that Twycross are likely to never keep one

30-09-2008

Back to Jitu!!

Are any more males going to join Jitu in Valencia? They only have 1.2 as a breeding group at the moment. Also When is Bukavu coming to Blackpool, soon i hope!

30-09-2008

I think Valencia must be currently rethinking their combinations. They were going to have a breeding group and a retirement(?) group which was initially 1.1(Catou & Dorle) from Duisburg. However Catou soon died and Dorle was added to the younger pair(Mambi & Fossey) though she's old and a non-breeder.

30-09-2008

They should never have aquired young females if they weren't prepared to keep a male.

30-09-2008

The initial plan for gorillas at Bioparc was a breeding group 1.2 and another bachelors group 1.1 .

30-09-2008

Maybe 'Jitu' will be partnered with the older female 'Dorle' and another younger female acquired for the 1.2 group ? (as per the original plan)

30-09-2008

Any news in about (if) when Jitu's replacement is arriving?,

30-09-2008

The news item said 'Jitu' was leaving in 'a few weeks' and the new male is unlikely to arrive until after he's left, I guess.

30-09-2008

Thanks for that, is there any know males that are likely to fill his place?