Tigers at Edinburgh » Edinburgh Zoo

05-10-2008

Paradoxically, if you create the most amazing enclosure for Polar bears, and allow them to breed, wherever you send the cubs will be a step down in welfare terms.

05-10-2008

You could argue the same thing with an elephant moving from Whipsnade or Howletts, or with a Lion moving from their huge enclosure at Longleat.
It happens all the time, that doesn't mean they should stop breeding them.

06-10-2008

oo o Surplus animals being shipped to less suitable(sometimes really abysmal) housing in zoos in other countries has been going on a long time. Even some of our most reputable and high- profile zoos have done this in the past, the animals being conveniently forgotten about after moving to what is usually referred to as a 'new home abroad'.

06-10-2008

Hmm what I said sounded wrong lol.
I don't think any of our good zoos should send animals to some of the awful zoos you see abroad, I just meant that if HWP wanted to start breeding Polar bears, then they should not be put off just because the cubs would end up in an enclosure that isn't as good as the one they were born in, but what might still be a good enclosure.
For example, if Longleat were to move a Lion to Whipsnade zoo, then they would have gone to a smaller enclosure than the one they were born in, but at the same time it is however still a good sized enclosure in a very good zoo. So in a situation like that, I don't think the animal's welfare been comprimised.
I hope this made sense :-s

06-10-2008

There is a thread devoted to Mercedes and the future of polar bears at the RZSS
http://www.zoobeat.com/38/what-do-mercedes-23056/

06-10-2008

this article was in the scotsman newspaper today


Mini-tigers will be big hit at the Zoo



Published Date: 06 October 2008
By GARETH EDWARDS
A PAIR of critically endangered young tigers have become the latest attraction at Edinburgh Zoo.
The year-old Sumatran tigers, Tibor and Chandra, arrived from Heidelberg Zoo last week and are now settling into their new home in the Zoo's jaguar enclosure.

They will spend the next six months there as part of their quarantine before being moved
over to the existing tiger enclosure.

The pair have been brought in to replace the Zoo's two Amur tigers, Yuri and Sasha, who have been moved to the Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore.

And the two youngsters – described as mini-tigers – are expected to be a huge hit with the public. They were carefully moved by van and ferry across Europe

Like the Amur tiger, Sumatran tigers are critically endangered, with only a few hundred left in the wild. The smallest sub-species of tiger – with males averaging 234 cm in length from head to tail and weighing about 136 kg – they are found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Their stripes are narrower than on other sub-species and they have a more prominent neck ruff.

The main threat to the wild population is habitat loss and poaching for the traditional medicine trade.

Alison MacLean, head keeper of carnivores at Edinburgh Zoo, said the two animals already seemed to be enjoying their new home.

"They are quite young and we want to let them settle in at their own pace, so we leave it up to them to explore in their own time," she said. "They have been incredibly bold, though, and even with the poor weather, when you might have thought they would want to stay inside, they have been out and about exploring the enclosure.

"It has a lot of climbing elements, which maybe they didn't have in Germany, and they are enjoying that. They are beautiful creatures, and they will be a huge hit, because they are very much the typical tiger people expect to see, although a bit smaller." Ms MacLean admitted that she had been sad to see Sasha and Yuri leave, but was "delighted" with their huge new home, which she said they would love.

The pair were moved as part of a five-year redevelopment of the park which will see it take in more species from mountain and tundra habitats around the world.

The move means they can be given a far bigger area to roam around in, and it is hoped they will also breed, to help conservation efforts of the rare species.

Previously known as Siberian tigers, the Amur tiger was renamed in the 1990s when the last disappeared from Siberia. They are now found only in isolated populations around the Amur river valley in the far east of Russia, and it is estimated there are just 500 left in the wild.

Doug Richardson, animal collection manager at Highland Wildlife Park, said: "We are very excited about having these living conservation icons in our care.

"The arrival of the tigers is the latest step in the evolution of the Highland Wildlife Park and one that I am sure will help to raise our profile both within and outside of the Highlands community."
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there was also a news story on reporting scotland about sasha and yuri settling in at the highland wildlife park at kincraig,anyone with bbc scotland can see the full report on reporting scotland starting at 6.30pm tonight

07-10-2008

The Edinburgh web-site reports that the jaguars are now in the Tiger enclosure , with all the climbing opportunities they should look good in it .

08-10-2008

So where are the new tigers going?!
Why not just put the new tigers straight into the actual tiger enclosure?

09-10-2008

Probably because the Tiger accommodation was not suitable for quarantine , whereas the Jaguar's was .

09-10-2008

Lol, poor Jags.
They're getting shifted around a bit.
I think they could do with a new enclosure anyway.

10-10-2008

Do you know if both of the jaguars have been moved?

last time i was at the zoo one of them seemed really disturbed and kept attacking the glass and showing stereotypical behaviour. according to one of the keepers it was rescued from a circus, where it was kept in a tiny cage and had its canines and claws removed.

maybe it will benefit from being moved to a new enclosure?

10-10-2008

It's interesting you should bring up Longleat....when I saw some of those ridiculous shows where they follow the birth of....a pygmy goat or meet the keeper to groom a guinea pig in the pets corner....they did show the sealion pups being rounded up to be sent off to blair drummond! I thought then, what an awful reality shift, from the half-mile lake to a small concrete pool. So yeah, I do think that collections with very good facilities should try and match what they have when they send off surplus animals. Interesting you should mention the Jaguars, I would be pretty horrified if they were to be shunted back to the old space having been given the amur tiger enclosure.

Similarly, I read that the London wallabies, as I suspected, had been rounded up from...Whipsnade! I realise they wouldn't go to the trouble of acquiring them from elsewhere, but to catch up 20 free-ranging wallabies and move them to...the mappin terraces. It sort of isn't the same as if they'd lived in a small paddock their whole lives before moving to London.

10-10-2008

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Aye of the tiger as pair go north

Video of the Amur Tigers at HWP

10-10-2008

But they never do(or didn't used to). Its the 'out of sight/out of mind' mentality.

10-10-2008

Its differcuilt for zoos, I suppose if they have decent husbandry techniques and diets, then even if the eclosure is not as good as the one they left I wouldn't have problem with it.