Very sad to announce the loss of Djambe the Orang Utan » Colchester Zoo

30-10-2008

In that case they may wait a while before doing anything, and from the description of the design, its anybody's guess what they plan in the way of replacement animals. However, in the 'Orangutan Forest' section of the website, which has been altered since Djambe's death, it does still say they hope to obtain a 'future breeding pair' though its couched in rather vague terms.

30-10-2008

went to colchester yesterday. Love the new orang enclosure, but did not take any pics because rajang was at the back and was just staring through the bars into the keper area. Went back in the dark on a ghost tour and saw him asleep in the corner of the indoor area under a sheet- apparently he refuses to sleep in the sleeping quarters. can,t wait for the outdoor area- its huge! It was very different to see the zoo at night, though in some parts it was far too crowded and other parts me and my cousin were on our own. Also, komodo dragons now have access to a larger part of dragons of komodo though they are not using it! Also, it would definately be unfair to house 2 orang groups just inside.

(ps- karenZOO I am a male!)

31-10-2008

OOPS I do apologise Roz I am known as 'Bob the Carp' on the fish keeping forums so excuse my gender confusion

I have been to 'wake up with the zoo' but would love to see it after dark ,maybe next year!

Did you go to the Aardvark Feed? Not that they would be out of their nice warm burrow for it (I guress?) but What with all the success they have had with the breeding of them I think they should put the outside bit undercover and make it more 'nocturnal' and visitor friendly, I would love to see them anywhere but always in the burrow!

Good news about the Komodos finally having access (although not using it) I know they were keeping them in side bit for training but think they were getting to used to the public and just played to them!

Aww poor Rajang i cant imagine him wanting to use the hammock in the slleping areas it was always Djambe you saw on the sleeping ledge or in the treehouse bit of the old enclosure he always seemed happier on the floor

31-10-2008

i did not go to the aardvark feed but did see the out in the enclosure- they are a lot more active than i thought. I also saw the reptile keepers feeding the new baby madagasgarn tree boas born in august!

31-10-2008

I also saw a sign saying that work is going to start on the amur leopard enclosure this winter, making the enclosure 4 times bigger than it is now! It will be built on the tamarin enclosure and the dik dik and stork paddock behind dende's area of the present leopard enclosure.

03-11-2008

The site has update her cause of death ....

However, during a medical examination at the time of the move a large, irregular shaped mass; now known to be an ovarian cyst, was found on the right side of Djambe's abdomen. On 25th October, keepers perceived everything to be normal with her as she was alert and fed as usual and surgery was planned for two weeks later, once she had settled from the move. However, late in the afternoon she was discovered dead. Post mortem results indicated that she had suffered a heart attack following the rupture of the ovarian cyst. It is now clear from the post mortem that an attempt at surgery would not have been a viable option for her due to nature of this condition.

very sad indeed ..... rip .....

09-11-2008

Went to Colchester today!

UPDATE NOTICE IN ORANGTAN FOREST (QUOTE - YES i AM SAD ENOUGH TO PHOTOGRAPH THE NOTICE )

How is Rajang?
As most of you are aware, sadly our female orangutan Djambe died on 25th October 2008.
Initially Rajang showed signs of distress following this loss which is not surprising as they shared the same enclosure for over 10 years.
His keepers spent a great deal of time with him in the following days and he seems now to be much more settled, interacting with the public and is back to his old ways.
Orangutans are naturally solitary animals and although they can live in the same area quite comfortably, they do not require the same social intervention such as a social animal like a chimpanzee does.

Therefore orangutans can live quite happily on their own.

HOWEVER WE DO HAVE PLANS TO BRING IN ANOTHER FEMALE ORANGUTAN IN THE NEAR FUTURE

09-11-2008

When we got there today Rajang was in one of the sleeping quarters happily sitting with a bucket and a piece of wood and he was using the wood to pick up the bark flooring and filling the bucket!

He then went into the main 'play area' and sat staring at the crowd, I went over to the side and he spotted me and came over for a kiss , he looked quite happy (well as happy as they ever look!) he then got fed up of the crowd that came over and went into the far corner, put a sheet over his head and went to sleep!

Must admit I was welling up and it looks so big in their with just him Hopefully they will find a lovely orang to keep him company but Djambe was a lovely orang and had one hell of a personality that was very much missed today

11-11-2008

thnx 4 the update keep us informed ... glad he is back to his old ways ...cant wait for the new female ....

11-11-2008

Don't put yourself down- photographing a notice is a very good way of storing useful information in one press of a button..

I'm trying to second-guess where they might get another female at short notice from. Another hybrid or Sumatran female would have to come from Europe. There are Bornean females closer to home here in the UK but no particularly obvious contender. It will probably depend on an EEP allocation.

11-11-2008

No problem monkeyworld my pleasure

Thank you pertinax still getting used to the fact no one on here will think i am wierd for being zoo/orang obsessed

Do you think they will get a young female they can breed from in the future when Rajang has sadly gone or will a hybrid female be able to in the future live quite happily with a breeding group (obviously not breeding herself!) so that they are not in the position they are at the moment with Rajang!

I dont really know anything about EEP and how it works but cant see them getting a breeding female to live with Rajang only (especially as I am hoping Rajang becomes the longest living orang ever )

11-11-2008

They could do either though my guess would be either another hybrid or a 'surplus' purebred female like Djambe that is from a well represented line so no need to breed from it. I think one of Dublin's females can't breed for medical reasons so that's a possibility too. No reason why a hybrid or 'wrong species' female couldn't live in with another group as long as she was prevented from breeding. (Of course some Orangs don't like living with particular other individuals though so there's always the possibility of incompatability further down the line).

It really depends on the EEP to identify a suitable female(s) in somewhere that's happy to let it transfer. What I am still not sure about is if the new enclosure is really designed to hold more than one pair or not. Any concrete idea on that?