Chester were thinking of going out of Buffy-headed Capuchins may years ago. They are very difficult to sex and the zoo thought they had something like 9 males and a female. This was revised to something like 4 males and 6 females, probably by DNA testing. I am not a monkey person but if they leave the zoo I will miss them.
Hi! New Zoochatter but long-time Chester Zoo goer here. I went on Tuesday and main new things are: Brahminy Starlings now share the Peacock aviary by the Lions As well as the unsigned Taiwan Beauty Snake in ROTRA, there is also what I believe is a Mountain Horned Lizard, unsigned, in the old katydid vivarium. And finally, Lord Derby's Parakeets are set to arrive soon and inhabit what was once the Parrot Breeding Centre behind the new Snow Leopard area, in keeping with the Himalayan theme. Don't know when they're due to arrive though. Oh and also the Red Pandas in ROTRA are set to return to their usual habitat very soon as it has been redone very nicely.
The katydids are gone? That's a shame, they were up there with one of my favourite insects at Chester. But good to hear there's a Taiwan beauty snake on display now, the only other place I've seen one is Edinburgh Zoo, but I remember hearing theirs is gone now. Welcome to Zoochat!
They arrived decades ago and have merely been offshow for a few years, having most recently been displayed outside the elephant house. Also, the Brahminy Starlings have been onshow and signposted for about a year now.
Oh OK @TeaLovingDave . I hadn't realised. The Brahminy Starlings weren't on show when I went in February, maybe that was just a temporary thing. @Jambi it is a shame about the katydids yes, but hopefully the lizards put on a good show in their place.
The last time I saw Derbyan Parakeets at Chester was on a school trip in 1985, when IIRC they were in one of the small aviaries the footprints of which are now the raised flower beds behind the owls, along with various common aviary taxa such as Diamond Doves and Painted Quail. Looking forward to seeing them again.
Chester Zoo has held Derbyan Parakeets since 1966. I can remember them in the aviaries by the owls, in the Parrot House and the aviary by the elephants. Brahminy Starlings arrived last April. Jennings the doves and quail were in the long aviary in front (south of) of a block of aviaries, one of which held the parakeets. It was in one of these that I saw my first Pesquet's Parrot, one of my favourite species. Pertinax you are correct in remembering the aviary furnishing.
They were called the Oakfield Aviaries. There were 3 aviaries along the wall. The Derbyans were held in the one nearest to Oakfield House, before they were moved to aviary beside the elephants. I remember a pair of Pesquet's parrots there long ago. The other two also held parrots, including greater vasas and Illiger's macaws. The long aviary beside the lawn could be viewed from both sides; as well as a range of waxbills and finches, it held also held other birds from time to time, including Princess of Wales and splendid grass parakeets and the quails and diamond doves that @Jennings mentioned. I have photos in the Gallery of a combassou there and of the vasas and Illiger's macaws.
At one time the parrot avaries also held a pair of Yellow-collared Macaws. They arrived in 1977 from Bristol and may have been the first of their species to have been bred in the UK, which happened in 1976 at Bristol. I think Solomon Island Eclectus Parrots were also kept in this row. Pallas' Sandgrouse were also kept here, when I first saw them I had no idea what they were.
Wow you don't see Vasas much anymore! Bet it was awesome to see them back then especially. I do hope that when all the African birds are back out they put some of their off-show birds in ex-african aviaries. I checked the stockist a minute ago and they have several off-show parrots species that I haven't seen at the zoo before. Also does anyone know if all of their Waxbills and relatives will be put onshow in another African aviary when Heart Of Africa is done? They have a lot of African species offshow currently which again I haven't seen out in a while/ever.
Gentle Lemur and I saw Greater Vasa Parrots at Twycross on Sunday. Chester used to breed both Greater and Lesser Vasas but had trouble exporting the young. No one wanted parrots which weren't colourful. Hopefully some of the offshow African passerines will go on show, but I don't know of any current plans.
OK fair enough. Good to know there are Vasas at Twycross. I haven't been in a long long time so didn't know. Shame about Chester's breeding struggles with them. It would be nice to see them back at the zoo though, they'd fit in nicely in the Madagascar section. Hopefully some of the offshow African birds go on show, yes. It would be a nice mixed-flock aviary if they did.
Porcupines are back. 1.1 Cape Porcupines (Hystrix africaeaustralis) arrived from Réserve Africaine de Sigean in France last month.
Very happy with this. Love a porky. I had in my head that they would be going in the old Aardvark enclosure but I note the newer plans have that labelled mongoose - they could easily be mixed in two or three enclosures on the plans though.
