To start a new thread for this year, the baby gorilla born in October has been confirmed as male. The zoo are now running a naming poll for the baby. Most of the choices are names of African origin, and another of them is 'Kenneth', after Kenneth Branagh. It's a boy! Help us pick a name for our baby gorilla
Being named after a 'marmite' famous person is probably never a good idea. Look at poor orang Cherie at Blackpool, forever lumbered with a connection to Cherie Blair.
In the 60's there were even animals named after the Beatles- 'Ringo' was a favourite, and later after other pop/rock stars too. Most of these names were quietly changed again when they became less fashionable.
A coppery titi monkey has been born, the sixth offspring for Inca and Aztec. Love is in the air at Belfast Zoo this Valentine’s with the arrival of a tiny titi monkey!
From the Zoo's Facebook page, it looks like another bongo has been born. They'll probably give an official announcement tomorrow. Belfast Zoo
Announcement of two Eastern bongo births: Two critically endangered Eastern bongos born at Belfast Zoo Two critically endangered Eastern bongos have been born at Belfast Zoo in as many weeks. The sex of the new calves is not yet known as zookeepers are giving them time to bond with the mothers and the rest of the family. They join siblings Jumapili, Pasaka and Nollaig. “Both mothers, Kibibi and Surali, are experienced and doing a great job of taking care of the calves,” he continued.
Belfast Zoo have just had their busiest year in ten years, with over 280,000 visitors over the past year. Also from the article below, I have pulled out some particular points of interest. A Francois' langur was born on March 2nd. Males of maned wolf, blesbok, and colobus monkey have arrived, with the maned wolf jumping out at me the most. I think their previous male may have died from old age, as he arrived in 2012 and maned wolves live to be around 12-15 years of age, but I'll need to check that. It also says the zoo are expecting to bring in some new species over the coming months, so I look forward to hearing what they'll get. Roaring success at Belfast Zoo
Belfast zoo are phasing out elephants: Belfast Zoo elephants set to be rehomed at new facility Belfast City Council confirmed in a statement it was a “very difficult decision” to “phase out” the elephants from the zoo. They said they are now “working closely” with the European Association of Zoos and Acquaria to “identify the best possibly new home for them”.
No like from me! Ridiculous! Why rehome 40plus year old elephants from one retirement home to another, totally unnecessary! This is not in the animals interests, just the council trying to look pc!!
I have noticed a trend on ZooChat of people clamoring to post good news; coupled with a general reluctance to post bad news (which is 'likes' poison). There's even a handful of people who soley post positive news. I fully agree. It offers no benefit to the elephants involved, only the stress of transit and adjusting to a new home. The phase out could also be cost motivated. Aside from the expense of feeding elephants, geriatric animals come with a range of health issues that are expensive to treat.
While I get zoos who stop keeping an animal after death to some extent, the transfer of old animals seems really unfair. They know their home, their keepers and their place. Uprooting them will be really stressful I’d imagine. What if they lose one because of the move, the other will be all alone. And they don’t have anywhere to send them yet. They were rescued in the first place - I’d certainly argue for them to live out their time. Sounds a little like cost saving dressed up as welfare or they know one of them is on the way out and want to pre empt having a solo elephant to deal with.
What this post made me think of when I first saw it was the concept art on the website about their framework masterplan, which I came across over christmas. The concept art shows an expansion of the elephant enclosure that would give them more space, and that hinted that the zoo still wants to keep elephants in the long-term. I'm hoping to visit the zoo sometime soon to ask questions regarding the masterplan, so I'll ask them if they are still planning the expansion and if they still want to keep elephants in the long-term.
Interesting - perhaps they have permission to expand and so are moving the elephants to do it or perhaps they didn’t get it so decided to convert the elephant area to something else. Either way the current Elephants appear to be paying more than the zoo.
Article about the new Francois langur baby, born on March 2 to mum Chua: An incredibly rare François leaf monkey has been born! Also, Enrique the two-toed sloth is now temporarily living in the gorilla house: Belfast Zoo
I believe that site is an unofficial one created by an over-zealous amateur posing as Belfast Zoo and as such has approximately as much bearing on the future plans of Belfast as it would have had someone posted it to SpecZoo here.... to wit, zero. Note the slightly different URL, and the lack of any actual links back to the zoo website, copyright information, Belfast City Council branding, or any of the EAZA/BIAZA/WAZA accreditation listed on the genuine website.
