Gosh, many of the brazilian megalopolis are inserted in really biodiverse areas. It's great to imagine tamarins living in São Paulo. About the marginalization, I'm mostly talking about the high index of prostitution in those areas. Not being prejudice about it, but areas where this kind of "business" predominates, are left abandoned by general public and many times by the government... Saying this from cases I've heard in places around BH metropolitan area, but I don't know anything about how Trianon park is nowadays. I didn't have the chance to visit the place in any of the times I was in SP city.
Great news! Another gorilla was born in BH zoo yesterday. I was coincidently at the zoo, and was informed of the birth by zoo director Humberto Mello. The new dweller of the area of the gorillas is the 5th of the species to be born at the institution. It's son of female "Imbi" and silverback male "Leon", and is yet to be sexed, but we already have it's first picture: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTYJzXnLLa2/
I have to say, my wishes are that they discover it's a female. Three males were born at the zoo, but only one female until now, so it would be better that this newborn is a girl. Of course, surely not gonna complain if it's a boy though.
Yes, and we'll have to wait something like three months until "Imbi" lets us see what her baby actually is. No other way then let them do things in their time.
Updating this thread with very sad news today. Female african elephant "Beré", one of the oldest animals at BH zoo, died yesterday of infections in her womb and lungs. She was presumably born in 1975, in the wild in Botswana, and brought to Brazil in 1977. In Belo Horizonte, she had two offspring: "Axé", who lived her entire life with her mother, and is still living in the zoo, and "Chocolate", who nowadays lives in Brasília zoo. "Beré" is a big loss for the society of Belo Horizonte, as an icon of the old times, and one of the very few animals that had experienced both the former and new eras of the institution. Besides "Axé", the zoo still keeps a male called "Jamba". On the picture below, "Beré" is the one in the right, and always conserved her two tusks, wich grew up considerably since I took this picture.
Yes, indeed it is. We very much appreciated this old lady and all she represented here in BH. Her age wasn't the most advanced an elephant could reach, but knowing elephant average lifetime in zoos worldwide tends to be around 17, she surely had a long life reaching 46.
i just searched the timelife of elephants at zoos, and i can't believe they just live 17 years in captivity, i thought they could live more than this.
Yes, they are one of the few animals that live less in captivity than in the wild, afaik. Although all the (captive) elephants in Brazil seem to have overcome this average, including african and asian individuals.
Yes, it seems like the asian elephants have bigger lifespans in captivity than the africans in general. A female asian called "Margareth", who lived in Belo Horizonte zoo untill 1985, died with something around 80 years old.
Sad news in these last moments of 2021... The youngest baby gorilla born at the zoo died on sunday. He was only four months old, and still had no name. The veterinarians tried everything they could to save the individual, but there was no success. The animal's body was sent to the veterinary school of the federal university of Minas Gerais state (UFMG).
Thanks Enzo! I'll surely pass your condolences to dr. Mello and the crew. It's indeed very sad, but hopefully the plans for an expansion and building of a new exhibit to hold the older males will take place, and the crew will be able to continue allowing the breeding of Lou Lou and Imbi. For now, they are receiving contraceptives in order to not let the exhibit too crowded. Hopefully, the plans of the conservation plan will go ahead, despite this loss... Let's hope.
Good news in place (some I have already added to the other thread of BH zoo:Belo Horizonte Zoo, species list [Belo Horizonte Zoo]): For the first time, a marsh deer was born at the zoo. A couple of smooth-fronted caimans has arrived, as well as a spectacled one, a group of eight emus, two black-necked swans, a blue-fronted piping guan and a south american rattlesnake. Zoológico de BH tem nascimento e chegada de novos animais
Quick correction I just realized, yet I cannot edit. I meant "A couple of smooth-fronted caimans HAVE arrived", not "HAS arrived".
