The tegus like to roam around that small bird plaza in the entrance. Did you see it around there? About the cuckoos, it's always a pleasure to see them. I love their tufts.
I saw the tegu right next to the black lion tamarin exhibit. And about Dorotéia, I hope she isn't dead.
Maybe you get to see her again... It's difficult to be sure in these situations, but who knows... About the alagoas curassow that you previously mentioned, they are only kept in two zoos worldwide: BH and Parque das aves. It's always great to see them there. Did you noticed their nest?
Next time I talk to the zoo's director I'll be asking about "Doro". It will be a big shame if it actually is true that she passed away, both because of the great individual that she was, and also because "Serafim" will be alone...
Did you managed to see the zoo's stick bug exhibits inside the zooboteca? I didn't look for it to know if it's open in the last times I went there. Hope they are, they're a great species.
No, I wasn't able. As I said, I was running low on time. And about Serafim, he could go to Curitiba or Rio, since they are in need for more apes of those species, because they're lacking in numbers.
Yeah, it's a shame at all if it's indeed what happened. I totally understand you about the lack of time; once BH zoobotânica is a gigantic institution, and we gotta define some priorities when visiting it; just like the camel exhibit, wich is too far from everything else, so almost everyone doesn't go there. About "Serafim", I'd preffer that he went to somewhere else instead of these institutions, once Curitiba's exhibit is definitely not very nice, and Rio has already two males if I'm not wrong. It would be a good option to keep him right were he is too, in my opinion, due to his advanced age and agressive behaviour.
Rio has a male and a female (Paulinho and Yoko), since Pipo has been moved to Curitiba, to stay with Bob, their male.
Hmm didn't know that; but if "Serafim" has to be moved, I'd rather him to be sent to São Paulo, wich already has a better history of chimps keeping, or even SP sending a female to BH in some case... Just waiting to see what actually happened to "Dorotéia" to know what might happen.
Would you have any advice for watching the marsh deer ? It was high on my wished list but it has always escaped me despite several visits and going back and forth in front of the enclosure to see if they might show themselves. Concerning chimpanzees, I do not know how much that is feasible but in Europe, there is plenty of chimpanzees without subspecific status that occupy space and could be sent to Latin America to make space for pure captive breeding programs. I guess economic and/or veterinary issues are preventing these kind of transfers.
@Therabu concerning chimpanzees in Latin American zoos I don't think that would be a good idea at all as there are already steep problems with chimpanzees in zoos here regarding sanctuaries and animal rights activists. I would really hope that most zoos here give up on this species (chimps in particular are absolutely not worth the trouble I'v ementioned and take up a lot of space in zoos) and indeed other old world primates eventually and focus on native species.
Well, about the marsh deers, they're unfortunately very shy at the zoo. I have to admit that the first time I got to see one of them was in october of this year; and I visit the zoo since I was born, practically. There was a single individual living at the zoo for years, and now the crew brought a female to try to achieve reproduction. Maybe she's been helping the male with confidence to explore the enclosure... or maybe she just wants to stay on the backstage for being also shy, and he is too unused to her to stay there too . This is the only picture of him I could ever take: (october 11th 2020) Marsh deer - Belo Horizonte zoo - ZooChat
Chimps in brazilian zoos are actually in a very complicated situation indeed... and although Brazil has been starting to exchange more animals with europe now, if one or more chimps were brought, I think the activists would make a fuss when they found it out; and If it's actually true that the only female at BH has died, I imagine the zoo will start phasing out chimps from there. I adore chimps at all, both the species and the individuals at BH zoo, but I don't think the institution will keep them for too long anymore... Talking about zoo chimps is such a complex issue around here...
I was able to see and photograph both of the marsh deer in my visit. I'd recommend passing through the exhibit very late in the afternoon, close to the zoo's closing time.
Really? You've seen both? That's surely a change caused by the recently arrived female. The male was invisible in every time of the day when he was alone. That's great to realize they're having a nice time together. I saw him in oct 11th, and in my next visit, wich was last week, he didn't show up... It might be a slow proccess of trust that he and the female are developing, so they're still appearing very sporadically.
Yes, I was able to see both. It's good to point that our because there could have been some recent good changes in her behaviour.
Yes, that's probably what is happening. At one point, I genuinely thought the zoo didn't keep the species anymore and just left the sign at the enclosure. The zoo's crew told me after that he was just an extremely shy animal at all. A situation like this one used to happen with gorilla Idi too; as I only managed to see him once. He was extremely anti social due to many years of lonely. The present gorillas are infinitely more active than him, of course, because they are totally able to exercise their natural behaviour.
I'd like to share a video I found of the Belo Horizonte zoo. It shows some of the animals kept there in the 1980's, including nyalas and Idi Amin, the first western lowland gorilla kept at the zoo.
