Well my first zoo visit of 2018 was the local one. Blackpool ! With news of a new arrival Orangutan in October 2017 and births for the Gorilla's and Gibbon's it was worth a local day out in the rain. I apologise for the image quality on the Gorilla's, the glass was minging and the best I could do. First things first, the Zoo are ready for Twycross' Elephant's as soon as they are ready to be sent, so hopefully they will be arriving soon. At present there are Lama in the old Elephant exhibit but this is only temporary and work will be done on the exhibit next year before a new arrival in 2019 of a new species. The keeper I spoke to didn't know what it would be, but they were hoping for Rhino's. Part of the Reindeer enclosure is closed off due to excess water, which makes them hard to see except from the Zebra section. It was only today I noticed they have absolute loads of Red Titi Monkey's. The stud book holder is based at Blackpool Zoo, but it was only today I noticed they must have about 20 of them in 4 separate exhibits. The Ostritch was off show round the back of the Zebra paddock, I'm not sure why. The Vicuna has been moved to the paddock near the Anteater now, so in the paddock adjacent to the Giraffe is only the Muncjak, of which you never see but apparently there is one there. In the pouring rain, the Red Panda's were very active. I love them so excuse the mass of images of them! Red Panda by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:15 PM Red Panda Scent Marking by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM Red Panda by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM Red Panda by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM Red Panda by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM Red Panda by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM I spent about an hour in the small primate house, getting photo's of the baby Pileated Gibbon and felt honoured to be allowed by one of the keepers to go in the kitchen to see the Mouse Lemur in it's nesting box. The lighting in their exhibit was broken, so they can't be seen normally but the keeper kindly showed me them in the back room. They were all snuggled up but didn't take a photo as I didn't want to scare them, they were super cute though. Colobus Monkey by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:10 PM L'Hoest's Monkey by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:15 PM Just outside the house was the Zehost Squirrel's who are beautiful. Luckily one stayed still long enough to get an image! Prevost Squirrel by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:10 PM The male from the breeding group of Ring Tailed Lemur's has also left the park, so there are no immediate plans to breed any new Ring Tailed Lemur's for the foreseeable future. It was the first time I actually got to see the De Brazza Monkey's as well, and they have a couple of babies who around 6 months old now. Baby De Brazza's Monkey by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:15 PM The one I was keen to see was the Baby Gorilla, the windows outside made image quality poor and inside not much better, but I got one image. Gorilla by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:03 PM Gorilla with Baby by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:03 PM Jingga is the new Orangutan who is living with Ramon at present until they are happy to introduce her to the other girls. She's a 7yo Orangutan and is rather small for her age. Jingga - Blackpool's new Orangutan by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:03 PM Also I had never been to the upstairs part before and therefore today was the first time I saw the Water Dragon ! Asian Water Dragon by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:03 PM There was one recent birth on the 29th November and that was a Pileated Gibbon. They are currently unsure of the sex, but I got a few nice images of her/him for all to see. Pileated Gibbon with Baby by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:18 PM Baby Pileated Gibbon by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:18 PM Baby Pileated Gibbon by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:18 PM Month old Pileated Gibbon by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:18 PM I love how close you can get to the Pelican's at Blackpool, and it was nice to see the resident Grey Heron hanging around for free fish! Grey Heron by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:10 PM I didn't bother with the Penguins or Sea Lion Show but the young Sea Lion Pup was actually playing in the water today which is something I've not seen too often at Blackpool as he usually just sits about on the rock. The upstairs of the Giraffe House was closed, so from downstairs all you could see was legs, whilst the Lions and Tigers were snuggled up in bed. Before I left I got to take a couple of nice shots of the Goeldis Monkey's who are hard work to get photo's of as they never keep still! Goeldis Monkey by Zooreviewsuk posted 2 Jan 2018 at 3:03 PM The Tree Porcupines are off show for the winter as well. I never used to be a fan of Primates, but the more I've gone to Twycross, Blackpool and Chester, I've really become fans of them and whilst for a long time it was big cats hogging my camera, the tide has definitely started to turn. All in all a nice day, and nice to see some new babies at my local zoo.
Will the zoo get a Male elephant this year aswell as the females from twcross and also will they get female lions
Blackpool have no plans for a Bull Elephant at present. This is because Kate is an elderly Elephant, and it would be hard for them to introduce a bull to the group whilst she is alive I'm told. Long term plan would be to breed from them but it wont be anytime soon, unless by ai. As for a Lioness again I doubt it. Not 100% sure, but I have a feeling that the plan is to keep it father and son for the time being.
Thanks Swampy, I normally write notes as going along but was so wet I didn't bother today. Will change.
That is true. Blackpool will EVENTUALLY get a Bull but it’s not going to be happening this year. They are ready for the herd from Twycross and they will be introduced to Kate, but a Bull will not be brought in for a while.
Gorgeous pileated gibbon baby! They are my very favourite gibbons! Been almost a year since my last trip to Blackpool, one may well be on the cards soon - thanks for the inspiration.
Kate isn't ready for visitors yet so you can only see her if she ventures outside, and then it won't be open for a while when rest arrive to let them settle in so can't see it being open anytime soon. The old elephant house now has camels.Funny watching the anteater nearly fully grown but still gets piggy backs
I'd like to see how Kate re-acted to seeing another Elephant after so long. Hopefully they will have video'd her first contact.
Will Kate and Tara have been introduced so soon? I would have thought they would allow Tara some time to adjust to her new surroundings first before facilitating an introduction. According to Instagram, the camels are in the old elephant enclosure as a temporary measure whilst their own enclosure undergoes some maintenance work.
Probably not but you can't bring a new Elephant into a house without the existing resident(s) knowing about it. They are likely within sound and sight, or even adjacent to each other anyway.
