Sounds like they are preparing the area for the Mountain habitat that was mentioned in the 10 year plan... "For example, we hope to bring Barbary macaques here for the first time as part of the proposed mountain exhibit. "These creatures may be plentiful on the Rock of Gibraltar, but internationally they are an endangered species, and we can hopefully help raise their numbers in captivity." Of the prospect of bringing the Monkey Temple back into use, Dr Carroll said: "It will be nice to use the building – it is no longer suitable for keeping monkeys, but clearly it is an iconic building for people who remember childhood visits to the zoo in the 1950s and 1960s. "Clearly we can't create a mountain in the zoo, but we can recreate a mountain habitat. "We would hope to move our red panda into this new area, as well as bringing in new animals such as Barbary sheep, Barbary macaques, pika, rock wallaby, montane chameleon, giant salamander, cheer pheasant, pekin robs, cave cricket and cave spiders."
that quote is from a 2011 article in the Bristol Post (Ten-year plan for Bristol Zoo | Bristol Post) and it just reads like the director listing a bunch of animals he has heard of, rather than any actual or realistic plan.
Ok I've heard somewhere along the line that it's a possibility of bonobos and/or manatees coming to Wild Place? Any truth in this? It'd be so awesome to have them in the UK!! (not to mention that would bring the total worldwide number of bonobo-holding collections to 22 )
Both species were in the original collection plan for what eventually became Wild Place - however as plans were vastly scaled down, if either species comes to the collection we're looking at decades rather than years.
Aw sad, particularly as there are quite a few bonobos that should be moved out of the same group as their mothers at this point (Omanga from Frankfurt soon, Nayembi and Huenda and their kids in Stuttgart, Lingoye in Planckendael, Fimi in Leipzig soon and Nakala in La Vallee des Singes), also I believe that some of the males who don't get much of a chance to breed due to overly successful males in their group (such as Heri in Frankfurt, Mobikisi in Stuttgart, Jasongo in Leipzig and Bondo in La Vallee des Singes) could be moved into other groups too, although for Heri and Bondo it'd be at the cost of leaving their mother behind...
What makes you think the Zoo Director quoting the 10 year plan is not realistic? The species mentioned would all fit the bill for a new mountain habitat. I hope it's accurate.
I suspect that Chlidonias is basing this on the proposal that pika might be one of the taxa held, as this group has not done well in captive European collections in the past. However, all the other taxa mentioned *would* be realistic to obtain and display, although there is unlikely to be the required space to hold all of them at once
I am not sure how the old Monkey Temple would fit into all this. I do have fond memories of the Rhesus monkey colony it used to house. The article says its not suitable for Monkeys any more, probably true, but then talks about the possibilty of 'bringing it back into use'. For what? It also mentions the intention to keep Barbary Apes but presumably not in the Temple. Is this the area to be developed at some stage as a Mountain exhibit? If so, the Monkey Temple will still dominate it and use up a sizeable proportion of the available land, as presumably it has a preservation order of some sort. At least from those four major projects listed, they have already got one done- enlargement of Gorilla House.
I agree, the area in question is pretty small, certainly for the mix of species being talked about. I am sure the Monkey Temple has a preservation order on it. A decent Pika exhibit in itself would be a super idea!
because I have read a lot of zoo development plans and - especially in press articles about the plans - they almost always just pull out a list of random animals that fit the idea in some loose way but which have little comparison to what they can either achieve or end up attaining.
So after the excitement that work may be about to begin on this area, The aviaries area have now all been turned into plant beds!
While at the zoo today I picked up a map on which is advertised a new development entitled Heart of the Philippines. The area it covers is pretty much the site of Zona Brazillia (I've never liked this exhibit). It looks like the taipr enclosure is going to be reconfigured and the area behind it (I.e the public path and small tropical house) will be the new Philippines exhibit. The warty pigs look like they're staying put and I guess will be part of the new exhibit, perhaps they will also bring in the Philippines cockatoos that are kept off show at Wildplace? The aquarium has had some work done on the tanks passed the tunnel. The tank which held the one-eyed pufferfish (and piranha previous to the pufferfish) now has mudskippers, the first large tank has had a mangrove theme makeover and the second large tank has been redesigned for the epaulette shaks. Female gorilla Kera has rejoined the group and finally one subadult Lord Howe Island Stickinsect is on display.
Agree that Zona Brasilia is a mess of an exhibit. Hopefully the redesign will be a massive improvement. However I think one issue that cannot be resolved is the odd layout since the new wallaby walkthrough was built. Zona Brasilia and the pygmy hippos (outside yards) are very much off the the main path now. Suspect the tapirs will end up at Wild Place as a result.
Bug world has just started a captive breeding programme for the Desertas wolf spider Hogna ingens. This is only found in one valley on an island near Madeira and is the worlds largest wolf spider (up to 40mm body length in a female)
