Chester Zoo Chester 2015 #3

To kick off the third and (likely) final thread for this year: News from Belfast today reveals that Chester will soon receive 1.1 Moloch Gibbons. They will be mixed with the Sumatran Orangutans in Islands when the latter eventually relocate

 

Do you know if the Lar Gibbons being mixed with the Borneans when they move into RotRA or will they remain in separate enclosures?

 

Atleast 1 has been mixed with the Borneans for a good number of years already!

 

Has anyone been to Monsoon Forest since it was reopened with the free flight birds on Monday? Does it feel distinctly different? How are the birds settling in?

 

I'm really quite looking forward to these - a very attractive species, and it means another 'new to the zoo' species for Islands.

 

Are we supposed to play along and pretend that Moloch Gibbons come from Sumatra? Wouldn't Agile have fitted better?

 

Surely Chester wouldn't risk mixing Molochs with orangs in the same exhibit?

 

Shhh.... Java's an island - it's close enough!

 

Its been done elsewhere successfully.. no reason why it shouldn't work

 

Doesn't Java fit in with the islands theme anyway... Banteng and Rhinoceros Hornbills?

 

I didn't realise, I thought all of the gibbons were mixed with the Sumatrans.

 

Organising zoos on geographical lines is never very satisfactory, at least in my eyes, because it can never be the overriding principle: the requirements of conservation and good husbandry cannot be compromised to suit the details of geography.
I think a more vague geographical theme might be workable: as I said in the opening post of the first Islands thread, I would have preferred Islands to be designed around the concept of Wallace's Line, so that the individual islands of origin of each species would not have been a criterion. This would have been much more flexible, because it is much easier to move a line on the ground than to move a canal and bridges

Alan

 

I often think Gibbons and Orangs together is one of the more successful types of mixed species exhibits, one that usually works well. Both species are arboreal and can use all the same areas of the enclosure, while the quick moving, sometimes noisy Gibbons complement the slower, quiet Orangutans.

 

The female was moved in with the Bornean Orangs years ago, you sometimes can see and hear her in the netted enclosure.

 

I recall (quite some years ago now) the Twycross Ape Nursery containing a young orang + a young gibbon.

One was rather faster-moving than the other!

 

Article about the Orang-baby :
New Name for a New Orangutan at Chester Zoo - ZooBorns

 

Tragic news from the elephant house;
We are devastated to have to tell you of the death of our young bull elephant, Hari Hi Way.
Hari tested positive for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), a fast-moving virus which affects elephants between the ages of two and five years old. Despite the very best efforts of the teams involved in his care, his condition deteriorated rapidly and he died late yesterday afternoon.
Hari was well known for his playful and sometimes mischievous antics and he’ll be hugely missed.

 

Does anyone know how the herd became infect with EEHV? I'm assuming a bull must have been infected and subsequently infected the cows? Additionally I'm assuming it is similar to the herpes virus in humans in that it cannot be cured.

Very sad indeed.

 

Another sad loss, sorry to hear about another so soon.

Really not enough is known about EEVH, it appears to be a complex tangle to unravel as to how it works as a virus, why it affects certain individuals, how it is passed from one animal to another (if this is even the case). What is known from experience is that generally it affects young elephants, 2-5 years of age irrespective of sex. Some good information on this: National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory FAQ - National Zoo| FONZ

 

It lies dormant in adults and therefore Chester herd may have had this a long time already but why it is now becoming an issue appears strange.

I do hope they have tested surving elephants to see if it is present. And then they could maybe see why some survive and others do not.

Weaning age, which again leads to you hope they focus area of reasearch on why it actives or becomes strong enough to overpower the inmune system? Something present in mums milk? Or is it passed via feeding from mum?

All questions I would like to see looked into, I have not seen anything on this before, so if these have been answered and people have links, would be nice if you shared.