Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Discussion and questions 2023

Does anyone know which species of Synodontis is kept with the Dambas and Kotsovo Cihclids?

 

Synodontis petricola, S. njassae, and S. polli.

 

Oh dear, that means I have no idea which one I have seen. Thank you Swampy. For the information I mean.

 

http://www.hawaii.edu/cowielab/Tentacle/Tentacle_31.pdf

Latest edition of Tentacle, the newsletter of the IUCN SSC mollusc specialist group, has an article on page 41 about the zoo's various contributions to snail conservation. Another article on page 51 covers one of those projects in more detail.

 

Thanks for sharing Swampy.

 

Does anyone know whether any if the aviaries have reopened yet

 

The walk-throughs were closed when I visited on 30th and 31st March.

 

Has anyone done the carnivore keeper for a day experience? If anyone has could you tell me some more information about the day and what it’s like?

 

What would you like to know? I have done all 9 of the keeper experiences at Chester.

 

Does anyone know if the zoo has plans to display the Lorikeets, I know the original Island plans had an aviary for them, but that was a long time ago.

Also have they completely dropped the idea of moving the Komodo dragons over to Islands?

 

Mitchell's Lorikeets were supposed to go into the Bali aviary. I don't think they are now.

Mount Apo Lorikeets are on show in Dragons in Danger.

I have no idea about the Forstern's Lorikeets.

 

Following on from a discussion on another thread, a question. Do Chester still have Sitatunga and if so do they have any access to any water(a pond/lake) in their current enclosure?

 

They do have sitatunga, but I believe they may currently be off show as they were in the Africa section that is under development. I am unsure about water source.

 

If the zoo still have sitatunga, I guess they will be off-show in a holding area - very likely without a pool. However, although there is a water feature in the big new savanna habitat, the plans for Grasslands/Heart of Africa include an off-show house with stalls labelled for ostrich, roan, warthog and zebra, plus the on-show house for the breeding herd of giraffes. There is nowhere else in the plans where sitatunga might be housed, assuming that they will not be mixed with the meerkats, pelicans or hunting dogs

 

The present group of sitatunga at Chester never had permanent water in their exhibit.

They only collections I can remember which kept sitatunga in enclosures with pools are Blackbrook and Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

 

Plus Exmoor.

 

There is another house on the plans next to the bachelor giraffe house, labeled as ungulate indoor habitat, but no species is mentioned.

 

Whipsnade provided a pool for sitatunga a few years ago. Photo supplied on link below.

Sitatunga; Whipsnade; 19th September 2019 - ZooChat

 

Worth mentioning not every species planned is listed, such as the blesbok (which I assume will be in the main mixed savanna). If Chester sticks with sitatunga I could see them being moved somewhere else in the zoo as they tend to prefer wetter environments. The same can probably be said for the bongo, being a more forest dwelling species I imagine they will live elsewhere in the zoo but this is simply speculation.

 

Banham have a pool in their enclosure too.