Work has started on the repairs to the monsoon Forrest, scaffolding has gone up around the whole building.
Brief visit this afternoon. In less than an hour we saw: All 3 Great Indian Rhino All 3 Sun Bear Both Spectacled Bear Both Tiger and ... drumroll ... both Binturong. (Well, the nose of one and the bum of the other ) Who said the Tiger and Spectacled Bear were difficult to see ... ? Had a quick walk through PREDATORS! Was quite impressed (and I'm not usually one for 'that sort of thing'. Couldn't see any sign of any division in the Spectacled Bear enclosure - are they being mixed again?
New arrivals: - Saw 2 of the Elegant Crested Tinamous after waiting around an hr. They didn't come out into the main exhibit but i could see them through the entrance to an off-show area in the bottom right-hand side. - Saw 3 of the new baby Meerkats, the numbest ill get into the house through the exit.rs are good & they are beginning to look like a proper mob again now. - Signs up for Haitian Giant Galliwasp (Celestus warreni) in the mountain chicken enclosure. - They have added new species into the Seahorse aquarium - I wasn't able to note them down, but there were a few species of worms & a species of smelt off the top of my head. - Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spiders (Eriophora transmarina) were on display in RotRA - South Eastern Girdled Lizard (Zonosaurus maximus) was on display with the Parson's Chameleon in the tropical realm. - The Visayan Hornbill chick was out of the nest in the dragons of Komodo. - Trinidad Monkey Frog (Phylomedusa trinitatis) was on display in the tropical realm. Developments: - The Philippine Spotted Deer have moved across the bridge to the old Anoa paddock, the Anoa have moved into the off-show Babirusa paddock & Babirusa have moved into the old Philippine Spotted Deer paddock. - The Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec have been moved off-show. - The 2 end marine aquariums have been emptied & are under development. - The entrance to the Elephant house was closed as the aviary there is under development, but you can still get into the house through the exit. - The Gentle lemurs have been moved into the old Cotton-Top Tamarin enclosure opposite the Onagers. - The Bush dogs have moved into SoJ as their enclosure is under development. - 6 Red-Billed Blue Magpies have been moved into the old Great Grey Owl enclosure as their enclosure is also under development. Other observations: - There is still one Ural Owl on show. - The Giant Otter indoor area is fenced up & there is a sign saying that the zoo suspect they have pups together - Exciting! - The baby Moloch Gibbon was visible, playing a lot with Mum. - 2 Radiated Tortoises were fighting, with one trying to flip the other over. - There were only about 10 Chilean Flamingos on display. - One of the Binturong was out feeding in the inside whilst the Sun Bears were feeding on the outside - it was quite nice to actually see more than just the Binturong's tail for once!
Chilean flamingos? But I thought those ones left the collection earlier this year. Isn't that still the case ATM?
I could be wrong but there were around 10-15 lighter-coloured flamingos in the RHS paddock so I assumed they were Chilean as they appeared to be separated. They were on the far side of the paddock though so I could be wrong.
The Chilean Flamingo's have all gone. The ones in what used to be that side of the enclosure are young Caribbean's. The recent Z magazine mentions that plans are being drawn up to convert both (current) Flamingo exhibits into a South American Wetlands Aviary The Gentle Lemur's have been in the exhibit opposite the Onager's for several months. Cheetah's - Adaze normally lives in a semi offshow exhibit to the back of the main enclosures. The trio of three males (Matrah, Singha, Burba) are normally together in one of the front enclosures. All are now considered elderly in Cheetah years though.....
Thanks for this great report! A couple of questions: What happened to the previous meerkat mob? I recall the TV show saying they were starting afresh, but not why. Also is the Galliwasp sharing with the Mountain Chicken?
Just to be correct; it may not have been born yesterday but is certainly only a couple of days old & I'm sticking with it being a female.
I only know the info I’ve posted because I visited today & viewed the baby chimp with mother myself. Anything else would be speculation.
I'm not too sure about the meerkats - wasn't there competition between 2 females at one point, could this have broken up the mob? Yes the sign seemed to suggest so, but I imagine it could access all enclosures there as the back rocky wall spans all 3. I can't help but feel it'll be a species that most people will never see as it must have so many places to hide.
Yes, except that I suspect there is more than one. @MagpieGoose has posted a very nice photo in our Gallery.
someone recently mentioned some new species in the seahorse tank, but I can't find the post. Anyway the exhibit currently houses Big-bellied seahorse Hippocampus abdominalis Black brittlestar Ophiocomina nigra Bloody Henry starfish Henricia oculata Common brittlestar Ophiothrix fragilis Common hermit crab Pagurus bernhardius Common prawn Palaemon serratus Europoean smelt Osmerus eperlanus Peacock feather duster worm Sabella pavonina Rock gunnel Pholis gunnellus Rosy featherstarfish Antedon bifida Shore urchin Psammechinus miliaris
Walking past the giant otter enclosure this afternoon I noticed a big presence of SLOTZ cameras so stopped and had a look... They definitely have at least one kit/pup as we saw it being taught to swim!
I believe it's the monorail's last day tomorrow. Meanwhile, the penguin pool is leaking and is being fenced off prior to work starting again. The Lazy River boat ride was also closed today "for maintenance".
They have put some of the roof support arches back onto Monsoon Forrest, couldn't see how many are left to go back up, seem to be back up faster than they originally thought.
