I'm not aware of any shrews at Chester Zoo. Recent arrivals are 18 African Grass Rat (Arvicanthis) 0.1 Zebra Mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus) 5 Striped Grass Mouse (Lemniscomys striatus) 4 Four-striped Grass Mouse (Rhabdomys pumilio) and 8 Tree Rat (Thallomys). Any of these may be in the Okapi House. I did see either a Zebra Mouse or a Striped Grass Mouse on 2nd May, can't remember which. The other small enclosure contained a lot of rockwork but appeared to be empty. The uploaded files are from Chester Zoo's annual report. I expected the zoo to put them on their website, but apparently they are not there.
i think this is the greatest thing posted, i love animal inventories, how maany, what species, aquisitions, births deaths
Oh, More info on the tree rat, Chester is only one of 2 ISIS registered zoos to hold them. It is the only zoo in the UK to house the species.
Aren't the shrews in the African house some sort of semi-aquatic species? When I was last there I saw the exhibit, but i seem to think it was covered as though it was empty.
I saw that last October but in January, there was one covered and one that had lots of twigs and soil in it. I didn't see anything in it though....
The one with the twigs and soil in it is the one housing the mice, it would be the one on the right. The other may be for a aquatic shrew as previously suggested.
What species do you think? There aren't any registered with ISIS. I spent over an hour going through all the shrew genera to look for a suitable species.
Could be otter shrews (Potamogale velox), they live in the same area as okapis., or maybe European water shrews. The lack of anything on ISIS does not necessarily mean it is not there. Sometimes it can take a long time to be updated. I'm going to Chester soon, I'll try to find out if they have any shrews.
Otter Shrews rings a bell actually, I'm not sure where from? Has there ever been any zoo signage in that area- it just seems very familiar...
There has been a small picture near the tanks for some time now. I aked Penny and she didn't know. Penny is the leader of the junior memebers at Chester zoo. I also asked the giraffe keepers who look after th african dormice and giant pouched rats, and they didn't know either.
I can't remember what the shrew signs in the okapi house say. I only remember when people saw the mouse most of them were convinced they had seen a shrew. Penny is resposnible for arranging the movement of animals in and out of Chester. If she doesn't know what is expected then there does not seem to be anything due. I met Penny last September and on her desk was a thick file containing lists of arrivals at Chester in the coming months. I was just about to look at it when someone entered her office and we were distracted. Then I forgot all about it. A missed chance if ever there was one.
Penny was also talking about another species of tree shrew or boosting their current population. I also read on Wikipedia that chester did not keep it's elongated totoises and now they have moved along with the star tortoises which were the species that was supposed to be there in the first place! Now, I think they've got spiny turtles. I also read that the squirrel species will change? Have you seen the prevost's squirrel? I only saw him when I went to the frost fair.
I have seen the Prevost's squirrel twice, he is very secretive. Ther red-bellied suuirrels I saw for the first time ever last year. I didn't have any luck seeing them when they were at Marwell. The tree shrews seem to be doing quite well boosting their own numbers, pity all the young seem to be boys. I never saw the elongated tortoises in the elephant house though I did see them many yeasrs ago in the Tropical House. I've heard the squirrels will be replaced by endangered species when any become available.
yes, they could get the big flying sqirrels from singapore. I only saw the elongated tortoises under a log in the elephant house in the tree shrew exhibit. Funny! I have seen the red bellied squirrels about 5 times!!
