I went to the zoo today and spoke to a keeper who told me a new female tiger is coming soon from Norway.
I am assuming she will remain at colchester. Colchester have had three tigers before and mixing females together is possible so maybe they will live as a trio until such time when they can breed from the new girl. Or they could rotate Igor between the two females.
u I think it's quite obvious Anoushka has to go ( maybe back to Linton to join her equally impure sister), her presence can only cause a problem for the potential breeding pair
A sweet little item about orangutan, Rajang: Rajang imitates magician's trick in the run up to our Shriek Week events!
On Oct. 17 a Spider monkey female was born, the first Spider monkey-birth at Colchester in 8 years time ! Parents are Cheekaboo and Julius.
Trip today 1. Otto seems to have left the collection 2. All three wolves are now mixed together 3. The ring tailed lemurs have been split into 3 groups making a lot of vocal calls to each over the fence. does anyone know if there are plans to bring in a breeding male zebra and giraffe ???
Visiting tomorrow, are the chimps onshow to the public following the build? Also, do Rajang and Tiga actually live together?
Not anymore, since Tiga became mature. They alternate use of the outside area. Maybe you could note whether all four Red-Capped Mangabeys (2.2) have been formed into one group in the Mangabey Forest exhibit or are the new females still kept seperately?
So I visited for the first time on Saturday. This may not be a popular opinion, but Colchester wasn't too memorable for me. Perhaps because of how condensed it felt in regards to enclosures (everywhere you looked there would be another one, which isn't always a good thing). Some highlights included the sealion underwater viewing tunnel (a first for me with sealions that is), the smooth-coated otters, red-backed bearded sakis and African lungfish (my first time seeing these species), the apes (of course) and the sun bear and tiger enclosures (both good designs). However, some enclosures (most of the ones in the Africa house) felt way too small, which did not help the zoo's case. There also seemed to be a particularly large lean towards South American and African themed areas, which is fair enough considering these species/biomes do well with the public, but it wasn't a great feeling to turn a corner expecting something new only for it to be another South American house. As for the apes, I enjoyed seeing Rajang for the first time, as well as the chimp group. This group seem to be very well-established, with little aggressive behaviour witnessed. Tombe seems to be a good alpha, and I look forward to seeing the new outdoor area (which looks very impressive) being put to good use. Mixed exhibits were interesting to observe here too, albeit some felt a little cramped (the giraffe, Selous' zebra, greater kudu, white rhino, ostrich and crowned crane exhibit for example). Overall I give the zoo a 4/5. A good zoo in most areas, but don't expect to see it near the top of my 'to revisit' list. To answer Pertinax's question, two mangabeys were living together, with one being kept separate. There was another mangabey living somewhere else in the zoo (it has slipped my mind exactly where unfortunately, but it definitely wasn't in the mangabey enclosure). So no, they haven't been mixed yet.
Thankyou for taking a note of the Mangabeys. I suspect they may have been re-organised though- previously I think the two males(father and son) were in the 'Forest' and the two females held together elsewhere.
I think the lone male I spotted away from the 'Forest' must be the son then. In any case there was definitely one male separated from the ladies in the enclosure and another male in a completely different place.
Ah that would make sense then, and they are further forward with the intros than previously. Both males are adult so not sure which one you saw adjacent to the females.
