Went to the zoo today on the last day of my daughter's holiday ..... the carpark was packed but strangely it seemed quite quiet inside ..... don't know where all the visitors had gone ?! My daughter insisted on taking her 'pet Rajang' (a quite realistic cuddly toy, with cheekpads and throat pouch) all round the zoo with her. This provoked some definite interest in some of the other primates: 3 of the L'Hoest monkeys came over and sat on the other side of the glass peering at it, twisting their heads this way and that, looking it up and down for ages, then a female gelada jumped up at the viewing window a couple of times, and when we went to the chimps, Tumba appeared to get very excited, jumping up at the window, smacking the glass with feet and fists ...... swinging across on a rope, and then finally peering at it for some time before licking the other side of the glass ! The chimps put on a good display today ..... were lounging about after lunch today but had a good view of Talia in the hammock with Tekita, and later in the day, all of them were intent on a big mass grooming session (causing much hilarity - as usual - amongst the viewing children, and more ignorant adult visitors - due to them not leaving any inch of anatomy unchecked if you know what I mean). Talia received a lot of gentle affectionate attention from all the others - lovely to see. No sign of the baby anteater - or any anteater, and the aadvarks were off show due to the ongoing alterations. The old viewing windows from the interior ramp have now been blocked in with breeze blocks ...... can't quite envisage how the new enclosure is going to work at all. Noticed a new info board about Sasha ..... in the same style as the recent gelada and chimp family trees. Presumably (hopefully) this will be repeated elsewhere ...... would be good to see more personal info posted up about the wolves for example, and the elephants (though admittedly I've not been in their inside area lately so there might be new info there for all I know). No sign of Tiga unfortunately - he was supposed to be outside but is 'very good at hiding' (as regular visitors already know) according to the keeper my daughter asked. Rajang was inside - dextrously and delicately separating the inside pith from the outside yellow of a banana skin with teeth and fingers. However, the most exciting thing for me today at Orangutan Forest was seeing - and I am 99% sure it was her - sounded like her, looked like her (she's tiny in real life) - Lone Droscher Nielsen (Borneo Orangutan Survival) being escorted by 2 keepers ..... ...... she was the last person I expected to see but from surreptiously eavesdropping the conversation was quite 'technical' and 'expert' - about orang physiology ...... from what I heard they could perhaps have been discussing Djambe's cause of death, and Lone (if it was her) was describing similar problems with orangs she knew. I wanted to take a picture (to check it was her later) but couldn't without seeming very rude and in her face, but did manage to sidle up to where they were standing in front of Raj - hopefully not in too much of a starstruck fashion - on the pretext of 'saying goodbye to Rajang'. At that point Lone was commenting how Rajang had the colouring of a Bornean, but the cheekpads of a Sumatran etc., ........ she noticed my daughter's toy and had a little chat with her about that and about Rajang, which was kind. I really wanted to speak to her and express my admiration for her work but as presumably she's in the UK either on business, or on a break, didn't feel it'd be right to interrupt. Am sure it was her.
You will be lucky Andiii I've got big elbows i will either be pressed up against the glass or at the bar lol Lone Droscher Nielsen Really the Borneo Orangutan Survival are giving a talk at the orang utan evening tomorrow MAYBE we are being really honoured OMG
Oh wow, Karen, that definitely adds some validation to my sighting earlier today. It fits doesn't it ?! Will be great for all of you lucky enough to be going tomorrow if she does turn up to do the talk.
Just gobck from my morning at the zoo, arrived at 7.30 and it was already fairly busy with card holders! Exciting news- two 14 month old female Giraffes are expected to arrive in the next week ! Found this out when I visited the Giraffe training session. Not much else to report apart from I visited the sealion tunnel to find the keepers diving in the pool to clean the glass. The old meerkat enclosure that is currently holding Cuban Hutias is going to be redeveloped later in the year, not sure what for though? Amur Leopard enclosure progressing well.
Great news Roz Century will be pleased! Are they keeping the other 2 males ?? We didn't go this year, what other talks did you go to, its difficult to fit them all in Hope they made the tunnel all spic and span for tonight
Seems a bit odd to get two potential breeding females whilst they own two hybrid males (plus Century the pure bred). I'm with KarenZoo here - surely Ed and Koifi must be moving out
Interesting news about the giraffes ..... did they say where the females were coming from ? (am also intrigued about the fate of Ed & Koife ......)
It is always possible they are none breeding hybrid female Giraffes and they are going to keep them along side the 2 males,as i do know this is been done by some collections to free up space in other collections to concentrate on pure sub-species.
early morning it wasnt said were the 2 female giraffes were coming from but they are defintly going to be breeding with century. they didnt say anything about ed & kofi, the hybrids, moving yet. the male red panda died in its sleep from old age and they are keeping an eye out for a new young red panda to making a breeding pair. Also the keeper said there was going to be some changes in the area around where the pandas are, but didnt say what the changes would be. the new sliding door in the white tiger enclosure is for training sasha, theres wire mesh behind it. They're training him so they can touch his tail and listen to his heartbeat. jez, the trainer, did actually hera sasha heartbeat while we were watching for the first time. the tamanduas will move to the new tropical house when its done, so we might have more chance of actually seeing them Finally the leopard enclosure is, at the mo, due to finish around december and dante will at some point in the future go to another collection but nothings arrranged yet.
Finally the leopard enclosure is, at the mo, due to finish around december and dante will at some point in the future go to another collection but nothings arrranged yet.[/QUOTE] Do you mean Dende the non-breeding Amur Leopard?
I didn't know Colchester had a reticulated male but one is listed as such. Whipsnade have the only group of Reticulated in the Uk but the adult male is no longer there(died or moved since last year?) They now have 2.2.(2 adult cows + 2 male offspring of one of them) Unless this is the very same bull at Colchester (or is related to Whipsnade group), maybe he will go to Whipsnade?
I'm pleased to hear that Lushan might get a new mate in the future. Do you know how old she is? I was sorry to hear of Rondo's death when I visited last week They were a lovely pair. That's good news ... I haven't seen them yet.
No, but Whipsnade does have Reticulateds and there is no adult male at present in their group(see my above post) so they do need one (provided its not their previous male or from their group originally)
London I believe are also expecting two hybrid females sometime in the near future, seems that keepers may have got them mixed up with Whipsnade.
While on the subject, does anyone know what happened to Whipsnade's male Reticulated Giraffe(came from Brno, Czech Rep. I believe) as he is not there now.
I think he was called Bruno? I am almost certien I can remember reading that he had died. I will try and find the link for you.
Take all the inside info from Colchester re giraffe moves with more than a pinch of salt. Just look up the latest recoms in the latest studbook. Hybrid collections will only maintain non breeding groups to enable in future to more quickly end up with pure-bred only giraffe to expand the various ssp. giraffe programmes. Chester is to receive a fully pure-bred group and the hybrid females are going to a hybrid female collection. Colchester keeping male reticulated meaning it will go to Whipsnade for breeding. Must check whether male is related to stock at Whipsnade (I think so, but not sure ...). All the rest ....
