Hi I'm a regular visitor at Colchester Zoo and I went recently and could not see the baby vulture. Has anyone seen it? Just worried that something has happened as there is no notice about it having been born. Thanks in advance.
On Thursday 15th October Cynthia, one of the female white rhinos, was put to sleep after serious deterioration in her health. Her current calf Mabaso is being taken care of by the other rhinos and is being closely monitored by the keepers. Colchester Zoo mourns the loss of Cynthia the White Rhino - ZOO NEWS - Colchester Zoo
Visited Saturday noticed a few things 1. Was able to see the chimp in there bedroom area which has been repainted but the area was shut off halfway through the day 2.Only two wolves on show no sign of 3rd 3. Opal, Zola and Tanya were put in together a lot of running about after each other. No sign of Tembo tho his paddock was empty gates left open, couldn't really tell if he was inside or not thought the bars. 4. Mabaso spent a lot of time up against the fence with Otto then playing with other rhinos 5. Only two Kudu seem to be left both shut inside the house. 6. fish tank inside kingdom of the wild still empty 7. fish tank in the worlds apart is empty 8. monitor lizard enclosure in being redone 9. nice to see the two new giraffes have settled in well 10. blue crane chick is nearly fully grown 11. Police were inside kingdom of the wild house no doubt to do with Cynthia's death
most likely to do with the fact that when simba the male rhino was put to sleep few years back his horn was stolen when the body was moved.
Yes indeed, I was just about to say that myself. The horn was meant to be properly disposed of, but it was not!
I haven't heard this before! Did this occur around the same time there were a spate of thefts of horns from museums? Any idea how this happened? If no-one wants to say openly then can someone PM me more details please?
https://www.essex.police.uk/news_fe...tober_2010/the_unusual_case_of_the_rhino.aspx This may explain it, it was in all the papers at the time, but I don't see the connection to Cynthia unless the zoo trying to pre vent another theft.
Thanks Dean, not sure how I missed that story! I like the fact the police had to point out this isn't a regular occurence in Essex, I think that's well deserving of a state the bloody obvious award!
Some more about Mutu : It is with great sadness to report that Mutu, our adult female Komodo Dragon passed away on Monday 23rd November 2015. Mutu had been under veterinary care for some time and intensive treatment for a week before she passed. The only option was for her to undergo surgery on the afternoon of Monday 23rd November where unfortunately, Mutu suffered heart failure and could not be resuscitated despite best efforts from the veterinary team. Colchester Zoo first introduced Komodo dragons to the collection in 2006 to become part of the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (EEP) for this species. Since Mutu’s time at Colchester Zoo she and male Telu, became the first dragons in the UK to breed through a natural mating and she has assisted with the conservation of her species by successfully laying a number of fertile eggs which hatched into healthy young. Some of her young have gone onto other collections around the world to take part in the breeding programme and continue conserving their species numbers whilst others remain here at Colchester Zoo. Mutu was a much loved resident who had a close bond with her keepers, she will be very sadly missed.
Had a nice visit today for a few hours this afternoon and the chimp house was open. I went inside and the visitors viewing area has been modernized and the crocodile enclosure is currently under construction and its going to be a big enclosure for them! No changes have been made to the chimps environment and work is only occurring on the outdoor enclosure at weekends so as usual the enclosure will take ages to complete .
Going to the zoo again on Christmas eve is there anything that people want to see photos of or ask a keeper? As colchester is a constantly developing zoo I wonder what the next project will be after the chimps? Any ideas?
A fire overnight has destroyed the Lost Madagascar train and station. Luckily no animals or people were hurt
Had a nice visit this morning the zoo was surprisingly busy. After the fire the train station and train is nothing but a pile of rubble. The station is expected to be rebuilt for the Easter holidays. The chimp enclosure is coming along nicely now. The new outdoor enclosure is going to be very high up and the chimps will be able to look out over most of the zoo! The female komodo dragon enclosure is being refurbished and lots more planting has been added to the enclosure. It looks like one of the juvenile dragons will take up residence there.
I forgot to ask if you could have a look at the orangs while you were there. If you did, how are they?
Yes I did pop by the orangs. Rajang was looking great and was very interested in the person that was doing a keeper experience with him. I did not see Tiga but he was probably outside and because it was only a quick visit I did not bother to go round and see him as I was pushed for time however I presume he is doing as well as his old neighbor.
