I'm not sure when it was released, but the annual report for 2015 is available: Annual Report - Colchester Zoo
Since the end of February, five rainbow lorikeet chicks have been hatched in the walkthrough enclosure. One of them is being hand-reared while the other four are being parent-raised. Lorikeet chicks hatch out in time for Easter! - ZOO NEWS - Colchester Zoo
Could someone just clear something up for me? I plan to visit Colchester Zoo in the next few months but after doing some searching etc it appears that this is not one of people's favourite zoos I was shocked by this as it has a very large collection of animals which could rival any zoo so why do people not rate the Zoo very highly as the map of the Zoo looks fantastic
Colchester zoo is fantastic. It is voted as the second best zoo in the UK and the 17th best in the world! The zoo has around 300 species but some of the enclosures are perhaps a bit small. I personally do not know of anyone who dislikes the place however I do know that people are irritated by the amount of fake rock in the zoo. For example half the lion enclosure is concrete.
I think you can make your own mind up after you've been but I would suggest that only Chester in the UK could have a definite argument for being a better zoo.I would put it comfortably in the top 5, as would most of the general zoo visiting public.
The zoo has welcomed two young Ruppell’s Griffon vulture chicks! For the second year in a row the original breeding couples have swapped with Gomez & Hyde welcoming one chick and Jekyll & Morticia welcoming another!
Had a fantastic day at Colchester Zoo on Wednesday, it has changed a lot since I was last there. It is definitely one of the best zoos I have ever been too, in my top three! Seeing Sun Bears was a highlight, but the fact that every enclosure blew me away was amazing, the animals are looked after so well there. I took quite a few photos, I can post some if anyone is interested
Please do! I used to enjoy visiting before moving away from the London area, so it's interesting to see what's going on.
Otto the male rhino is soon to leave to go to another collection to breed with new females in Europe. The crocodiles have returned to the zoo and work is coming along nicely on the chimp enclosure.
With Colchester's female white rhino calf Pembe due to leave soon, the intention is for a new young female rhino called Astrid to arrive from Cotswold Wildlife Park in June. More details below: Kingdom of the Wild becomes home to new arrival! - ZOO NEWS - Colchester Zoo
Visited last sunday, was very very busy. New guide book very similar to last year though with the usual descriptions of the animals. Personally i would like the guide book to me more about the zoo and the individual animals it houses. Some of the enclosures seemed more empty than usual especally the monkey ones e.g didnt see any squirrel moneys.Couple of the fish tanks in penguin shores seemed to have disapeared too. Nice to see the giarffes and rhinos out in the paddock together. Only one of the rhinos was shut in. How many Rhinos is there now just 5???? The Ants are back too!! I still hate that hippo enclosure, could be so much better. Again can only really see the two elephants which is a great shame, can just about get a glimpse of the other two when enter familar friends. Some young penguins out on the new beach part. Didnt see any of the wary pigs either, only the deer was visable Was confirmed during the hyena encounter that the mother did sadly pass away during the birth of the last youngster. Only 3 hyenas remain now. Chimps indoor bit is now open New pasta and pizza restaurent open, pizza was about £8 for a whole one. Trains running again
On the top part of cover is a Elephant, then bottomm part penguin/tiger and orang atan Not sure on rhinos they either have 4 or 5, i think pembe has already been moved and otto too?
Was there still a sign for Warty Pig on the enclosure? This is a mix I don't like but perhaps too much to hope they have removed them somewhere else, to give the Deer a decent paddock with some grazing on their own again.
Went for a long visit today - here is what I noticed: - Coppery titi monkeys are now permanently in the South American walkthrough and now occupy the tamandua indoor area; their old enclosure has been linked to the pied tamarin enclosure - A pair of grey crowned cranes are mixed in with the dik-diks in Edge of Africa; I couldn't see any sign of the demoiselle cranes - The blue cranes are currently off-show - There is a new wooden 'hide' overlooking part of the elephant enclosure; not entirely sure what the point is to it - Definitely still five rhino - the two adult females and the two calves in the main outdoor paddock and Otto still confined to the hardstand with a moving crate in with him - Only four maneless zebra visible - I'm guessing the couple that recently arrived at Blackbrook came from here - The marine aquarium in Kingdom of the Wild now houses African moony fish, emperor angelfish, clown triggerfish, lionfish, snowflake moray eel and new spotted porcupinefish - The enclosure that formerly housed the second Nile monitor now houses one of the radiated tortoises - The moat around the old leaf-cutting ant island has been drained and the black mollies removed - All four of the aardvarks were awake and active outside in broad daylight - there must be ice-skating in hell tonight! - Saw all four Visayan spotted deer and at least three Visayan warty pigs still mixed in the main enclosure, so they haven't given up on the mix just yet - I saw at least four baby ring-tailed lemurs in the Lemur Island troop - The red pandas have been separated - one is in their old enclosure still viewable from the bridge - The Chilean flamingos are off-show while a number of new arrivals settle in - As mentioned, two of the aquariums by Penguin Shores have been removed completely and concreted over (the Amazon freshwater and marine aquaria) leaving only the butterfly goodeid aquarium now - The Iguana Forest walkthrough now houses green iguana, Philippine sailfin lizard, yellow-footed tortoise and both Eastern and yellow-margined box turtles - Macaw Rock is now empty - the birds in question are now being used in a bird show - The new chimp complex is open - the actual indoor chimp enclosures seem largely unchanged, although there is new educational material and the slender-snouted crocodile enclosure is probably double the size, with a small outdoor area and an off-show area (I saw both crocodiles, but they still seem to be settling in, and spent most of their time hidden in the overhang in their pool) - The slender-snouted crocodile pool also has a shoal of nine cichlids (I couldn't tell what species) - time will tell how many remain next time I visit Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll try and answer them.
I was there today too, something that bothered me was that I only saw 2 mangabey and 3 Colobus, do you remember seeing more than that? I'm worried both are going the way of the Patas Monkeys which gradually dropped in numbers. There were 6 or 7 of both last year.
Regarding the Mangabeys, there should be seven, or six if the younger male has been relocated. They aquired three new females for the group only last year although when I saw them they were still being kept as two seperate groups (3 & 4 respectively). I would not think they have started to dwindle yet.
