I managed a cold, wet visit to Colchester this morning. This is what I noticed: Species Arrivals, Departures and Movements - The aardvarks were being moved (by being walked across the enclosure by their keepers) into their other indoor area in Kingdom of the Wild - For the time being, the first three terraria in the Discovery Centre (normally housing red-knee tarantulas, stick insects and purple flower beetles) are all empty, with signs saying the animals are temporarily off-show General Observations - I saw all three lions in the extension of Lion Rock today, the first time I have seen them in that space (their indoor area was being cleaned) - Saw the new female white rhinoceros being mixed into the paddock with the other animals (bar the giraffes); other than a bit of snorting between the rhinos the mix seemed to go very well - The Barbary macaques and patas monkeys were mixed today, although I doubt the mix will last if my observations today were any indication. At one point I was genuinely concerned I was going to see one of the patas killed in front of me.
I visited today arriving around 12noon and could not believe how busy it was for a fairly miserable winter day! So busy we were sent in a side entrance to the overflow car park. I think the half price online tickets are clearly working! Today was as busy as I've ever seen it in summer or on Halloween nights! Highlights for me were the leopard cubs putting on a great show at the front of their exhibit and the tiger cubs were very active at feeding time too
Could it be lots of parents filling up the last day of the holidays with something cheap to do? Most schools round here go back tomorrow or Tuesday and a half price trip to the zoo is a good way to round the holiday off.
The zoo are doing a “January Blues” offer of £10 tickets so it is likely it will be extremely busy every weekend in January if last year was anything to go by!
I'm sure it will be busier due to the offer - but kids weekend activities (sports and suchlike) will start up again from next weekend so I'd expect it to taper off slightly for the remainder of the month.
I think you are probably right, there was very little in the way of youth sports fixtures last weekend, everyone will be playing next weekend (unless it rains all week!)
0.1 White Rhino Calf born on 4th Jan- Details below from social media post; Colchester Zoo’s New Year starts on a BIG high with a White rhino calf being born! We are delighted to confirm that after a 16 month and 8 day pregnancy, on the evening of Saturday 4th January Emily gave birth to a healthy female calf. The youngster is strong and healthy with mum doing really well too! You may be able to catch a glimpse of the new arrival from the outdoor viewing area depending on the weather, or via the balcony inside the Kingdom of the Wild building overlooking the indoor area and hardstands. Find out more about Emily and her adorable calf here> White rhino calf born! | Colchester Zoo
Visit early this morning Emily and Calf are doing very well, both can be viewed from inside the house by face painting station. Otto was out in the paddock on his own. Binta was also inside being kept in the stall next to Emily. Astrid and Kifaru were outside on the hard stand together not sure why they aren't out in the main paddock with Otto. Tanya and Zola where enjoying the new mud mount that has been created up the top end of the enclosure. Rolling around and laying in the mud. One red panda has been removed from the main enclosure and is in the old red panda exhibit which can been seen from the bridge. The chimps have acquired loads of footballs in there indoor quaters seen hugging them while they slept. Both Tiger and leopard cubs are very active and playing. The kune pigs have left the zoo and their enclosure is being redeveloped.
Trip to Colchester yesterday - was lucky enough to see the baby white rhino who was charging around the inside area and looks to be doing great. One red panda is now in the enclosure to the right of the Otter / Biturong enclosure as you look at it from the bridge. Only other things I noted were that seemingly no work has started on the high ropes course thing and I could not spot the turtle that is usually on the left as you walk into Rajang's Forest. It may have been just out of sight but I don't think I have ever not seen it before. Tiger an Leopard cubs were on good form and it was indeed very busy due to the January offer they have going on.
1) Saw three pigs in the Kune enclosure today. Unsure if they're more Kunes or not. They were quite young, and were all orange with black spots 2) Patas and Macaques were kept separate 3) During the Orang talk today, the keeper mentioned they are hoping to receive some females this year
I should have said this was the case last Fridat as well - only Macaques were in the outside enclosure.
They sound a bit like the Oxford sandy-and-black breed. Did they look anything like the piglet in this picture? Oxford Sandy and Black piglet, 9 weeks old, against white background
Confirmation from the Colchester Zoo website that the kunekune pigs have left the collection and been replaced with three Oxford sandy-and-black piglets. Three little pigs come to Colchester Zoo! | Colchester Zoo Also, Colchester Zoo have announced that they will be raising money to help wildlife affected by the bushfire crisis in Australia. The funds will be donated to the Zoos Victoria Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund. Action for the Wild Fundraising | Colchester Zoo
Managed a visit to Colchester this morning. There isn't much to report that hasn't been mentioned here already. Apart from seeing the Amur leopard cubs for the first time, the only actual new things I noticed were: Species Arrivals, Departures and Movements - The three invertebrate terraria in the Discovery Centre have reopened. While the spiny stick insects and red-knee tarantula have both returned to their former enclosures, the purple flower beetles have been replaced with another enclosure for Madagascar hissing cockroaches. Also, the signage for the tailless whipscorpions has been removed as well.
Actually, another thing I have just remembered: the Vulture Valley aviary near Kingdom of the Wild appears to no longer have the lone Eurasian griffon vulture, leaving only the Ruppell's griffon vultures there.
Not bad at all! Eurasian and Rueppell's are closely related, the latter probably also more endangered and in need of colony spaces
