Was told today that the two female Patas are separate due to one of them being hurt . They are leaving the zoo on Wednesday. They apparently will be getting some new Patas.
Where will they go to? I don't know why they thought Barbary Apes and Patas would get on together- they don't meet in the wild let alone in a confined space...
Woburn managed to keep them together without any issues. So can’t see why Colchester are having issues with mixing them.
....yes, but at Woburn it was a substantially larger enclosure - hundreds of times bigger than that at Colchester!
New species has arrived at the zoo- 1:0 Large Hairy Armadillo- see below for the Facebook post. Meet Gomez our hairy but adorable new arrival! We’re very excited to share the news that on the 22nd January, Gomez the Large hairy armadillo arrived at Colchester Zoo! He is settling in well and is already extremely confident and enjoys spending time with our Animal Care Team! Gomez will not be visible to the public at all times however he will be available to meet and learn more about as part of our Sensation Station encounters once he has settled in. Find out more here> Armadillo Arrival! | Colchester Zoo
Lottie is slowly being introduced to the other rhinos she was out in the paddock this morning for an hour chasing the other rhino about and playing in the mud.
More breeding success upcoming with the White Rhinos...the zoo have announced that female Astrid is pregnant with her first calf and is due end of this year. See below for post from the zoos Facebook. More BIG News for our White rhino crash with another calf on the way! Just over a month ago White rhino Emily gave birth to her 3rd calf, Lottie. We are very excited to announce that Lottie will soon have a play mate as one of our other female White rhinos, Astrid, is expecting a calf of her own! Astrid is due to give birth at the end of September/early October 2020 after a pregnancy of 16 months. This will be Astrid’s first calf fathered by our male Otto making this youngster the half sibling of our current bundle of joy, Lottie! Find out more here> BIG News for our rhino crash! | Colchester Zoo
Interesting article on the zoos website regarding land the zoo owns- Scoping request submitted regarding Colchester Zoo land Colchester Zoo is aware of the current planning application that is being prepared by Tarmac following a ‘scoping request’ Tarmac has submitted to Essex County Council. Tarmac is seeking planning permission for an extension to Colchester Quarry on an area of land south of Maldon Road, adjacent to Colchester Zoo. The extension site is owned by Colchester Zoo, having bought the land from Tarmac in 2012 as part of a larger purchase to provide room for future growth of the Zoo. Tarmac reserved rights to extract minerals from beneath the land to ensure that those minerals would not subsequently be sterilised if the land was developed. At the present time Colchester Zoo has no plans to use the land, but we are working with Tarmac to ensure that if planning permission is granted, the site will be worked and restored within a short time frame and without the use of infill materials, to a sustainable landform and land uses which are compatible with both Colchester Zoo’s current activities and its long term vision. A public consultation is due to be held by Tarmac in the summer of 2020 and we currently awaiting confirmed details.
Some points from the Tarmac planning proposal for the land east to the zoo which can be found on the Essex council planning portal; -Tarmac formerly owned and upon disposal retained an option to exploit resources of sand and gravel from land to the east of Colchester Zoo and south of Stanway Quarry. Colchester Zoo which owns the defined land has in response developed ideas to provide an after use for the site which will extend the surface area of the Zoo onto the defined land, potentially for visitor attractions and additional animal exhibits, and a new car parking facility -extracted over a short-term period of some 3 years. - The intention is thus to extract a proportion of the sand and gravel reserves from the defined site area as a means of avoiding the sterilisation of the resource, but in so doing to use the opportunity to create a new landform appropriate for future use by the Zoo, which could be advanced as a separate proposal and planning application -The proposed restoration landform will be geared towards potential future uses for Colchester Zoo, with a series of platforms created in the northern area which would be suitable for car parking or visitor attractions, and with a more varied landform in the southern area suitable for future exhibits. However, in order not to pre-empt decisions on a future application by the Zoo for such developments, the landform would also lend itself to agricultural use as an interim (or final) after use.
On January 22nd a female African white-backed vulture (called Betty) arrived at Colchester Zoo. She has been mixed into the Vulture Valley aviary where it is hoped that she will form a breeding pair with one of the two male white-backed vultures (called Bert and Grump). To be honest, I hadn't seen any sign of the two male white-backed vultures recently and thought they had left. Very pleased to be proven wrong on that count. More information can be found in the link below: Love is in the air at Vulture Valley! | Colchester Zoo
I couldn't give exact breeding stats for the Ruppell's griffons, but there was definitely a successful hatching of one back in 2015.
I had a good long visit to Colchester Zoo today. This is what I noticed: Species Arrivals, Departures and Movements - Saw the newly-arrived large hairy armadillo 'Gomez'. He was on the encounter table in the Sensation Station at around 11:00. - The red-bellied piranha tank in Worlds Apart was boarded up completely. I imagine the fish are off-show somewhere. - Because the mangabey area is being redeveloped, the owl butterflies from the butterfly walkthrough are currently being kept with the green anacondas in Worlds Apart. - The cherry-crowned mangabeys are off-show due to the redevelopment of their indoor area. - The pied tamarin enclosure is screened off to give the animals privacy due to recent veterinary treatment. - Despite the recent news article on the arrival of a new white-backed vulture, I did not see them in Vulture Valley, with just the five Ruppell's griffons being visible. Births - Saw the new white rhinoceros calf out in the main paddock; it was mixed with most of the other rhinos as well as the zebras and kudu. The giraffes, ostriches and one of the rhinoceroses were confined to the indoors today. General Observations - Saw both crowned lemurs today; it is the first time I have seen the male and only the second time I have seen the species since their arrival in 2018.
Visited 3 time this week got chatting to the rhino keeper they have successfully introduced all the female rhinos together now and are taking it in turns with Otto for the outside paddock for the next 6 months till Lottie is old enough to meet him. ( subject to when Astrid gives birth) Kifaru Is set to leave on Tuesday morning They have tried to introduce Otto and Binta but unfortunately both times they have tried it has been unsuccessful. Otto tried to mount Binta but she wasn’t interested so they are keeping Otto on his own for the time being
Mother and daughter Bornean orangutans Mali (24) and Tatau (6) publicly announced to be moving from Paignton to Colchester later this year. Work begins at Rajang’s Forest in preparation for exciting new arrivals! | Colchester Zoo
Gigit do you think that Tatu's half sister will spend her entire life at Paington Zoo? I really hope that Nataliya can spend her whole life at Paington and eventually produce offspring with Wousen.
