Male Hippo Henry has died:Dublin Zoo mourns the death of Henry the Hippo And a new sea lion pup was born:Sea Lion Pup-date!
Season finale showed Mayani the gorillas move to Antwerp which allowed Vana and Tebogos introduction to the troop. There was the death of Henry the hippo who was 41 years old and during his 30 odd years at the zoo he fathered 9 calves. The episode also gave an update on elephant calves Zinda and Avani. Both began to steadily gain weight and were given supplement bottle feeds. It wasn't confirmed but from the footage it appeared Asha allowed both to feed. A brief mention of the birth of Yasmins calve Kabir was also mentioned at the end
Sad news. I believe this hippo's name is normally spelled "Henri" not "Henry". He was born in Amsterdam Zoo on 27th November 1977 and was the father of Whipsnade's current breeding male "Hoover".
News from zoo matters: Bangui the gorilla over the last few weeks has integrated well and has even been making attempts to act as a leader, but he is not yet entirely convincing. Two giraffes were born in February. Dhoruba a female was born to mother Maeve and sifa a male was born to mother Casey. In march a male citron crested cockatoo arrived from Zoo Parc de Beaval in France. In April a male red panda arrived from Highland Wildlife Park to join Jasmine the resident female.Also in April two red ruffed lemurs were born to mother Fifi. Hodari one of the male eastern bongos was moved to Knowsley Safari Park in Marchas part of the breeding programme. In July there is a special weekend of talks and activities called wild about gorillas and in September a similar one called big cats of Dublin Zoo. And finally Wild Lights is back with early booking available in September...
Jin an eight year old orangutan from MW will be arriving in the coming weeks. I think the old gorilla house would be a suitable retirement home for Sibu maybe? I'll be visiting the zoo next week.
Seen the impressive Bangui and one of the younger girls out and about today. Didn't have enough time to walk the whole enclosure so didn't spot the rest of the troop. But inside the gorilla house I noticed they've updated the gorilla bios and have one for each of the six individuals except Kitoko (b.2016). The website hasn't been updated to include Bangui but also doesn't have Kitoko. Has he passed away?
Any news on the building progress on the old reptile house site. Not sure about the gorillas but it's likely kitoko has died or been sent elsewhere for his safety. The introduction of a new male can be a dangerous time for the very young.
Kitoko died quite a long time ago now. That's probably why they were able to bring in the new male now rather than have to wait longer while the baby grew to a safe age.
The new Discovery and Learning centre has been completed for 3 million euros. "The Discovery Centre is home to a full-size giraffe skeleton, a model of a southern white rhinoceros, a pair of African lions and a nesting ostrich amongst many other fascinating animal specimens. It is designed to bring visitors on a visual and tactile journey of discovery about hundreds of species. It will spark curiosity and a sense of wonder for the natural world for all visiting Dublin Zoo" Dublin Zoo Website
Apparently the oldest female gorilla 'Lena' died on August 10th, from an undisclosed illness, just short of her 36th birthday.
I wonder what will happen to the young male Tano or whatever he's called I think that they might move him to a bachelor group It's very sad about Lena I have never been to Dublin zoo but I have The zoo DVDs and Lena was an amazing mother and the loss will be felt throughout the zoo. I send my deepest condolences to the Dublin zoo team.
This is really awful news. Since Harry the silverbacks death, there has been a series of unfortunate deaths and problems. It just shows how delicate the balance is with these very complex animals.
I don't know what the reason for the older youngster's death was, but Lena was probably very unsettled/stressed by the loss of Harry which could have affected her mothering ability(including possibly a failing milk supply) and resulting in the younger baby's death. These things sometimes go in a sequence like this with nothing actually related between them.
Lena's death is in the members magazine. Another death is of male okapi Isiro (b.Rotterdam) who was 18 years old and arrived in 2014 from Marwell. Last time I was at the zoo I seen the remaining couple together in the same enclosure. Who knows maybe a calve in the future.
I think they've been careful not to publicise it any more widely than that, for fear of bad or anti-zoo publicity...
Yeah most people won't know until the tabloids release their annual article with "XXX number of animals died at Dublin zoo last year including a rare gorilla"
