First news of the year - 0.1 White Faced Saki Monkey has arrived from Copenhagen to pair with one of Dudley's resident males. Until now Dudley have only kept a bachelor group of this species
Pygmy marmosets A female pygmy marmoset has arrived at DZG from Dublin Zoo and has been paired with a male from the bachelor group. The Zoo has done well in breeding pygmy marmosets in the past, and is hoping to have similar success with the new pair and establish a breeding group.
Pretty sure that the giraffes are ready to calve in the next few weeks. I've uploaded a picture I took on the 2nd of January. The both cows had much deeper bellies than the bull and I thought I could see some movement. http://www.zoochat.com/198/pregnant-352425/ Looking forward to seeing the calves, but really don't understand what they are doing breeding hybrids these days.
Visit 23rd January A really enjoyable visit today, albeit a bit chilly. There were quite a few people there but no school parties so very peaceful. This is the first time I've visited since Joao's arrival - WOW! I was expecting him to be a similar size to Daseep but he is both taller and much heavier set with huge paws. He has real presence too - I will be keeping everything crossed for the arrival of Sumatran cubs in the future. I was quite surprised to see a couple of spider monkeys outside this morning as they all usually huddle round their heater indoors when it is cold. Also surprising to see Bart the Geoffroy's cat out and about as he too tends to stay indoors when it's cool. He had quite an active workout round his enclosure. He seems to have lost some weight over the winter though - no doubt due to his advancing years. As lamna said in a previous post, both the female giraffe do seem to have very round abdomens but I've no idea whether they are actually pregnant and didn't see anyone to ask. Mwamba (Asiatic lion) was roaring with one of the lionesses joining in - it's the first time I've had a good look at him as he's always been asleep before. He certainly looks impressive. The two Carpathian lynx were very active in the afternoon as were the snow leopards. Sprout (baby orang utan) was in the outdoor enclosure on her own when I arrived at that part of the Zoo. Jazz did come outside later but it was nice to see Sprout becoming more independent. The gibbons were having a wild game of tag which was fun to watch. The two howler monkey youngsters were having a wrestle whilst their parents looked on. The old rhea enclosure (opposite the Barbary sheep) still has a notice saying it is going to be refurbished "soon" for the Stanley cranes. There were a couple of newly refurbished enclosures in the reptile house but most look very bare. It is a real shame as I like the changes they've made to the building and the refurbished enclosures are visually very pleasing - I just wish they'd hurry up and do some more! Work is still ongoing on the original entrance and shop. The toilet block opposite the snow leopards has a notice saying that there will be new toilets in 2014.
According to one of the free papers we get shoved though the door Dudley Zoo are going to have an Australia Day celebration this Sunday, with various talks about their Australian animals. Apparently they have two Carpet Pythons in the reptile house now, in newly refurbished and planted enclosures.
Just read an article in this weeks Cage And Aviary Birds about Dudley's bird collection and there is mention of adding underwater viewing to the Humboldt penguin enclosure. Does anyone know any more about this and also does anyone have any idea how they would make an underwater viewing area in the current set up?
I haven't the foggiest - the only option I can think of would be constructing a raised pool next to the path at one point, with transparent glass on the public side. But this would be quite some undertaking and cause a rather large amount of disturbance to the penguins.
Haven't heard anything about that, but if it means they get a bigger pool it sounds like a very good idea. I suppose you could extend the pool all they way to the walkway, then dig down into the new "penguin beach" and put a staircase down there. That way you could look down from the original walkway, or go below it and look into the pool. The penguins don't use the bank in-front of the walkway, or the new penguin beach, so it would be no great loss to them. I've sketched out what I mean on paint using google maps. Hope it helps convey what I mean. http://i.imgur.com/nbmN1wt.jpg The problem with this is that it would be extremely expensive and very disruptive for the penguins. Plus this enclosure has one of the best breeding records for Humbolt penguins. Should it be fixed if it isn't broken?
Now this rings a bell. 2 or 3 years ago, while they were still constructing the new Penguin Bay, I asked the builder/keeper in charge when was it likely to be completed. I remember him saying something along the lines of; "depends if they decide to add underwater viewing as well". He then said they were thinking of putting it at the end (not along the side) of the pool on the left-hand side (i.e. by the waterfowl pools ). I'm sure the penguins do use the beach/sandy area the other side of the walkway, because on previous visits I've seen lots of penguin footprints in there. (it also has about 5 nest boxes). However, I agree with Lamna that if its not broke don't fix it, especially if the money is desperately needed elsewhere within the zoo.
I've just never seen the penguins using the sandy area in person, and the only photos of them up there are from when they are being fed. I suppose they might use it while the zoo is closed. As cool as underwater viewing and a potentially bigger/deeper pool would be, I don't think it's a good use of resources, at least not until the rest of the redevelopment is done.
They have been redeveloping the site for quite a while, they've resurfaced the roads, build penguin bay, refurbished the reptile house, got the chair lift running again, built a new reindeer house. Next up is the new joint entrance with the Black Country Living Museum and the Medieval Castle experience. Some work on the Tectons might be done if they can find the funding and there are plans to get rid of the Hippodrome and replace it with a trilobite shaped building with information on Dudley's geology and palaeontology.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this matter, just to clarify I'm in the "unnecessary" camp with regards to underwater viewing. The article is quite a good article, it explains about the new (bird-related) developments and also hints at a new tropical bird house along with the new crane enclosure. Apparently they are also looking for a female Toco toucan to try and pair with their males, they are now asking private aviculturists for help.
@Brum, be nice to have the article pdf-ed here if at all not much trouble. I thought that the BC Museum and the new futuristic Entrance Building (by way of the old bummed Cinema, thank goodness if that where redevelopped A.S.A.P.) had been put a stop to due to listed building status and Council in favour of preserving an unused, shabby and bolted up and really looking its age building instead of a new impetus for a down-trodden area. Really the curent Entrance to Dudley Zoo and the Black Country Museum is a sorry sight and also when crawling afters from the parking lot at the back. Could be so much better ...
Reptile encounters Three Brazilian rainbow boas have recently relocated to the Reptile House; the snakes are three years old and not yet fully grown. Reptile enthusiasts will be able to hold and touch them as part of a newly-introduced bespoke Reptile Encounter. Reptile Encounters introduced | Dudley Zoological Gardens
Hi KB, sorry to say that my other half has binned the paper now after it was partly digested by my darling daughter. The article was only an overview of Dudley's bird collection and just made a passing reference to the new bird house. The only other pieces of note were the penguin redevelopment and the fact that they may construct some new aviaries. All of this came from the Dudley bird team so should be quite reliable!
Baby howler monkey A male baby howler monkey was born on Boxing day - this makes the third baby in 18 months. He's been named Tyson. Baby Tyson's a knockout! | Dudley Zoological Gardens
There is a downstairs area to the discovery centre, I'm trying to remember the shape of it, but is it possible it extends or could be extended to the pool area? If so they could drain the pool, knock a window in, and refill, maybe a few weeks work actually in the enclosure.
Wow, those two seem to be breeding really well. I always spend some time at their enclosure, little Arie always comes over to say hello.
I visited Dudley zoo for the first time around a week ago and I have to say I was very impressed with the zoo! I had heard a lot of bad things about zoo enclosures before I visited and I was warned not to go but I guess you need to have an open mind when you visit a zoo. I was particularly warned about the 'pits' that the bear and tigers are kept in but I have to say Dudley zoo have done fantastic at providing excellent animal accommodation with the limited resource they have with listed buildings! I really enjoyed my day there and although a lick of paint might be needed in a couple of areas I think it is a fantastic zoo!
