Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoological Gardens in 2015

I would rather see camels in some form of camel ride on the Castle Hill!

If you are going to maintain rhea & Co., then at least do it properly and assemble a nice little herd of guanaco or vicuna, get the maras over there and one of the Andino / Patagonian geese species, screamers perhaps and we are on our way to having a nice South American mock up.

Incidentally: Anyone in the know on what the current plans for this part of the zoo and the Tecton style under renos there are?

 

Taking them for a wander, even if there are no rides would be good too.

I don't know if you could get someone to risk that though. Camels have the potential to be very dangerous. No more so than horses or cows, but we're funny about risk that way.

WMSP won't let even let you stroke theirs.

 

It makes me laugh when people suggest we let animals give the public rides do they really want to go back to the 50's 60's shall we make the enclosures smaller so we can have more species back in collections me thinks not let's look forward and not back in ANY collection

 

I only suggested this since A) it would be perhaps be an option for a hands-on farmyard with keepers in attendance and B) since they are domesticated animals. I would never suggest this for elephant, rhino, giraffe, zebra or the like, as I regard that out of place in a modern day professionally run zoo. However, for touch-feel-get up close contact ..., especially kids to have an attachment op with wild animals and nature it is unsurpassed.

So, you can laugh your face of what you like.

 

Many thanks for your concern, Benosaurus - I'm still here but have been really busy with work and home stuff over the last 4 months which has sadly impacted on visits to Dudley and other places. Although I check the DZG website fairly regularly, there hasn't been an awful lot of noteworthy news on there recently. I was pleased to see the announcements about the lynx cubs and various baby monkeys, so will have to make time for a visit.

 

Visit 18/07/15

New car park- Very smart and easy to navigate. Now very nicely planted borders with various flowers/trees.

Old car park- Not a car park any more. Now a roundabout and newly tarmacked walkway up to the entrance ramps. Has also been very nicely planted on all sides. Huge improvement.

New playground- At the base of the Gelada hillside. Larger than I thought and a good addition IMO. Seemed to be very popular.

Old playground- Next to the camels. Still there and looked to have some new equipment. How long it will be there for, I don't know.

New food outlet ('The Watering Hole')- Next to the entrance. Hot dog was seriously one of the most revolting things I've ever eaten. Also ridiculously expensive; 3 medium hot dogs, 2 soft drinks and a small pot of chips (fries) came to over £17! On the other hand, the food in The Queen Mary Restaurant is miles better quality (I'd go there if I were you).

Fairground- Still there and very squashed in on one side of the path now. Did not appear very busy.

Inca- Elderly Asiatic Black Bear. Nowhere to be seen even after two visits to her exhibit. Also lots of plants being allowed to grow in there.

Carpathian Lynx- Saw new twin cubs. Very cute and playful. The triplets born last year all have new homes to go to and will be leaving Dudley within the next few months.

Sumatran Tigers- Extremely vocal and saw them mating. However, they think the female, Daseep, is pregnant and overdue. Though it may be a false pregnancy. Apparently the male was trying to stimulate the female going into labour. I guess we'll see what happens. Not getting my hopes up too much anyway.

Sea lions- New male is in crystal clear left hand pool and still separated from females in the right hand pool, which looked very dirty. Went to the talk which was good.

Tectons- Work has started on restoring the Meerkat enclosure (former reptiliary). No change to the Bear Ravine apart from fencing (cheap deer fencing) across the vehicle access to the paddock and extending the ditch slightly.
No signs of future animals.

Pics up later today.

 

Inca is still going - she just seems to pick her days onshow a bit less than she previously has done

 

Sadly she must be on the decline now ?

 

I admit to being extremely happy every time I see her in the enclosure. It's a joy to see her active if you catch her, she can't half shift for a bear of that age!

And she is one of the few zoo animals with a name I can recall instantly, she's not just "a bear"!

 

Don't be daft, she's immortal

 

When was the last time anyone actually saw Bart (Geoffroy's Cat)? Must be 4 or 5 years since he last made an appearance for me. Although, at around 20 years old, he is very elderly -must be close to the record according to a quick look on Wikipedia.

I was amazed last Saturday to see Nick (Babirusa) looking so well and lively, who I believe reaches 19 years in December.

 

I'm not so sure.
Both of these news articles from 2013 state he was 18 at the time.

Bart is back! | Dudley Zoological Gardens

Bart's a blood donor! | Dudley Zoological Gardens

 

I have seen Bart on my last two visits, in August 2014 and in April this year. On both occasions he left his indoor quarters, had a quick wander around outside and shot back inside again...I count myself lucky! He looked well for a cat of his age.

 

I saw Bart when I visited in September last year. He looked a little thin but his coat was in good condition and he was trotting round his enclosure very purposefully. I've found that you are more likely to see him if its warm and early afternoon is a good time to catch him out and about.

 

Monkey & other births

A baby Sulawesi crested macaque has been born - the first birth of this species for three and a half years. Some visitors were actually lucky enough to witness the birth. Birth of baby macaque | Dudley Zoological Gardens

Other recent arrivals are a pygmy marmoset, born on June 19 to mum Pam and dad Hendrix, and a yellow-breasted capuchin, born on June 25th to mum Dinya and dad Willow.

A Patagonian mara was born on June 23rd, to mum Martha and Dad Lenn - the Zoo recently announced that it's a male and has been named Lucas.

The Barbary sheep born on June 21st is also a male and has been named Sol.

 

Bart

I saw Bart last week and was very lucky as he stayed outside for like 5 minutes and even stared at me through the fence I felt so lucky.