Full article regarding the departure of Bertus the Indian Rhino, confirming that 2 new young males are due to arrive soon. Good luck Bertus | Edinburgh Zoo
Was at the members/adopters evening tonight. The Lorikeet aviary has just been completed, it was open for a "sneak peak" without any birds and it looks great, it shouldn't be long now before the birds are in. The first of the new rhinos is due very soon, a 2 year old from Planckendael Zoo in Belgium called Qabid. Another young male will join him a few months after he arrives. Maya was back in with her mum
There is now a female Natal Dwarf Chameleon in with the resident male, who has been showing a keen interest in his new companion. The zoo's flock of approximately 20 Lorikeet's will be moving into the new aviary on 2nd July according to a keeper from last night. The aviary could hold between 50 and 60 Lorikeets and they are hoping to build the flocks numbers. They will also assess how the Lorikeets settle in with the aim of introducing other species to the aviary in the future. The entrance area of Brilliant Birds has also been re-developed alongside the new aviary, the existing tanks have been removed and new tanks are being fitted into the remodeled area. No species on show at present. The Asiatic Lion's area was open again with no sign of cubs. Gibbons are still in the Monkey House. The Argentine Tegu that has been re-homed from a pet shop is on display in the Pygmy Hippo house.
There are 19 rainbow lorikeets as far as I can remember. Glad to see a new species on display, maybe there is a possibly that this is a turning point for the zoo.
Time will tell; given the fact this is merely a duplicate of an exhibit which the collection got rid of 6 years ago in the exact same location, containing the exact same species, I think it would be premature to unduly praise the collection for this move. Quite apart from anything else, there is a decent chance that the stated reason for getting rid of Rainbow Landings in the first place - the excessive cost of heating the exhibit - will still be a factor.
Has anyone seen the Binturong cubs yet? For some reason, I didn't know you could venture up into the raised platform to see them, red river hogs and Beauty snake, a nice little suprise. I'm not a huge reptile lover, in comparison with a lot of zoo's I have visited over the last month I feel like there is just a massive void in Edinburghs collection, i'd love to see the reptile or house or something similar make a comeback. I will always have a soft spot for Edinburgh, I just feel that it is losing it's way slightly. Opinions?
Might be worth reading previous Edinburgh threads; there are lots of opinions about the shrinking collection
I've always thought the sandy exhibit in the hippo house would be great for a reptile! Glad I'll still be able to see the animal from my local petstore. I had a very lucky glimpse of one of the babies just a day or two after they were announced. The area was being cornered off and I was walking past by mistake, I didn't stop to look properly as I was being hurried off but I did catch a very short glimpse of a very small black thing! And I agree, the lack of reptiles is a major gap in Edinburgh's collection. The Wee Beasties exhibit with the chameleon and pancake tortoises and now the Tegu helps, but there's still only two other reptile species on public display. I don't necessarily think they would do something as old-fashioned as a reptile house (though it would make a great replacement for the monkey house, why are the gibbons still there??), but even just one or two large reptiles like a crocodilian or constrictor dotted around the zoo would help.
Article about the zoo's 2 Wildcat kittens: Scottish wildcat births a potential lifeline for iconic species | Edinburgh Zoo
The new Rainbow Landings is effectively an outdoor exhibit though, and as the rainbow lorikeets have been living in an outdoor aviary (above the rhino house) they have hopefully acclimatised to the Scottish weather by now. A few images of the enclosure taken on member night attached. There's a small separate part of the enclosure which looks like the birds from Brilliant Birds will be able to venture out into (there wasn't a keeper there to ask we walked through though!) The multicoloured feathers from the interpretation sign have been added to the indoor Brilliant Birds exhibition a few places as well.
1.0 Visayan Spotted Deer fawn born: Endangered deer fawn born at RZSS Edinburgh Zoo | Edinburgh Zoo The zoo have also confirmed that 9 Gelada Baboon youngsters have been born over the last few months.
Not sure about the Geladas, but the wildcat kittens are both males. One of them is particularly bold and apparently enjoys interacting with visitors at the glass! Kindia the chimpanzee died recently as a result of conflicts over Tulpeo's position in the group
Saw something here yesterday that I hadn't on my two previous short visits; sunshine! What a difference it makes.