Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo News 2013

Alingas joey has started to look out of the pouch within the past week for short periods of time. it is very active in the pouch and doing well! It is not expected to fully emerge until late next month.

 

Zoo has gone public on facebook/website about a hunting dog puppy:
Endangered Hunting Dog Puppy Makes Its First Appearance
Carnivore keepers at Edinburgh Zoo today announced the birth of the Zoo’s first ever African hunting dog. The announcement coincides with the reopening of the hunting dog walkway, which keepers had closed to visitors in August as they suspected Jet, the pack’s non-dominant female, was pregnant.

13_10_17_Painted_Hunting_Dog_Pup_3_jp
With less than 5,500 hunting dogs left in the wild, the birth of this puppy is an immense achievement for Edinburgh Zoo. Habitat fragmentation is one of the biggest factors in the hunting dogs’ decline, as the packs need a large range in order to remain sustainable. Hunting dogs are also heavily persecuted by farmers, despite rarely attacking livestock. Education and conservation breeding programmes such as the one Edinburgh Zoo is part of remain crucial to saving this species from extinction.

Darren McGarry, Head of Living Collections at Edinburgh Zoo said:

“We are all really excited about the arrival of this puppy. Hunting dogs, like many other pack animals, are very difficult to breed successfully. Although we don’t know its sex yet, this pup is proving to be a real bundle of attitude. It’s very bold for such a young age and we’ve often spotted it tugging along joints of meat that are twice its size. All of the dogs have been seen feeding it and it looks like an established member of the pack.

“Most first-time mothers can be very nervous, so we decided to close the enclosure to visitors in order to give Jet and her pup the best chance of a successful birth. Hunting dogs have a very intricate social hierarchy and if they feel threatened this can cause the mother to reject her pups.”

In two weeks’ time, the puppy will be caught up for its first health check and to be sexed. As hunting dog puppies are born black and white and only start to get their mottled markings from when they are two months old, the keepers will only name the feisty little pup once its colours have come through.

Although Edinburgh Zoo’s pack has two males, Blade and Two Socks, only Blade the dominant male will breed with the pack’s females. Usually, the dominant female will be the one to have pups but it is not uncommon for lower-ranking females to also give birth. The Zoo’s keepers are confident this pup will be the first of many for their pack.

 

Alongside a lovely picture of the hunting dog pup visitors/volunteers etc have posted a picture of a baby pygmy hippo (posted on 1st Nov and stating 3 days old, the older female Eve is still there at the moment isn't she?)-see the posts by others. Not been made public by the zoo officially yet as far as I'm aware.

 

Nice - be good visiting Edinburgh in the new year again. Do they still have Kiang from HWP?

 

On a similar topic, have you seen the pic of the Koala joey on facebook - looks a bit creepy!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...2.155280.352975967242&type=1&relevant_count=1

 

And here's the Pygmy Hippo pic:

https://scontent-a-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/534373_750261308334255_404831918_n.jpg

 

They do have Kiang at the HWP but they also have two juveniles at Edinburgh Zoo too.. saw them on the 1st of November where the camel house use to be.

 

I rather think EZ is used as a surplus / transfer site for the species, is it not? Any other zoos in the UK interested in maintaining kiang?

 

4 visayan warty piglets born and on show:

Wee Little Piglets

"Mina and Ynigo have become proud parents of four Visayan warty piglets at Edinburgh Zoo. Born on Tuesday 29th October, the shy piglets are staying close to mum’s heels as they gradually explore their surroundings.

Lorna Hughes, Team Leader for Hoofstock and Primates at Edinburgh Zoo, said: “At the moment the piglets are very small and extremely cute; they could easily fit into your pocket. They are sticking close to mum Mina, who is very protective of them. They are settling in well with their group and have the option to be indoors or outdoors. Despite the chillier weather they seem to enjoy tentatively exploring their outdoors.”

Native to the Visayan Islands in the Philippines, the Visayan warty pig is Critically Endangered, and is now found in only two per cent of its original range. Edinburgh Zoo is part of the European Endangered Species breeding programme (EEP) for Visayan warty pigs and has successfully bred the species for several years. The long term aim of the Visayan warty pig conservation project is to reintroduce the species to the islands where they have become locally extinct.

Although they are tiny at the moment, the piglets will grow to weigh between 30kg and 40kg, depending on their sex. The keepers will wait until the piglets are a few weeks older and more independent from Mina before sexing and naming them. The piglets are currently a soft auburn colour with blonde stripes down their backs. As they mature, their fur will become courser and change to a dark brown flecked with tan.

Dad Ynigo can easily be distinguished from the rest of the group by his impressive crest of fur that grows from the crown of his head down his back during the mating season – Visayan warty pigs are the only species of wild pig to grow a mane. The species gets its name from the three large warts found on the boar’s face, which act as a defence against their opponent’s sharp tusks during fights."

From the references to settling in to their group I guess this is the newer group that had youngsters when they arrived rather than the original pair who are yet to successfully breed as far as I'm aware?

 

Rainbow, a male King Penguin joined Edinburgh's bachelor group today from Odense. Edinburgh now have 6.0

 

Popped into the zoo today. Tian tian was on show but not yuan guan (his blinds were down). The hunting dogs inside enclosure was shut off - the alpha female is now pregnant
Paul & Renee were doing some impressive displaying, shouting and banging in budongo. Kindia has a nasty facial wound after challenging Qafzeh but staff assured it is healing well. I only heard today about Lyndsey's death & the tragic circumstances.
The heavy rain came on so I left earlier than planned (need to remember pram rain cover!). A couple of weeks ago I saw lots of movement from the koala joey, albeit within Alingas pouch.

 

What happened with Lyndsay? not heard about this

 

One of the zoo volunteers (I think anyway) has posted a lovely pic of the koala joey on the zoo's facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152088866000087&set=o.352975967242&type=1&theater

Anyone know how old the new king penguin is? Most of them are pretty old now aren't they? Still living in hope of females.

 

It was mentioned back in September, but not in any detail.

 

I was at the zoo Saturday afternoon not really got much news to share but an amazing thing happened-I saw a clouded leopard! Ok so it was only for a few seconds and was so unexpected I totally failed to get a pic but still it was a first for me. Also managed to get lovely view of koala joey with its head out and saw the warty piglets too, but no sign of the red river hog piglets I saw a while back-it looked like the whole rest of the group was out and about so I assume these didn't make it-anyone know anymore? Didn't manage to see any hunting dogs so will probably not see a pup myself until this next litter is born (assuming that goes well). Pygmy hippo youngster was shut in with mum, leaving Eve with her dad-anyone know when pygmy hippos reach sexual maturity as Eve is approaching 2 now may not be able to live with dad much longer maybe? Saw the tigers mating. Zoo in general looked good, lots of active animals and pretty busy for just a random November saturday, was a nice visit after having not been for a while.

 

Well my dad gets that honour then-I was showing him around and saying if you can find the animal in there I'll give you a medal when he went 'what, that one there?'! I think we were lucky in that a keeper may have been up by the indoor cages and caused it to run out-it did so twice (the first time all I saw was tail) and ran straight back inside again but of course once I had the camera focused ready she didn't come out again. Still I will always have hope now & she was beautiful.

 

Don't they have their 1st wild dog litter over there? I would not expect the mother out with cubs before a few months have passed.