I agree, I think environmental factors for keeping giant pandas are crucial, in addition I think the lack of a wide variety of bamboo may also be relevant. Out of interest, does anyone know if the contract with the Chinese means that the current pairing cannot be changed in any way ? Ie; to exchange one animal of the present pairing ? Or does the pair have to remain together for the duration, despite possible incompatibility issues ?
A first breeding for the zoo took place last weekend : a Prince Alfred's deer . We are delighted to welcome a Visayan spotted deer calf, who was born over the weekend. It is the first time this species has bred at the Zoo. The Visayan spotted deer, also known as the Philippine spotted deer, is a rare deer species, listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. This species of deer is believed to be one of the rarest and most narrowly distributed mammals in the world. Found only on the Western Visayan Islands of the central Philippines, this species is considered to be quite rare throughout its limited range. http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/…/rare-calf-born-at-rzss-ed…/
Interesting comment. Presumably it has not arisen so far, but even if they were allowed to do 'swaps' one problem might be that the nearest males in Europe would be needed by their own zoos for mating attempts at the same time of year. I would definately like to see somewhere try to more closely approximate the male competition for a female that occurs in the wild. in 2015 at least, Edinburgh did use urine from another male Panda to scent the enclosure(s) but of course its not quite the same as the extra animal actually being present.
Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but there are now Nile Lechwe in the African paddock at the top of the zoo, sharing with the Grevy's Zebras and Nyala.
The Penguin Parade has been temporarily suspended and walk through aviary's shut following the recent Avian Flu scare Edinburgh Zoo penguin parade shelved over bird flu scare
Not a regular: was Nile lechwe already kept at Edinburgh? (do not remember from my previous visit in 2015) BTW: a really nice species all the same!
The zoo have announced that 2 Barn Owls, Murray and Luna, will be a part of the presentations team during 2017.
A pair of Western grey kangaroos arrived in December and can be seen next to the Wallaby Outback walk through.
