Was the chimp that died recently, Tupelo, the same chimp that left Dudley Zoo in 2005 for Flamingo Land, along with her half-sister Maisha? Also, was Jambi one the triplets that were born at Dudley Zoo to Sarah in 2002, but then left for Tierpark Berlin in 2003?
I'm not sure where Tupelo was born, I know she arrived from Blair Drummond. Yes Jambi was born at Dudley and spent most of his life in Berlin.
Fantastic news. I did see two females on nests. I was talking to several staff today at a mutual friends. Apparently the sun bears are moving to the panda enclosure once they move up the hill and the drills are being considered to move in their current enclosure.
RZSS Edinburgh Zoo has launched a fundraiser to help bring Giraffe's to the zoo in 2020: Stick your neck out for giraffes - Edinburgh Zoo's BIG 5 | Edinburgh Zoo They have also announced a new 5 year plan for the future which includes Giraffes in year 1, a new Sun Bear Habitat in year 2, a new Indian Rhino habitat in year 3, a new Tropical House in year 4 and a climate controlled environment for the penguins in year 5: RZSS Edinburgh Zoo's Big 5 | Edinburgh Zoo
This sounds great (and ambitious) but I do wonder how well, and to what timescale, it'll roll out given there's at least some reliance on fundraising rather than monies generated from normal operations (and they've still got the "panda rent" to pay).
They mention Rothschild's giraffe several times throughout the articles so at this stage I would assume they are aiming for that subspecies.
They have costed the plan at £15m, this years fundraiser is for £100k. If each subsequent year is also for £100k then it looks like they are aiming to raise £500k and invest £14.5m themselves.
Okay, thanks.That's still looks fairly ambitious but fingers crossed for them, I really hope it comes to pass (Edinburgh needs a plan out of the near-malaise of recent years).
I don't really understand why a new sun bear habitat is such a high priority? Current one isn't that bad surely! I think there are more important things...
The budget for the Sun Bear habitat, in year 2 of the plan is £1m, which is the smallest of all the yearly budgets. This budget is to cover the enclosure, training courses for university students, as well as creating a learning zone for visitors. With all this taken into consideration, and the previously mentioned comment that it's likely the Sun Bear's will move into the current Giant Panda enclosures when they are vacated, I think it will amount to a re-development of this area, which to be fair, would be required anyway as it is currently very Chinese Themed to link with the Panda's. The current Sun Bear enclosure is also not very suitable for a breeding pair, as their is only one outside enclosure, whereas the current Giant Panda enclosure has 2 outside areas which can be linked or separated as required, which is much more suitable for a breeding pair of bears.
I'm assuming the new Sun Bear is in the old Giant Panda enclosure, or are they just refurbishing their current enclosure?
The zoo plans to move the sun bear to the panda exhibit, probably after some renovation and themeing.
I am so happy to hear that the Drills could potentially be moving, I have always found their enclosure to be unsuitable for purpose, infact and a very common opinion, the entire monkey house is verging on unacceptable, it feels like it has just been abandoned and left to age, alot could be done with it surely but regardless some sort of upgrade is surely required for all it's residents. I do love some of the little nods to the 'old zoo' but this just makes me sad.
Do you know how many Drills they currently have, the sexes and their relationship? By my reckoning it is one female plus either her one or two offspring (sexes unknown) fathered by previous male that died, plus newer unrelated male. Do you( or anyone) know if that is correct?
With drills perhaps moving out of the monkey house, perhaps this is now the opportunity to re-theme the monkey house with its proximity to a new sun bear exhibit.