I know your dislike for modern taxonomy, which I disagree with. Just for this case I can tell you that Kingdon, the godfather of African mammals, has regarded them as separate species in his recent publications, so your list is flawed here.
I was at the park on Monday and saw the macaques, the troop is very large and there are a few separated to one of the islands for moving on to another zoo. The asian expansion for bears etc is on hold and the Monkey island revamp is this year's priority project. A very large island and housing is being prepared for Drills. They are looking to source males for the roloways and visayan deer and crane species for the asian rhino area.
A few questions 1. Has the new tapir enclosure opened? 2. Do you know any more details about the monkey island revamp? 3. What species of bear is proposed to be part of Asia Sanctuary?
Hi Tom, yes the tapir enclosure is pretty much finished. It comprises two biggish outside plots for tapir, capybara and rhea with a large macaw cage to the front of the indoor quarters. So I only saw 3 tapirs and the bird cage was empty. But all occupants should be in place very soon. The islands and housing are being made more secure for bigger monkeys such as the mangabys and rollaways and a larger island and house is being created for the drills. And just a general tidying up as that area was looking a bit tired. I had heard originally that they wanted sun bears but it could be whatever they can source at the time.
No I didn't take any pics as the tapirs were inside eating and the lighting was poor. The outside enclosures are fairly basic with sparse vegetation and a pool. I was amazed to hear that there are over 150 wallabys free in the park and loads of them were inside these enclosures, probably jumped in.
I was surprised to learn that the free ranging Maras are down to five oldish individuals and they seem to be even tamer than usual. I would expect any new breeding animals would be contained within the new Tapir area.
Really? That's surprising I remember days during the mid 2000s when there seemed to be hundreds. Maybe but I think Fota likes the free range aspect
Fotas director gave an interview to a local cork paper and says there is a 16 million expansion plan over the next 5 years. The plan is to construct 17 buildings for animal housing and a new restaurant (badly needed). The creation of a madagascan village to provide lemur accommodation. 2 new ponds to join an existing pond to create a wetland area. Animals mentioned are asian bears and takin, but I expect several other new species, esp. birds. Annual visitor numbers have been rising steadily in recent years and are around 460000 now and it is hoped the new developments will bring numbers up to 600000. I have been to fota several times this year and it is noticeably on the up after years in the doldrums. They are due to announce the arrival of a new primate species in a few weeks.
Wasn't the some kind of plan to redevelop a year or so ago? An Asian development? Did that go ahead or get dropped?
They have already done a lot of the Asian development already. They have added lions, tigers, rhino's and cranes to the park so far, with bears (unspecified) and takin/markhor still to be added. I think that the lion-tailed macaques are now part of this development as well, and I think it's called the Asian Sanctuary or something very similar.
Thanks, I've lost touch a bit with Fota, nice to hear it's progressing. It's one of those zoos that's on the edge of the "must get around to visiting" radar.
Have the cranes arrived already? I've been keeping track of Fota's website and facebook page and they never announced the arrival of cranes. Which species did they get? On a side note, I think sloth bears are the proposed bear species for the Asian sanctuary. I have a brochure for the development, which I got when I attended the summer camp years ago, and it says on the back that sloth bears would be part of the Asian Forests habitat, whereas on the plan inside the brochure, they don't specify which species. Sloth bears sound nice, considering this species is quite rare in European zoos. Here is the brochure for the Asian sanctuary, with the plan and the table showing proposed species (some of which are now in the Asian sanctuary, including the tigers, rhinos, red pandas and warty pigs. The lions are not mentioned on the table, but they are mentioned in the plan).
The master plan outlined on the brochure appears to be still mostly on track, but there has been some tweaking and delays. Animals already in place (as well as those mentioned by brum and not on the brochure list) are lar and agile gibbon, francois langur, visayan warty pigs and spotted deer and the lions. Siamang gibbon and w.t. eagle are on the other side of the park. The delay with the cranes and storks is likely due to a possible move away from wing clipping, so covered netted areas have to be factored in. The bears having good visitor appeal (like the tigers and lions), are likely to be the next additions, then the takin and cranes.
2.2. cheetah cubs born on 12th November to mother Nimpy and father Claude. Fota Wildlife Park announces the birth of four Northern cheetah cubs
