Wildheart Animal Sanctuary Isle of Wight Zoo News

Isle of Wight news,
Adala and Mitsio the Black Lemurs have produced a youngster,the sex is unknown.

 

Good news for the stud book.

 

A new enclosure is being built for the porcupines.

Zena one of the female tigers has successfully had a cataract operation.

 

Mitsio and Adala had a daughter, they are all currently living together near the main entrance.

Over the Summer a female red-ruffed lemur arrived as a companion for Andro, who was living alone. (They will not be breeding).

In August 6 male Bennett's wallabies arrived - an old tiger enclosure was converted for them.

Also the IOW Zoo won the BIAZA award for Best Field Conservation Project (small collection) in November for the Local Advocacy for Tiger Conservation in Bhadra-Kudremukh, run with Global Tiger Patrol.

 

The zoo is teasing a new arrival on Facebook, here are the clues so far:

Clue # 1: They're wild at heart.

#mysteryanimal Clue # 2 will be coming to you at an undisclosed time today. # 1 set the scene , # 2 will take you a little closer still.

#mysteryanimal Clue # 2: Now you know which continent they live on you merely have to go down south.

Some species geographically compatible with the #mysteryanimal but some way out I'm afraid. Clue 3 will continue to refine guessing!

I have no idea so far! Cheetah or Serval seem popular guesses. Or a mate for Casper the white lion.

 

Looks like the new species is a Meerkat!

 

Whoopie, makes me want to hop on a ferry and visit IOW.

 

Haha, I know right? I haven't visited this collection for a few years now, so its on the cards for me this year... obviously the Meerkats won me over! I wonder if we will see any other changes in the collection this year.

I believe they have mixed the male lion with the female now, as the other male passed away.

 

0.1 White Lion due to arrive from West Mids tomorrow. Half sister of the male they received from the same source a couple of years ago

 

Not much good news coming from this zoo at the moment.
Sadly they have lost two animals this year already...
Charlie Brown - White (male) Lion has passed away
and today their 'ginger' Tiger Diamond sadly passed away after a long running illness.

 

yes very said - i do have a soft spot for this little zoo and last time i visited there were a number of empty enclosures - i do wonder what their plans are

 

Simi the female tiger has safely arrived at the Isle of Wight Zoo.

"A late bulletin to announce Simi's safe arrival at the zoo. She is sleeping soundly in her new bedroom. Breathing a sigh of relief!"

 

I had the pleasure of visiting last week, so thought I would give a quick update with some news:

Simi has settled in very well, and is in one of the older parts of the zoo which is a bit quieter whilst she adapts, she is in the next enclosure to Lola, another ex circus tiger. She has slightly wobbly back legs, possibly arthritis, so they are doing activities such as tug of war to build up her strength in her back legs. She is calling for a boyfriend as she's an unspayed female, and is now fully on red meat having previously been fed white meat in her temporary rescue accommodation after confiscation from the circus.

Other news since I've last visited, many of the enclosures are being updated in particular the monkeys where the capachins were getting a great new enclosure and I believe the spider monkeys are next. Also in the older part (the original part of the zoo) next to Simi and Lola, 2 of the older tiger enclosures are being converted, one for a different breed of monkey and the other for a bug area.

They have also now built a tunnel between the tiger enclosure that hosts Aysha and the enclosure that hosts Zena and Zia. This is allowing Aysha to get to know the other tigers since she lost Diamond from her enclosure last year. Although they haven't been introduced yet( Aysha stays in the tunnel) , it could allow them to change the cats to different enclosures in the future although probably not for Zena the white tiger who has poor eye sight with her one remaining eye so needs to stay comfortable in her surroundings that she's got used to.

The other noticeable thing from my last visit was that the 2 white lions, male and female Casper and Frosty were in together which I believe they had been trying to do for some time. Casper is an incredible sight sat on his top rock overlooking the park.

If you've never visited, then this really is a great zoo, so friendly and really care about their animals. Not the biggest collection but lots of big cats and monkeys, and the knowledge that many of them have been rescued from other difficult conditions, something that they are really proud of.

 

The zoo has opened a new capuchin and spider monkey enclosure: Isle Of Wight Zoo Opens New Primate Enclosure - Isle Of Wight Radio

 

The enclosures have been in use for some time, built several months ago in fact, I saw them in August, so this "official opening" is probably purely for the benefit of the press and publicity.

 

Sad news from IOW:

"It is with great sadness that we announce the recent and sudden passing of Ike the 25 year old spider monkey. He was truly a special member of the IOW Zoo family and will be forever in our hearts. Those who knew him had their days and, in some cases, their lives enriched by his extraordinary character. He was never shy in asking for attention, which he always got, and had a habit of brightening up every day with his comedic antics and expressive face. Ike joined us from Dublin Zoo in 1997, along with Tino. Later down the line when the two started fighting he was socialised with Jackson, with whom he went on to share his life. It was not uncommon to see the two males ambling around bipedally with their arms around each other. They enjoyed a remarkable friendship together. Jackson will now receive much focus from the animal team and he has company from the other monkeys."

 

Lola the Tiger has sadly passed away

 

Sad news:

Zena the white tiger passed away on Friday after being put to sleep due to deteriorating health at the age of 21. She leaves behind her sister Zia.

 

From Facebook:

It is with very heavy ♥️s we announce the passing of our dearest Tequila, a jaguar who lit up our day without fail with her sweet natured character & abundance of affection. Often we’re asked if we’ll get another big cat when we lose one of our friends.Yes. We will. But never another Tequila.

She was 19 years old & was undergoing care for suspected myeloma (a cancer of the blood). We did everything we could for her but took the decision today to say goodbye as we were not winning her battle. She wore her spots proudly & was adored by so many. We’re proud to have been her friend.

 

Very sad for them. She was obviously loved so much!