An injured Saimaa ringed seal has been cared for at the zoo’s wildlife hospital since July. It recovered well but the authorities have denied permission for its release to Lake Saimaa. The zoo has now applied for permission to keep the seal and are planning a new seal enclosure.
The zoo were given permission to keep the seal and it is has moved from the wildlife hospital to the otter enclosure where it will be housed whilst a new enclosure is constructed. This is expected to be completed by the the end of the summer.
Sadly the seal died over the night of Friday-Saturday. It had been moved to the wildlife hospital while the temporary enclosure was renovated. This was because its skin had been damaged on the rough surfaces of the pool. Examinations suggested there might be further issues and it was discovered the seal had been eating sand and hay. Treatment followed with improvements in its condition but unfortunately it later died of complications related to this. Korkeasaari have started a collection to support the conservation of Saimaa ringed seals in the wild. Low snowfall this winter is having a negative impact on the seals as they build dens in the snow. To quote WWF: Climate change poses a threat to Saimaa ringed seals. They need snow to build the lairs where they give birth. These lairs protect their offspring from the cold, predators, and human disturbance. But over the past several years, the snow cover in the region has not been deep enough to create those lairs. Humans are helping the extremely endangered Saimaa ringed seals in their struggle to find suitable places to nest by piling up snow on lake Saimaa’s ice to form man-made snow banks for nesting. In 2017, out of the 81 pups born, 90 percent were born in the man-made banks.
Also climate change related, Korkeasaari’s bears have woken up having only slept for two months and the pictures show that there’s no snow on the ground. Korkeasaaren eläintarha on Instagram: “Kevät on tullut, sillä karhumme ovat taas hereillä! Korkeasaaren 19- ja 14-vuotiaat naaraskarhut nukkuivat tavanomaista lämpimämmän talven…”
A pancake tortoise was born on April 9th, the first of its kind born in the Korkeasaari zoo in all of its history.
Korkeasaari re-opened yesterday and they have a new species: white-lipped peccary. There are three which came from other zoos at the end of the year - Berlin and Haute-Touche I believe - and they have been in quarantine over the winter. Their enclosure is number 15 on this map
Another story noticed on the YLE (Finnish public service broadcaster) website from earlier this month: Rare Amur leopard cats breeding at Helsinki zoo Helsinki's Korkeasaari Zoo said on Tuesday that a pair of Amur leopard cats have produced three kittens, two female and one male. The youngsters are about a month old and have begun to venture out of their den. Their mother was brought from Novosibirsk Zoo in Russia, while the father was born in late 2018 at Jihlava Zoo in the Czech Republic. It has been 15 years since the Helsinki zoo had Amur leopard cats, and two decades since any young were born there.
16 year old snow leopards Erkhet and Valma, were euthanised today due to deteriorated health. Korkeasaari's only snow leopard is now the 3 year old Lux, the grandson of Valma and Erkhet.
Korkeasaari aims to be carbon neutral by the year 2030. Emissions have already been reduced by almost 40% since 2015 and uses almost no fossil fuels, reducing energy emissions by over 90%.
Both achieved a respectable age for snow leopard. I wonder what the future holds for Lux and an invigoration of their breeding program. BTW: Korkeasaaren Zoo is studbook holder and species coordinator!
Female amur leopard Inga was transferred from Zoo Vienna to Korkeasaari earlier this month. Where does the amur leopard cub (Zane and Toomas' daughter) born 2015 live now?
Sound of the city: monkeys shown to prefer traffic over jungle noise "Experiment let the primates choose what they wanted to hear, with rumbling vehicles thought to mimic elements of their own communications" Sound of the city: monkeys shown to prefer traffic over jungle noise
