Fantastic news. Well done to the keeping staff. After a couple of years where they put breeding on hold, they are now doing great! Is it time for a new, bigger enclosure? Maybe extend into the adjacent enclosure and move the Maned Wolves to another part of the zoo?
Or they could extend the Mandrill enclosure into the Maned Wolf off show area. The Maned Wolf enclosure could be designed to be split in half for when they need to separate the Maned Wolves.
Giraffe birth A sadly familiar story (from the local Herald Express): "KEEPERS at Paignton Zoo have a new arrival to give them sleepless nights. A female giraffe calf was born at the zoo in the early hours of Sunday. And having been rejected by her mum Janica, the as-yet-unnamed calf is being hand-reared by her keepers. And it’s so far, so good for the little calf, who is doing well. A zoo spokesman said: “Giraffe mothers are notoriously fickle when it comes to calves. “The first few days are very precious and very perilous. “The keepers are working some long hours to look after her.”"
Paignton in winter 1985 - there's an interesting photo in the local Herald Express of a keeper, who presumably drew the short straw, breaking the ice around Gibbon Island: BYGONES: Chilly reminder of when temperatures plunge and snow falls | Torquay Herald Express It's among 8 photos.
Hamadryas baboon saved : Devon zoo saves monkey's life twice with the held of Vinnie Jones and the Bee Gees | Plymouth Herald
Duchess A sign in the Elephant House reads: Unfortunately our African elephant, Duchess, is lame on her front left leg and is undergoing treatment to which she is responding well.
"Come on old girl" - I hope she recovers and the treatment works out for her. Thanks for the update Gigit.
A new play area has been opened on the new picnic area where the old small mammal house was. Personally I don't see why they need it - there's already the big play area and jungle fun minutes away and another two small play areas just as close.
Feedback from visitors suggests that the need is there for one or two more play areas. Don't be surprised to see a few more family orientated 'attractions' added in the near future. There are new owl aviaries being erected opposite the trio of male cassowaries. The ruffed lemurs netted run has collapsed and the wobbly bridge is now one-way. The golden lion tamarin enclosure is empty as is the pelican island enclosure that held the tamarins. The orang island has been deforested. Tragic. Three young gavials have arrived and are off show.
I saw a Golden Lion Tamarin in there yesterday. I think it was only empty while work was carried out on the roof. There was originally a pair of Tamarins but they were separated due to incompatibility. I'm not sure if one is still living in the back of the house. The orang island - tragic indeed. They've strung some hoses around the dead trees and one can only hope that they're going to do more. The perceived needs of children seem to take precedence
Considering they already hold a single Sunda Gharial, they are liable to belong to this taxon I suspect - but I'd love it were they Ganges Gharial.
The Devon Bird of Prey Centre has started running a bird show in Animal Encounters. It's very good - we had a Barn Owl and a Mexican Harris Hawk parting our hair - but may be bad news for a certain parrot-loving Zoochatter
Spent the day today at Paignton having not visited for a couple of years and really enjoyed the variety of the collection and the quality of the exhibits. We had the pleasure of watching a gibbon (probably an agile gibbon but I'm not sure), playing with a female Bornean oragutan on the smaller of the two islands - something I've not seen before. The third croc enclosure in the crocodile swamp was devoid of crocodilians - perhaps the aforementioned gharials could be destined for here??
