Some good news to start off a new thread Rothschild Giraffe, Sangha gave birth to her first calf on the morning of Monday 10th January It's another boy and he's said to be doing well. The last giraffe calf to be born at Paignton was Tonda in February 2010 to the zoo's other female giraffe Janica. A BABY giraffe has surprised keepers at Paignton Zoo.
If i remeber correctly from looking at the Zoo's facebook then the house is open and you can name the calf i think not 100%sure.
They have named him Kito, Swahili for jewel Zoo shows its new star to the world for the first time after MailOnline readers christen baby giraffe Kito (that's Swahili for jewel) | Mail Online
Looking forward to seeing the new arrival in a couple of weeks times. It's nice to see Paignton having such success. Two males from two calves. Yoda was a good find.
I saw him today - he's tiny, at 5ft he's a foot shorter than Tonda when he was born. All looked calm and well in the giraffe house.
From the local Herald Express: SOUTH Devon's major conservation charity is planning for a year of change. Paignton Zoo says it has plans that include important campaigns, significant anniversaries, site improvements and a new conservation strategy. Curator of mammals Neil Bemment said: "Possible animal moves this year include the arrival of three female red river hogs from Woburn Safari Park and an exchange of Sumatran tigers which will see our current breeding female Banda swapped with a tigress at Jerusalem Zoo and male cub Aryo leave for a zoo in the Netherlands." He said no date has been set for these moves. "While there are no guarantees, I am hopeful that there could be orangutan, spider monkey and Allens swamp monkey births and confirmation that female black rhino Sita is pregnant." This year marks 50 years of education at Paignton and there will be a series of events culminating in a historical event to which selected schools will be invited at 1960 entry prices. Dr Amy Plowman, research head at the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, which runs the zoo and Living Coasts in Torquay, said: "Perhaps the most significant event this year will be the launch of our new conservation strategy." The strategy which will last until 2020 will focus on a smaller number of regional programmes in which there may be several projects rather than a large number of small projects in many different areas. Dr Plowman said: "We feel we can get better value for money working in this way." She said field projects in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Vietnam and Nigeria will continue. Senior researcher Dr Vicky Melfi is currently in Indonesia, where a new field worker has just started on the project to protect rare monkeys. Dr Plowman said: "In the UK there will be work at Slapton to establish a third population of the critically endangered strapwort. "UK conservation officer Tracey Hamston will continue her work with whitebeam, visiting sites in Devon and Wales." Dr Plowman aims to send staff to an animal welfare conference in Oregon, US, and her team to attend a research symposium in Bristol, and continue to publish scientific papers. Reptiles curator Mike Bungard is hoping to breed endangered Malagasy frogs and bring in new species such as critically endangered south east Asian turtles, yellow tree monitors and new rare chameleon species. Curator of Plants and Gardens Kevin Frediani is planning new plantings for visitor amenity and animal enrichment purposes and says there will a new emphasis on garden education. Clerk of works Adi Board said: "At Paignton Zoo during 2011 we will be continuing to make small changes to strengthen the habitat theming, for instance in the forest zone, near the big cat enclosures. "This should transform the area as has already been done with the wetlands causeway." Simon Tonge, Whitley trust executive director, said: "As a charity, we depend entirely on our visitors, so we are more vulnerable than most to the effects of the recession. "We see little comfort in economic projections for 2011 so, just like everyone else, we will be careful with money during the year. "Our main aim is to ensure that our core conservation, education and research goals are protected." The zoo will be supporting Europe-wide campaign, which aims to raise 10,000 euros for ape conservation work.
Good news for PAWS members: you can now get 10% off anything you buy in the restaurant, not just meals.
Regarding the Tiger's... The current female at Jerusalem Zoo is Hannah. She was born in November 2004 at Ramat Gan, Israel (her original name was Ozmus) and has bred with their current male (Avigdor, born 2005 at Wuppertael) on three occasions. Unfortunatly she rejected all cubs and as a result the first two litters died. The single male from the third litter (Sylvester) was handreared and is now living in France. Burgers Zoo (Arnhem) have 0:3 (sisters from Chessington's 2006 litter) so I would expect Aryo to be leaving to join them. Rotterdam (the only other current holder of Sumatran Tigers in the Netherlands) won't take him because there pair produced 2:0 cubs in 2010. Edit: According to JBZ's website the female tiger is called Chana not Hannah. My mistake
They are indeed from the same litter. She will be bred with Molek's (Auckland's female) nephew Tenang who was born at Perth Zoo in 2000 to Molek's sister Malu (she's now at Mogo) It's a small world when it comes to Tigers!
From Paignton's website: Zoo giraffe put to sleep 25/01/2011 Paignton Zoo Environmental Park is sad to announce the death of two week old giraffe Kito. The youngster developed breathing problems and was unable to stand, and was put to sleep by the Zoo’s in-house veterinary team at around 6:00pm on Monday 24th January. Paignton Zoo Environmental Park Director of Operations and Curator of Mammals Neil Bemment said: “We had been giving him regular feeds since he was a week old. After his Monday afternoon feed he was in a semi-collapsed state and unable to hold his head up unassisted. He was also having difficulty breathing. “Keepers and veterinary staff did everything they could for him but in the end we had to take the decision. It was hard for us but it was right for him. You cannot let an animal suffer. “I suspect that we may find there was some aspiration of fluid into the lungs. This is unlikely to be a the sole cause of death. We had been dealing with various concerns about his health for a number of days. These included a lack of normal weight gain and problems with his rear leg tendons not extending properly.” Senior Head Mammal Keeper Julian Chapman: “From the start he wasn’t getting enough milk he needed from Sangha, which is why we had to step in. Sangha hadn’t abandoned him but it seems very likely that either she did not have enough milk, or was simply not allowing him to feed properly.” Paignton Zoo spokesperson Phil Knowling said: “Sangha was a first time mother - some animals are natural mothers, others struggle. We really hope she will do better next time. It is hard when you lose an animal, but you don’t go into wildlife conservation for an easy life. Zoos have ups and downs – this is certainly a down.” A post-mortem examination will be carried out. Kito was born at around 7:30am on Monday 10th January to mother Sangha and father Yoda. He is her first youngster, while Yoda fathered a calf by the Zoo’s other female last year. Rothschild's giraffes are classified as Endangered - the European Endangered species Programme for Rothschild’s giraffes is managed by Chester Zoo.
Very sad news to start the new year with - at least paigton still have a healthy calf which is being mother rasied and that must provide keepers with some comfort.
The zoo has taken delivery of 2:0 Lesser Hedgehog Tenrecs and 4:0 Giant Tenrecs http://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/news-events/news-detail.php?id=252 In other news Tosca the cheetah has now returned from her holiday at Colchester. Colchester's female Uria has now gone back the other way after a (hopefully) successful mating with Kasai
The 4 Giant Tenrecs are all males. Personally I dont think the Orangotangos will ever get pregnant. Lets face it if the experts cant get it right then maybe the novices might! Its not for lack of trying on Demo's part. Not crossing my fingers any more. what will be will be. Re Gorillas; Kumbuka is still on his own and people watching. Pertinax has mellowed and he now plays a lot with Kiondu and Kivu so funny to watch N'dowe tries to join in but only manages a tap on pertinax's head and a fly pass slap If he thinks the play is getting out of hand he goes over and tries to stop it defending his brother mainly Kiondu. Matardi is the Gorilla with attitude he is so funny and struts around like I am afraid of no one well except Pertinax that is. He comes over to the glass and all the others hit the glass with either their fists or bodies not Materdi he struts over and does a lovely back footed drop kick when you least expect it. kkkp
