I thought Blackpool's group was over the dozen mark? Have they lost a few recently? The problem with these Colobus seems to be they suddenly 'crash' with several deaths after a run of successful births, so the group is back were it was a few years before.
Blackpool's group was I believe nine at the end of 2011. They had three offspring this year, two in January and a single baby in September 2012. I was pretty sure that Blackpool had stopped breeding these a few years back as they were over capacity in their current exhibit. The current L'Hoest's Monkey exhibit used to house 0.2 King Colobus which now live with the current group in the Small Primate house.
Colobus I would love to see a UK zoo attempt to display Colobus in a really high enclosure, that encouraged two to four species of colobus to live together in a mixed exhibit. (I've seen two max at Marwell and Paignton) It would have be designed to encourage them to live at their own 'level', as they would in the wild. If and when Paignton redevelop Baboon Rock and move it over to the area of the small mammal and rodent houses opposite, then this could be used cleverly for that type of house - entering low and climbing up. They also have two very natural quarries (sheep and nature trail) that could be used? Monkey Heights is great, but when you see their Gibbons, Howlers, Squirrel monkeys, Orangs and Lemurs all using ACTUAL trees to move about on, I can't help feeling for the Mangabeys, Colobus and Diana's at M Heights.
I've looked through my records on the King Colobus and numbers have ranged from 3 to 7 from 1994. The current male, Martin, arrived from Germany in 2007 and one of the breeding females, Squidge, came from Cricket St Thomas in 1998. I'm not sure of the origins of the other breeding female, Ivy, though I've heard that she's Squidge's daughter. The young male, born February 2011 Martin x Squidge, and female, born April 2011 Martin x Ivy, will presumably move on at some point. I guess it's quite possible that Squidge is pregnant again.
One of the last times I went in the old Monkey House I remember seeing a group of at least six 'Kings'- I was surprised they had got so many. At that time the 'B/W Abyssinians' were a very succesful group with about a dozen in that group- strange how they have dwindled to almost nothing, obviously after they lost the females. I think the King Colobus are particularly liable to stress, which manifests in a group by sudden deaths and failed births. If the group is increasing that's presumably an indication of a good environment, though what suddenly tilts the balance the other way I have no idea.
New Zebra Stallion A sign by the zebra enclosure reads: "New Zebra Stallion 'Urias' our new zebra stallion arrived Tuesday 23/10/12 from Landau Zoo, Germany. He is 6 years old and will be mixed with our two females in due course. He has a few wounds to his face which he sustained during transport but is receiving medical treatment and is settling well. Please be quite (sic) to help him settle." The studbook reveals that he was born in Usti on 17/1/06 to Matt x Unita and moved to Germany on 26/5/07. He's nice looking but understandably a bit tense.
So it's one in one out at Landau. So do Paignton have 3.2 or 2.3 now? I didn't know the sex of the other calf born in July (?) It makes sense now as to why 'Urias' has arrived, Landau hold a bachelor group and once the bachelor's have matured enough they are moved on. Blackpool's male 'Tobogo' left the day after 'Urias' arrived at Paignton.
Yes, despite the newest foal's apparent name of 'Zola', which some of us will think is a female name (eg Zola Budd), he's a male. Urias's arrival puts an end to speculation about which zebra/s will leave in due course - both Zac and Zola will go to pastures new.
It was so good this summer to see four zebra in that paddock. A fifth would have been great to see. I understand and respect the need to move animals on but Paignton does seem to be a 'two by two' zoo, 'keep things in pairs if you can' kind of place. I'm glad they've introduces the Somali Ostrich but that whole area has got potential for greater 'mixing'. Part of that hill (between the Lechwe and the Kangaroo) would be a great spot for an Edinburgh sized group of Gelada! Any news on how Duchess is doing? I saw her in summer spending alot of time outdoors foraging on the overhanging trees and she seemed good, even before the recent [successful] surgery. Does anyone know what species are currently being held in the old ape house with the Pied Tamarins and Geoldi's? How active are the Orangs at the moment - are they outside much?
Zebra: They are quite anti-social. Goma and Taru never seemed to be very fond of Blesk, father of their foals, so Uri may not get a good reception when he joins them at first. They only have housing for 3 adult zebra so presumably that, with young offspring, is as big as the group will ever get. Duchess is reported to be in good spirits now that she can see again. I've heard that she's even been wallowing in a small, muddy pool. Orangutans: I've only been to the zoo twice in the last couple of weeks when it's been Chinta's turn to be in the show den. I didn't see the other three, probably because the weather was dismal.
Here's a recent interview with the Curator of Mammals. He mentions some of the changes he'd like to make. There's nothing like a chat with a gorilla to clear email blues | This is Cornwall
The Avenue - it would be interesting to know what would replace them. The buildings are rather basic and look old next to the more modern houses. A few years ago I spent a morning cleaning them and they're nothing more than floors, walls and ceilings showing signs of age.
Visited the zoo on Wednesday and have 2 questions to ask. In Crocodile Swamp there is an enclosure labelled for false gharial, the water was very murky and I couldn't spot if one was in there. I didn't think there were any in the UK so wondered if they had one or were expecting one to arrive shortly? It was definitely an ID label, the same as the Philipinne, Cuban and saltwater croc's labels. Second question is I saw a sign post for maned wolf as we were leaving, where are they located in the zoo? I thought we'd covered all of the ground and I was quite gutted by this sight as we headed towards the exit at dusk. If anyone can help then thanks in advance!
I was there on Wednesday too and saw the Tomistoma schlegelii (false gavial) - it was under a log with its nose sticking out of the water. The Maned Wolf enclosure was cordoned off, in the morning at least, because of tree cutting. It's just along the path from the Mandrills.
Thanks Gigit, I'm a tad gutted now, I missed my first Tomistoma! Any idea how long they've had it? This was the first I'd heard about it, quite unexpected! I think I remember part of a path being blocked but at the time assumed there was nothing to see past it. One little footnote, the lion cubs are gorgeous!
We did point it out to somebody but they still couldn't see it - so you are not alone! I first heard about it a couple of weeks ago.
I have to ask is it an adult Tomistoma,or is it a youngster.Because Paignton used to keep a couple of Tomistoma back in the 90's,they were around the 7-8 foot mark in size,and when the old Reptile/Tropical house was knocked down they moved to a private collection in the UK,for a number of years I have heard rumours that one of them was still alive,and always wondered if Paignton would ever ask for it back if the rumours were true!
