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Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo News 2015

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by Gigit, 7 Jan 2015.

  1. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Its been quite a protracted move- originally scheduled for around March and then apparently put back several times for health checks and/or possibly other reasons.

    Worth noting that Matadi, who was born at Twycross, is the first male Gorilla to enter the Aspinall Parks from an outside Zoo source since the arrival of their first breeding male 'Kisoro' from Lincoln Park USA in the early 1970's.
     
    Last edited: 4 Sep 2015
  2. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Including imports from the wild?

    I understand that the Aspinall Foundation own most of their gorillas rather than the EEP. How does this work when it comes to sending gorillas to other zoos and receiving them? And what about offspring?
     
  3. TeaLovingDave

    TeaLovingDave Moderator Staff Member 10+ year member

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    Fantastic news :) a taxon I have not seen as yet.

    Funny enough, Paignton was the last UK collection - and one of the last European collections, along with Tierpark Berlin and Praha - to hold Greater Adjutant.
     
  4. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I've amended the above as I was really referring to Zoo sources, rather than to the wild. They have of course had males from the wild though not for a very long time now- Djala and Kouillou would have been the last- I don't have the dates to hand but they came in the 70's'/early 80's era.

    Re transfers and exchanges. I am not really sure how they operate nowadays, partially in conjunction with the EEP and partly outside I think.
     
  5. LaughingDove

    LaughingDove Well-Known Member

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    Very nice addition!

    I would be interested to know if these are new imports into Europe or if they came from somewhere in Europe that already has/had them?
    Would be nice to see larger numbers of this fantastic species in European collections. :)
     
  6. TriUK

    TriUK Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thanks Gigit - where have the Marabous been moved to?

    Last time I was there, a keeper at the Barbary Sheep told me the Takin would be moving to a new enclosure up there [the space to the left, opposite the Sheep House but before the main exhibit] - has anything started up there?

    This also got me thinking that the master plan for the Savannah area may include the camel/takin area. Of course, we all hope that Duchess continues to enjoy life for many more years but I wonder if there are plans in place to re-landscape and shuffle stock when the day comes?
     
  7. MikeG

    MikeG Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    New imports - they were bred at the Bronx Zoo.
     
  8. Gigit

    Gigit Well-Known Member

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    The Marabous are on show in one of the bird areas I believe, but I didn't seek them out yesterday.

    There's no evidence of any work taking place on the approach to the Barbary Sheep, but an area behind the Takin/Camel house had 'police tape' round it yesterday and some surveying was going on. At a recent Gardens event, we were told that planning for the proposed Savannah would start in September/October. No details were given apart from the Gardens department looking into suitable landscaping and planting. I would imagine that there will be changes with housing and animals. I heard a rumour a few months ago that the camels would be leaving, and several years ago it was suggested that the rhinos would eventually move into the elephant house.
     
  9. Yassa

    Yassa Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    The EEP does not own any gorilla. All animals are owned by a zoo or maybe, when the zoo is privately owned, by the zoo`s owner. That`s not always the zoo where the gorilla is living, of course. Before an animal is moved, a contract is set up that regulates if the ownership is transferred or not (often not, hence the term "breeding loan") and who is going to own the potenial offspring (for example, the zoo that owns the female gets ownership of the first offspring, the zoo that owns the male the ownership of the second offspring, and so on).

    The EEP only makes sugestions. The zoo that owns the gorilla makes the final decision.
     
  10. kiang

    kiang Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Number unknown of electric blue day gecko (Lygodactylus
    Williamsi) have arrived at the zoo and are currently off show
     
  11. MikeG

    MikeG Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Most (all?) came from the Sparsholt College Animal Collection.
     
  12. Gigit

    Gigit Well-Known Member

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    They've taken over the netted aviary formerly occupied by the Oriental White Stork, Black-necked Swans and assorted pheasants. As to where they have gone, I can only say that I saw a pheasant in with the Wattled Cranes.
     
  13. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    Thanks very much Yassa. You've greatly improved my understanding if EEPs. Out of interest, do SSPs work the same way?
     
  14. Yassa

    Yassa Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Yes.
    And because the zoo that owns the animal decides about a transfer suggested by the EEP/SSP, and because - especially wth "high profile animals" like gorillas and elephants - a lot of zoos are very particular about where their animals go and where not, all transfers are usually negotiated between the EEP/SSP, the zoo that shall recieve an animal and the zoo that owns the animal before a formal EEP/SSP is made.
     
  15. Gigit

    Gigit Well-Known Member

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    Lesser Adjutant Storks

    From the Zoo's website:

    Conservationists in Devon are starting to work with a large new bird species, knowing that their efforts will take many years to come to fruition.

    Three lesser adjutant storks have arrived at Paignton Zoo from the Bronx Zoo in the US. The species is classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The birds - one male and two female – are the only ones in the UK. Their popular name comes from their stiff, marching, military walk.

    Paignton Zoo Curator of Birds Jo Gregson: “Often as conservationists we have to look many years into the future and start planning for the problems we know are going to come. We wanted to establish a back-up population before it became too difficult to bring birds together.”

    These three flew from North America, though in special crates carried on a cargo ‘plane rather than under their own power. The final leg of their journey of almost 4,000 miles (5,500 kilometres) was by road from London to Devon.

    Jo: “Paignton is a bigger zoo so we can keep bigger birds. We have a lot of experience with larger species like cranes and cassowaries as well as storks. They are long lived and slow to breed – any plan to help them has to take that into consideration.”

    Jo will be in charge of the European Stud Book for the species. The idea of stud books in conservation grew out of their use in horse racing. Records are kept of hatchings, deaths and pairings, so that the population can be managed cooperatively and in the best interests of the species. At present there are only seven other birds across the Continent, in two collections in Germany.

    The impressive-looking birds have completed their routine quarantine period and are now on show by the main lake. “This aviary has had marabou storks in it for a while, but it was built with lesser adjutants in mind and so, after several years of planning, we are very pleased to have these birds on show.”

    The lesser adjutant stork (Leptoptilos javanicus) is a large wading bird. Like other members of the stork family, it has a bare neck and head. It is closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary and less likely to scavenge than the related greater adjutant. It is found across India and South East Asia. It can weigh more than 5 kilos (12 lbs) and stand nearly four feet tall (120 centimetres). It doesn’t have a call as such, but is said to clatter its bill, hiss and moan.

    There are three related stork species, the marabou, the lesser adjutant and greater adjutant. Jo: “Marabou storks are the easiest of the three to keep – our keepers now have experience caring for these birds. The lesser adjutant is generally considered more difficult to keep, with the greater adjutant stork the hardest. The greater adjutant is Critically Endangered – it is highly likely that we will lose it in years to come.
    “If there was an opportunity to work with the greater adjutant in the future we certainly would, and the work we have done with marabou and lessers would give us a very good head start.”
     
  16. Nisha

    Nisha Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Good for them.. :) not many places that would go to the trouble of importing and establishing a studbook for a bird species
     
  17. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Presumably they will be looking to add a second male if possible to form two pairs, unless one female is being moved on.
     
  18. Gigit

    Gigit Well-Known Member

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    Gorilla 'Matadi'

    From the zoo's website:

    GORILLA ON THE MOVE
    Published:
    10 September 2015

    Gorilla on the move
    A 12-year old has left Devon to start a family in Kent. Matadi, a Western lowland gorilla from Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, has moved to Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent to start what conservationists hope will be a breeding group.

    Born on 23rd March 2003, Matadi was seven years old when he arrived at Paignton Zoo from Twycross Zoo. He made the 5 hour, 300 mile journey to Kent in a special travelling crate loaded inside a secure van. He was given a very special treat of banana to help the journey pass smoothly.

    Paignton Zoo’s Curator of Mammals, Neil Bemment, who is Vice-coordinator for the Gorilla and Orang utan European Endangered species Programmes, said: “He has grown into an impressive young gorilla weighing in at 365 pounds - that’s 26 stone or 165 kilos.”

    The charity’s bachelor group of Western lowland gorillas plays a vital role in the conservation of this Critically Endangered species. Neil: “We provide somewhere for young males to grow up in a social environment. Some, like Matadi, will move on to be the dominant males in bachelor or family groups in other collections as part of the European breeding programme.”

    It may take Matadi a while to settle in, as has gone from sharing with four bachelor males to a group with three females. It could be quite a culture shock…

    There are no plans to bring new young gorillas to Paignton Zoo at this time. The remaining gorillas at Paignton Zoo are 34 year old Pertinax, Kivu (13), N’Dowe (12) and Kiondo (13). Paignton Zoo Environmental Park is a registered charity. For more information go to Paignton Zoo, Paignton, Devon, South West England, UK or ring 0844 474 2222.

    See the video clip on our You Tube channel: https://youtu.be/FoG0I7JytbM

    (I wonder how long the banana lasted!)
     
    Last edited: 10 Sep 2015
  19. Pertinax

    Pertinax Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  20. gentle lemur

    gentle lemur Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I'm so glad he arrived safely. A couple of days ago I was looking through some old pictures from Twycross and I saw two poor shots I took after Oumbi had beaten him up in 2009 (there is a shot by zoogiraffe in the Gallery taken shortly after mine). He looked so scared and lonely.
    He was transferred to Paignton soon afterwards and his current health and well-being are greatly to the credit of the staff at Paignton, and the co-operation between the zoos.

    Alan