Press release from the zoo, giving more details of the loss of Duchess. It says a post mortem will be carried out today (Monday 15th) Devon mourns Duchess
It looks as though the rhinos are getting a fence around their grass paddock, maybe a badger-proof one? Up to now the perimeter has been hedge and rocks. Several large shrubs/trees have been cut down in the adjacent Darwin's rhea paddock. There are still signs of various maintenance jobs being started and then left, eg poles erected in the former anoa enclosure that are presumably waiting to have electric fences attached at some point in the future. Unfortunately, today's visit was marred once again by rampaging school children. I had to assume a stern demeanour standing next to some who'd been throwing things to the macaques, but I do object to feeling the need to police them. A moment of light relief was provided by a new 'barista' who attempted to make cappuccino by percolating the coffee into metal milk jugs rather than cups! I blame management rather than the hapless staff who presumably have never drunk coffee nor been trained in how to make it. Oh well, only 6 weeks or so till September..... (I did enjoy parts of my visit!)
Really sad to hear about Duchess. Growing up in the 80s and 90s Paignton was my nearest zoo and elephants were my favourite animal.
Any animals being moved for the various breeding programs confirmed lately? Also what do you think will be the future of the former elephant house and enclosure! Finally is Shakira the ageing tigeress still alive? Many thanks and kind regards from The Hedgehog!
1: I would have thought any animal moves will only be released once the EEP or any other programme have found space or collections that want them. 2: As Duchess has only just passed away it will probably be a while before anything is decided or if already decided it will be some time before any work begins. 3: No news that Shakira has passed away so POTENTIALLY is in breeding retirement.
Also won't Luchu the tiger Yali&Arya the lions and the baby orangutans need to move on soon? I also really hope that a male giraffe arrives and females are moved in/out Also I think that more Hartman mountain zebras need to arrive and also some more Camels! Kind regards The Hedgehog!
The juvenile orangutans are too young, at 6 and 5 years old, to be separated from their mothers. (Shouldn't this be on the 2019 thread?)
I agree totally: as they are both female, they need to learn by watching as their mothers rear their next infants (I'm touching wood as I type this). They are unrelated to Wousan, the current male, so they don't even need to move on when they reach maturity, although the current orang accommodation wouldn't be able to hold all of them by that time.
For various reasons but with no real evidence, I have a feeling of dark foreboding that something is about to happen that I won't like at all. This is on top of the recent departure of the most innovative keeper the orangs have ever had who flew in, transformed their lives like Mary Poppins and flew off again. It was wonderful to see but didn't last long enough. The perils of getting too involved
Update from visit yesterday: The two Squirrel monkeys have moved to the Emperor Tamarin enclosure with the Emperors moving to the ex Saki enclosure and the single Golden L Tamarin moving to where the Squirrel Monkeys were (ex Loris room). The Mangabeys have moved to the King Colobus house and the Brown Spider Monkeys are due to move in to where the Mangabeys were (lots of branching being added - this should give them more height). The Colobus are off-show but healthy. Not sure where they are going? There was no sign of continued work in the paddock near the nocturnal house that was being hot wired and prepped last month? Some fencing from the elephant house has been removed in and outside. Maybe this was to aid the vet team and transport of her body? The house was a strange place to walk through and I felt very sad. The Rhea paddock opposite the Maned Wolves on the hill was having some badger fencing and trenches added? The single Bongo will be joined shortly by an all female herd - not sure where from? I went to the bird display and the Harris Hawk and the Eagle Owl were very impressive and flew so close to our heads. The young male lion had been separated into the back pen which is visible by peeking over the fence by the Ural owls. My overwhelming opinion was that there were lots of small jobs that had been started by the maintenance teams all around the zoo that hadn't been finished. Though I feel the keepers and staff have worked so damn hard in such difficult circumstances in the past 2 years, the zoo needs an injection of money and man hours to get it looking and feeling great again. I wish I could help...
Duchess - the zoo has announced that they plan to create a permanent memorial to her: Zoo plans Duchess memorial
Order yourself a cup of conservation The zoo is plugging its own coffee blend. I know I should change my scratchy old record, but it's a pet peeve of mine that having special coffee beans isn't enough. They need to train their constantly changing seasonal staff in how to actually make a cup of coffee. You can't always be lucky enough to be there at the same time as the few who do know that cappuccino and latte aren't the same drink in different sized cups, for instance.
Triuk stated the following sentence The young male lion had been separated into the back pen which is visible by peeking over the fence by the Ural owls. Does this mean, that the young male Lion namely Yali could be being prepared to move to a new zoo. Under the requirements of the Europian endangered species breeding program? If so what will happen to his sister and littermate Arya will she move on or will Paington retain her as the breeding Lioness as they did with her mother Maliya and her grandmother Indu? Also thier father Lucifer is quite elderly now so will the zoo casterate or put him on contraception until he sadly passes away,as if they do this they could keep Arya and just bring in another fertile Lion to breed with Arya if and when Lucifer dies. Alternatively if Yali is being moved on they could put Lucifer into the off show lion enclosure on breeding retirement,while also bringing in a new male to pair with Arya as a breeding pair in the on show enclosure! Many thanks for taking the time to read my long rambling essay! Finally have a nice weekend! Kind regards From The Hedgehog
