I saw this too today & thought it was great! The nocturnal house was being tarted up with paint. I attended the tiger talk with a very informative & passionate keeper (don't know her name) who said that all animals have tested negative for TB with just the Tur to be cleared! The tropical house has had a huge foliage clearance and looks good. The giraffe herd are split 3 & 3 as two will not go through the threshold of the door & the keepers have no idea why?
sorry if this has been asked before,but when will the TB guidelines be lifted and the zoo be able to receive and exchange animals again. that's amazing news that everything is free of Tb I'm guessing the lion cubs and Lucu the tiger cub will be moved on as soon as possible once the Tb restrictions have been lifted. I also think a new male giraffe might be brought in.
[QUOTE="The Hedgehog, post: 1121612, member: 14691" I also think a new male giraffe might be brought in.[/QUOTE] I wouldn't hold your breath on that only because Rothschild breeding has been postponed for a couple of years.
At the cat talk I mentioned earlier, the keeper also said that the male cheetah has failed to bring the female into oestrus, which got me thinking why Paignton keep going with a species they've failed to breed in a long, long time? The extension to the public viewing pen is marked out but with no signs of work. The keeper said its best when there are 3-4 males and 1-2 females on rotation. Paignton can't do this, so why not switch to a small cat species or hyena/dog species for that enclosure?
Yes, it's always been a bit of a non-exhibit to me, usually with only one cheetah 'on show', but not necessarily in view. They are quite cut off from the rest of the zoo animals too, although this might have no effect on them. One can only hope that they have been busy making plans and that once the TB disaster is over there will be lots of mammal movements in and out of the zoo. They still haven't announced the 'exciting things happening in 2019', although I see on the website that from April there will be a Top Trumps Trail 2019, whatever that is. Regarding the giraffes not going outside, it's been quite a few weeks since they were all out, and for a while none were out. Yesterday a cat walked across their enclosure and appeared to spook two of the giraffes - they looked with interest and then broke into a short gallop.
My daughter is attending Gibbon Club on Saturday morning and the zoo Ed team are kind of trialling it with the group - so I'll update! If its a way of educating people in a different way about the collection and conservation it is probably a good thing. For people on this forum, we just want some answers about how the zoo is going to move forward after the abandonment of the savannah and TB induced quarantine issues.....
If the animals that brought the TB in still have free access (you can't keep out foxes, stoats. weasels etc) how can they ever actually be free in a TB endemic area?
It's never been a cause for concern before, as far as I know, even when they had a large badger sett that you could view at night. But I don't know the answer to your question.
You have to keep out foxes if you keep pinioned waterfowl, in theory otters likewise. I don't think any zoo can expect to completely exclude weasels and stoats, but TB infections are so rare in zoos that these animals seem to pose very little risk.
Up past the parrot aviaries and by the spider monkeys, right next door to the red pandas. He's very active from around 3 pm. Hope this helps.
He was very active this morning at 10.30, eagerly eating from a green rubber feeder above his day nest. I so wish a female or new pair could be sourced!
