I visited today. There was quite a lot of work going on around the zoo in preparation for the Easter holiday visitors - always important in UK zoos, but particularly for zoos near holiday resorts. The Nocturnal House was still closed, but its name was being painted on the wall in big letters. The fence around the bongo paddock is going to be substantial with steel uprights cemented into the foundation trench, I presume that the mesh will go to the full depth of this trench (perhaps ~80cm). I think this may be intended to deter badgers, provided the mesh is strong enough. The roof of the ground hornbill aviary is being removed, matching the great argus aviary next door. I didn't see any birds in the smaller aviaries beside them either. There are 2 Philippine water monitors in Reptile Tropics (in the exhibit which formerly held the prehensile-tailed skinks). Three exhibits were empty, so work must be on-going. The moat of the swamp monkey island had been emptied and a tanker load of sludge was being pumped out of the bottom. Most interesting of all, the gate on the path to the tur & Barbary sheep enclosure was still closed and padlocked. But I could hear a digger and I caught a glimpse of it on the left hand side of the path, in the area which was fenced off and earmarked for the takin. The engine of kiddie's train was being worked on by two engineers. It has had a spanking new paint job. Finally the Manchurian cranes seem to have abandoned their nest. The egg was lying a metre away and some gulls were playing beakball with it (it's hard to play football with webbed feet ). They didn't seem to be able to break it and I wondered if it was a dummy egg, substituting for the real one - perhaps because the pair are related.
I've messaged the zoo who are normally amazing at getting back in touch fairly swiftly and I've received no reply about the Turs/B sheep. I dearly hope all is well, as if it is TB (jumping to conclusions?) then the dates for removal of the import/export ban will be further delayed! By then, we could have 2 male lions fighting over a lone lioness and numerous natural deaths and more empty enclosures! At least we have Roadrunners and heaps of new reptile species arriving....., I do feel for the staff, it must be so frustrating! Fingers crossed all is well.
Greater Roadrunners - the window is now clear and the barrier has been removed so they are visible. Lar gibbons - there is now a roof on their new house but it's hard to say of anything else has been done. It will vanish behind new leaves soon.
There is a short video of Manu the kiwi eating his breakfast on the zoo's FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pg/paigntonzoo/posts/?ref=page_internal
I can't visit for a few days, is Bruce in the ex fruit bat or Sloth/bushbaby side of the house? Either way, one space is HUGE for Tenrec?
Agreed, which is why I said it was disappointing. I hope Bruce is in the side with outside access, since that is what he's been used too!!
Bruce is in the ex fruit bat side. There's no visible outside access at the moment, but won't he think day is night so will be rather confused if he goes outside? The tenrec are in a small separated off part of the ex sloth side up against the window. Photos in the Gallery.
I visited today. Around 11 am there were white lights on both enclosures. Bruce was pottering around quite happily and there were no tenrecs visible, just as Gigit's recent photos show. But around 1.30 pm there was just dim red light in each enclosure. Bruce was less active, staying mainly in the patch of red light (and heat?) from the lamp, but two tenrecs were shuffling around. There are two annoying problems: nobody reads the signs, so they dismiss both species as hedgehogs, and the positioning of Bruce's sign means that it reflects from the middle of the glass front of his enclosure. But the worst problem is the one that the Nocturnal House has always had, there are no light baffles in the entrance or exit and the interior is very dark when both doors are shut - but if more than one person enters or exits, light floods in (particularly on Bruce's side). This causes reflections in the glass and can dazzle people whose eyes have adapted to the dark, and then everyone gropes around when the doors are shut again.
Frustrating times eh! I really feel for everyone at Paignton right now. The TB situation is affecting everything at this great institution and though the reptile & bird depts move forward at a decent pace, the Mammal Dept is really really struggling. They've obviously done their best with the nocturnal house but are obviously stuck with current stock. The bird dept were obviously not happy with the Kiwi moving (we have to trust their professional judgment) but the Loris may be off show behind the Tenrecs? I hope some animals (Cranes, Rhea or Tortoise) are moved into the adjoining paddock - ex Anoa/Bison - for the summer, namely to appease the paying public. There are White, Marabou & Oriental storks off-show plus Cassowary.
Marabou and Oriental white storks are on-show. Marabou opposite the restaurant, Oriental white stork in the Scarlet ibis aviary next to the Avian Breeding Centre.
Thanks Rajang, I know, but I was trying to think of 'surplus' or off-show birds/reptiles that PZ could exhibit in empty enclosures even if it meant displaying a given species twice.
Howler Monkeys: One of their windows had a sacking curtain today and there were a couple of barriers preventing access to their house. While I was trying to peer through the sacking from a few feet away, the male howler obligingly lifted a corner and looked out. However, I'm none the wiser as to what's going on.
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