Chester Zoo Realm of the red ape

There are 3 females at present on Isis, but as Bongorob said, another male is expected.

 

keep me posted there was rumour another borenon female was on her way

 

No more female orangutans will be arriving at Chester until Tuan is out of quarantine and successfully intergrated with the three females Martha, Sarikei & Leia.

 

Is the new male on show yet?

And what's the time frame(approximate) before he can be integrated with the females?

 

If it is rabies quarantine it would be 6 months.The females could be mixed with him but would then undergo quarantine themselves.

 

As long as Subis is on show I'm happy. When I was at the summer scholl, I got to know quite a bit about her. She is very Tmae to people. I say tame, meaning that she will come and interact witgh you from across the moat of the Island.

Will the zoo ever put it's savadori's pheasant in the Timor Sparrow aviary? It seems a good place to put a pair of them...................

 

I went to Chester yesterday, thought this exhibit was awesome!
One question though, there were signs for borneon and sumatran orangs, and one big male who I think was sumatran. I think there was one female borneon and one baby, but there could have been more.
Won't they breed and make hybrids? Do they always plan to house the two species together like that?

 

You most definitely only saw Sumatran Orangutans. The Borneon Orangutans, are usually kept in the old enclosure (Off-show), this was due to the new male Tuan being in quarrantine but he has since finished his quarrantine period. However they are sometimes let into the outdoor (Indoor) part of RoRA.

There was rumours that the female Borneon Orangtans may be pregnant, as Tuan got very busy on arrival but this has since died down. Do you have any photos of the female and baby to see if we can identifiy them for you?

 

I might do, they just looked darker in colour so I assumed they were Borneon. The female was also outside, so I guess she was sumatran.
I got confused though, because they had cage labels for borneo and sumatran orangs :S.
Will the borneons be getting a new house, or going into one part of RORA?

 

Chester is one of a minority of Zoos nowadays that keep both Bornean & Sumatran Orangutan species. Its the only one that does in the UK. But the two species never have any contact with each other so there's no danger of them hybridising. I think they intend to keep both species longterm.

 

Ashley, the Borneans are kept in the outside part of RORA which is netted and use the old Orang house. The sumatrans have the open outdoor areas and the covered indoor areas.

On the planning permission document for RORA, there is a drawing which shows the next phase which will be a near mirror image of the current structure, but for the Borneans.

 

Isn't Phase two on hold now? I can foresee things just staying as they are for a while...

Could the Bornean Orangs access one of the outdoor enclosures from the netted areas they use now? Seems odd (if Phase two is on hold) for the Sumatrans to have access to two outdoor areas and the Borneans none.

 

all the enclosures seem to be connected, so in theory the Borneans could access the open enclosures.

 

Correct, they all interconnect with atleast two passage ways.

 

I'm wondering why the Bornean Oragutans don't have access outside then.

 

This am not sure why, most of the time the sumatrans usually have access to the 3 indoor enclosures (unless they are planting them up) and the two outdoor (uncovered enclosures).

Maybe its to keep the males as far away as possible.

 

Maybe because the Suamtrans are more active they make a better exhibit for the public.

 

They do! Their indoor enclosures are in the old orang house, but their two new enclosures are open to the air, with wired roofs. They normally have the connecting gate open so they are effectively one enclosure. These are the enclosures visible from the entrance and exit of the building, and they are grassed and planted with assorted shrubs.
A few months ago, I watched the females uprooting a small evergreen from the terrace, showing the patience and intelligence and sheer brute strength for which orangs are renowned.

Alan

 

No, what I meant is why don't they have access to one of the large planted outdoor 'paddocks'? Seems odd the way the Sumatrans have access to both instead. I also realise this is an interim situation but Phase Two might not happen for a long time now.

The Sumatrans are more undeniably more active but the sluggish old Borneans would probably explore them a bit if allowed to!!

 

I don't think the Sumatrans usually have access to both of the large enclosures - one at a time seems to be usual, although the gibbons may get access to both. I think they may need to give the vegetation some rest, one of the snags of the natural look.
The Borneans seem to spend a lot of time out of sight in their old house, which always looked a real eyesore inside, but I presume they like it. Perhaps they will let the Bornean females into the southern paddock when they have youngsters and will need to be separated from Tuan.

Alan