I think it refers to the alligator/squirrel monkey exhibit near the cable car station at the top of the zoo.
There are squirrel monkeys in there??? I didn't even notice! Hopefully I will be in Sydney again in the next few months, and if so I will make a point of having a good look!
Behind the alligators are two/three islands* for squirrel monkeys that are connected to each other. The view is as good as useless tho because they are so far away and the vegetation at the back of the alligator exhibit covers most of the view anyway. The best view you can get of them is in the Education Centre that is not open to the public (only schools, functions, etc.). *not sure if there are two or three islands as there used to also be cottontop tamarins in the far right island (looking from the alligators). However, since they got 4.0 new tamarins, i'm not sure if they are still on that one island (meaning that the squirrel monkeys have two islands) or if they are off-display (meaning that the squirrel monkeys have three islands).
3 islands. Originally squirrel monkeys, CT and Emperor Tamarins. Now the CT are at the education centre. The only other way to get a good, albeit quick look, is from the cable car.
Correct! The erstwhile owners of Metelen are the same individuals managing a primate park in France. So, the observation on Wellington's press was spot-on.
The squirrel monkeys of Wellington (and Auckland) came from Amneville Zoo in France (they were only for a short time in Metelen, that was closed). The squirrel monkeys of Taronga came from La Boissiere du Doré in France.
thanks for that. I had been given to understand that the NZ ones came from Amneville but then the above mention of La Vallée des Singes confused me some more.
if I understood it well, the people who managed Metelen were not owners of Vallée des Singes, but just had worked there before.
Sorry for any inconvenience there, Chlidonias … I was on the road at the time and I was only able to put in a short observation as such. The Metelen park was only where they stepped in and did not own it per se …. The Vallee des Singes site is somewhat a follow on from the Apenheul park and doing very well for it self. I will check whether I can find you some more info on the Amneville squirrel monkeys next.
what I can add is that all animals are of the Apenheul bloodline (Amneville received their animals in 2010 from Apeldoorn; Boissiere received their animals in 2007 from Kerkrade, who had received their original group from Apeldoorn), which is 75% of the EEP population. However, the bloodline is "diluted" with other bloodlines and Australia/NZ have received also unrelated breeding males.
Frala has been integrated into the gorilla group: Frala returns to Taronga?s New-look Gorilla Family | Taronga
It mentions the figure 'just 100,000' living in the wild. To me that's an enormous number and doesn't indicate they are really endangered, at least in the larger populations.
Shiba the chimp has given birth: http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...-baby-chimpanzee/story-e6frfku9-1227020598244