The jackals are all female and they are in a well wooded enclosure but still settling in and a bit shy. The binturong share an enclosure with asian otters and afaik have no subspecific status and came from Holland. The red crowned cranes have a chick and there is a good breeding group of Irish red deer near the park entrance/exit.
There is a new group of about 5 mongoose, unsigned. A young keeper said they were banded, but they looked a bit small and slender for this species unless they were juveniles. Some storks have arrived to the bird section and the bushdog female looked very pregnant but I didn't get the chance to have this confirmed as most of my time was spent in the fairground section with young family members.
The bushdog have at least six pups, very cute. Also saw Lanner and Sakar falcons and ground hornbill. Jackals are now very active and visible, as are the raccoons in their new enclosure.
New Lemur walk through with a large group of fifteen Ringtaileds sourced from three different zoos, they seem to be coexisting well and there are also about a dozen Vulterine and a dozen common Guinea fowl. The enclosure is a decent size and from within gives good views of adjacent enclosures with Binturong, otters and Raccoons etc. Overall I was impressed with this exhibit. Other enclosures for Coati and Corsac foxes have been upgraded with viewing windows and the group of eight Bushdogs have moved to the large Coati enclosure and they look fantastic. The female Bushdog looks to be pregnant again and the Red Crowned Cranes are nesting. A new King Vulture has joined the resident one and they are housed in a decent high enclosure with a single Palm Nut Vulture. I spotted Gyrfalcon and Brown eared Pheasant and other birds are due soon. It has only just reopened for the new season and I am amazed at how quickly they build and improve enclosures and move and switch animals to better their habitats. A few new mammal additions are planned such as extra Porcupines and a small antelope species, which are probably on show by now.
I visited on Wednesday for the first time. I also liked the lemur exhibit - there are also rock hyrax mixed in the enclosure, but very difficult to see. There was also an Imperial Eagle in the show, which was interesting.
I was there on Friday and really enjoyed the day. The Eagle is interesting, did you get any good pics of him. I did'nt know of the Hyrax, just that other additions were due. The Lemur exhibit was built from scratch in about 4 months, which is amazing by Zoo standards. What did you think of the Zoo overall?
Yes should have some reasonable shots of the eagle - they actually introduce him as a Spanish Imperial Eagle, although on review of my photos it appears that he is 'just' a young Eastern Imperial. Very impressive - I was pleased with the public reaction to the lemur enclosure. I had visitors coming up to me randomly just to recommend it (because I had a big camera). Apparently it wasn't due to open for a few more months but everything was set sooner. I really liked the zoo. Not very big, but a very good range of animals, quite well-displayed too. I enjoyed the big group of bush dogs, the active tayra and the golden jackal in particular, but other treats included the Steller's sea eagles and ocelot. I reckon if they're not flying them then some of the raptor aviaries could be improved, but still a decent place. Just a pity it took me at least 2.5 hours each way to get there by public transport from my hotel
Thanks for the interesting reply df, and I look forward to seeing your photos when you post them. Indeed the Imp. Eagle has caused much debate. I am surprised it took so long to travel to and from the park. There is a bus from the centre of Dublin directly to Tayto unless you were staying outside the city. The Raptors near the show arena are afaik flown most days (weather dependent) and the octagonal building is designed to fly all inhabitants to and from the arena. It is planned to build more large Aviaries to accomodate nesting of selected species. Did you visit Dublin or Belfast zoos on your travels?.
Thanks, I was staying south of the city centre. It should have taken around 90 minutes, but on each leg google maps kept me waiting for buses which never came, so I had to make alternative arrangements. I also went to Sea Life Bray and Dublin Zoo (I was in Ireland for under 48 hours)
New species seen on a recent visit are Kirks Dik Dik, Crested Caracara and 3 or 4 Agoutis mixed with Squirrel Monkeys. (not sure of species, not signed.) The latest Crane chick is near adult size and it is amazing how quickly it has grown in a few weeks.
The latest bird to arrive is a Bataleur eagle. It is an immature male and lacks the bright colours for now, but it is a great addition to an already nice collection of raptors. The Agoutis are Azzaras, four males and are mixed with Goeldis monkeys.
I have not got to visit this nice zoo yet because of that b....y virus but the latest births include 5 Ringtailed lemurs, 2 Japanese crane chicks and White storks and Edwards pheasant. Just looking at the Zootierliste site it lists 140 species and this should be much lower as quite a lot of species have moved on. Tayto has a fair few non breeding older animals since the early days and I would expect some of these to reach their end soon. Racoon, Coati,Tiger(20), Ocelot(20) and even the Amur leopard(15) and Puma are getting quite old. Anyway I hope to visit soon and will list all species then.
The big news from Tayto Park is they plan to rebrand and rename next year and expect to spend 30 mil. in the next two years. (although most of this money will be spent on rollercoasters etc.) The zoo is reopening next week and the zoo only tour is priced at just 10 euros. The park has been badly hit by the fall out from the pandemic and revenue in 2020 was down by 82%. But last year was a little better and hopefully this coming season will see a return to normality.
I visited on Sunday and saw the baby Goeldis with parents in a mixed exhibit with Azaras Agouti. The main improvement in the zoo is the doubling of the Pheasant aviaries by taking down dividers and converting six into three. These look much better and now display Edwards Pheasant, Kookaboro and Eagle Owl. The plan is to improve most of the older exhibits, including the large netted Vulture cage which currently holds six huge Vultures (Griffon, White headed and White backed) and White storks. Because of high winds the bird show just flew a Lanner Falcon, Hooded vulture and a young Ground Hornbill, but the Falconers talk was very interesting and enjoyable. Brexit/Covid complications have held up some incoming animal/bird arrivals, so hopefully this will be sorted soon. I always enjoy my visits here and expect to go back soon when its fully open and the weather is a bit nicer.
Sadly, Ray Coyle the founder and owner of Tayto Park died today. He was the driving force behind the whole operation and was never daunted. He loved the zoo section and would often be seen rambling around viewing the animals. I spoke with him lots of times and I loved his decency and almost boyish enthusiasm. He will be a big loss. I would be a little concerned as to how the zoo section progresses from here (without its champion) but hopefully it will continue to prosper and grow. RIP. Ray.
A new Amur leopard female has arrived from a UK zoo. ( Yorkshire) The plan is to breed with the resident male, but he is 18 years old and has always only lived with his brother (died Jan this year). The leopard enclosure is quite good and animals can be mixed or separated. They also hope to get new Amur Tiger/tigers to join the 18 year old male. Again probably seperated or rotated.
I had to laugh when I found out 'Tayto' is derived from 'Potato' and is some sort of advert for crisps? A name change sounds good here...
