Yes, there has been some suggestion in the past that certain species, for example lions, produce more offspring in unstimulating conditions. It is likely that certain species will be more prolific if other stimuli are removed or the possiblility to order themselves socially as they might in the wild is absent. However, the resulting offspring will degenerate in terms of their repertoire of social behaviour, in a cramped or barren space, and will often learn to negotiate situations differently as a result, or fail to do so at all. Yes, the idea of literally farming huge numbers of endangered species is appealing, and works in some cases (eg. Crocodilians) but I think there is a great behavioural cost to doing so with animals that experience a significant period of neonatal development. I could be totally wrong though, it would be interesting to see data on the primates born at lezpig in those conditions, whether they go on to socialise well at other zoos, are good parents etc. Even so breeding is really not always good indicator of social/mental/physical health of captive animals.
When AyeAye's are active in captivity, they look to me highly energetic and fast moving. I imagine from this they move long distances through the trees in the Madagascar forests on their nightly insect hunting patrols. So even a quite spacious zoo exhibit is probably only a tiny fraction of the space they would use- hence the stereotyped 'pacing' behaviour- a sure sign something is not right for them.
Jersey has a fantastic aye aye complex.They are talled than the one at London, and are a lot larger. The one at Edinburgh is alright, but I think the pair at London should be given a much bigger enclosure. Jersey, like London mixes their aye ayes with the jumping rats.
If I remember correctly West Midlands Safari Park also keeps these animals together. They also have a similar exhibit in style to Jersey's.
I haven't been to Jersey since the aye-ayes arrived and I've never been to W Mids. I don't think that the Bristol aye-ayes have much more space than the London ones, although it's been a couple of years since I was at Bristol and the nocturnal house enclosures are so dark that I can't be certain about that: correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not sure about Edinburgh. The visible section for the pair appears no larger than a single cage at the ZSL, although they have access to the upper story and the outdoor enclosure. However the lighting is not reversed and I've only seen them out of their boxes at feeding time (around 5 pm). I don't know if they can use the outdoor enclosure at night - perhaps only during the summer. It does mean that other animals can come in, I was horrified to a wild squirrel in their indoor cage, eating their food, together with a lot of mice - which are the only animals that most visitors see in their enclosure (a cause of misconceptions ). I did tell the keeper, she replied that 'they are always in there' Alan
I'd say the Bristol and London Aye Aye enclosure areas are similar in size. At Bristol their exhibit is (part of) one of the old Indoor Ape enclosures- you can see the old 'block' walling. In some of that nocturnal house you are actually standing inside what used to be the ape cages. The first time I ever saw an Aye Aye was in a museum- it was far BIGGER than I imagined- I had presumed they were about squirrel-size... Anyway, I never imagined I'd ever get to see them in captivity- let alone being exhibited in several UK zoos as they are nowadays.
I've never seen an aye-aye except in photos. I had always imagined them as being somewhat slow and deliberate in their movements.
I have uploaded some clips of aye ayes onto the gallery. The first three clips are at London in 2001, and the rest of the clips are taken at Jersey in 2006. Does Chester Plan to Get Aye Aye? They don't seem to be getting on with Jersey at The moment. Both their Gentle lemurs and Black Lion tamarins have had something wrong with them. The female black lion tamarin was ill on arrival and the Gentle lemurs are not able to breed. The zoo wants to breed both species.
I would think it was only a matter of time before Chester get Aye-Aye, they're a great species! I have no idea, but if I was them ;-). I love Aye Aye, and they are always an interesting animal, shame they don't get an interesting exhibit in most case. I guess its because their more the animal of a conisseur. Chester could make a great one I'm sure, keeping them with Malagasy Jumping Rats. Will check out your video hornbill.
No. They move about very actively, climbing and investigating everything as they move around. They are more like a monkey in their actions. I used to think they were squirrel sized till I saw one(museum specimen) Actually they are at least as big as Ringtail lemurs but shaggy with a huge bushy tail.
I would be surprised if Chester goes into Aye-Ayes, I have never heard anyone at the zoo mention them.
Yes, I was there recently and noticed, as I had before, that its really TOO dark in parts of Bristol's Nocturnal house. The Aye Aye enclosures are a good example, even when your eyes have adjusted to the dark its really difficult to see the AyeAye even when they are active. They need to add a little more 'moonlight' for a better effect I think. I go in there chiefly to see the Black Rats in the 'attic'....
I think its the sort of exhibit Chester might like to have in the future though if some became available. Children like them as they are 'spooky/weird' to look at. Not just kids either- I think they're great too...
I'm thinking this thread is about 'Worst Exhibits' and here I'm talking about Aye Aye lemurs in exhibits good and bad. So if we want to talk generally about Aye Ayes more, we should change threads probably.... They are terrific creatures
The London male is apparently highly strung, and began showing this behaviour when they originally tried to mix him with the female. He may be hand-reared, I'm not sure if I remember that or imagined it. We have spoken on here before of the possible stresses of being an exhibit in that part of the Roundhouse, esp with the doors and noise associated with entering the viewing gallery. Good to hear that Edinburgh actually allows its pair access to fresh air and moonlight. With the right visitor information, I don't see a problem with people seeing them if they know when to look, ie at the end of the day. I find seeing creatures as exquisite as these all the more rewarding if you have to work a little in order to manage to see them.
Two of the worst exhibits in my opinion I have seen recently are the African paddocks for Elephants and Giraffe/Rhino/zebra at Colchester zoo. They are by no means the worst enclosures for these species in the UK, but considering their sheer cost and how recently they were created, I think they are terrible. The elephants have a very barren space, and even moderate playfighting in the young animals is avoided anywhere near the perimeter as the hotwire is very low down and makes an invisible swathe of the area 'out of bounds' to the elephants in a way that wouldn't happen if there were, for example, metal posts instead. The zebra, giraffe etc have no grazing and there is no opportunity to rest any part of the paddock they use. It would be great to see them give up on the mixed exhibit and really commit some space to the elephants.
What I don't like about those exhibits is the way the two buildings and Paddocks are 'twinned.' giving a sikilar appearance both. There is litttle imagination in the paddock areas either for the hoofstock or elephants I feel. What species are currently in the Hoofstock area?
Without a doubt, the worst zoo enclosure I've ever seen is the fox enclosure at Dartmoor Wildlife Park. It really depressed me, especially as foxes are one of my favourite animals, and also they had some beautiful white furred ones there. Me and my family called that exhibit 'The Pit Of Peril'! Its good to know that the place has new owners who I'm sure will replace that horrible enclosure (if they haven't already). The Welsh Hawking Centre was a pretty grim place too... does anyone know if that place still exists even???
Yeah it has been improved: They've got soil on the floor instead of concrete, logs etc, and they've also opened up one of the nearby cages which is linked to their den, which gives them almost twice as much space. Still not great, but much better.
Hi We have changed the fox "pit", so they now have double the space they had before. They are on the list for a new enclosure, but as I am sure you are aware, it is a VERY long list. We will get there in the end.
