Security Check
Short video of the 3 male Geladas arriving and settling in to the old bear enclosure.
Short video of the 3 male Geladas arriving and settling in to the old bear enclosure.
Dartmoor Zoo Dartmoor Zoo News 2020
- Thread starter TNT
- Start date
Anyone know where they have come from?
Obviously I'm not sure if this happened before or after lockdown (their arrival that is) but my guess would be a UK zoo - which would mean Howletts, Edinburgh, Colchester, Dudley or Banham. Out of those, I think only Edinburgh or Colchester would have the numbers to send away three males without losing a large portion of their group?
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
The crates in the video are perfectly suitable for international transport, and the transporter is one who moves animals all over Europe...
Seems my guess was on the money - contact of mine says the three of them are from Colchester...!
Banham, Colchester, Dartmoor, Dudley, Edinburgh, Howletts, Wild Place and Yorkshire
Thanks would you have a idea on the numbers?
I haven’t visited most of those in a while...I remember Colchester and Edinburgh have sizeable groups, Edinburgh having somewhere between 30 and 40 animals I think. Banham and Wild Place each have a bachelor group of six animals I think....? Yorkshire have 13 based on a conversation that was had in their news thread on here. I visited Howletts just before lockdown and counted around a dozen. Dudley I can’t really remember off the top of my head but I think they have two groups, a bachelor one and a breeding one. Think they had around 10 or so when I visited last a couple years ago, but that number may have changed.
I think Dudley only have the breeding group now
Yes, the bachelor group moved elsewhere, to Europe I think, (or was it Banham?)
From memory the breeding group is I male; 3 females; + about 6 youngsters of which nearlly all but one are male = total of 10 or 11 animals.
Last edited:
Colchester normally have 9-12 in their group, maybe a few less( and less three more now...)
Dudley's bachelor group of five (Simiya and brothers Semelo, Sanijo, Jilo and Jima) moved to Riga Zoo, Latvia, in October 2019.
The breeding group consists of 4 adults (1.3) + 8 offspring (6.2). So 12 individuals total.
From the 2018 Inventory, Edinburgh held 9.16.6 Gelada's as at 31.12.2018. I think they probably have more than that now.
Andrew Swales
Well-Known Member
This is fast becoming a (very?) common UK species.
I guess being ground living they are economical to house well, with an electric fence and a few rocks?
Shame that all those lovely Guenons had to 'make room'...
I guess being ground living they are economical to house well, with an electric fence and a few rocks?
Shame that all those lovely Guenons had to 'make room'...
After London and Jersey stopped keeping them in the 60's, there were none at all in the UK for several decades until they re-appeared in around the 90's. They make a good display, the main problem is if they have insufficient space, they denude the ground of any grass cover so it becomes a bare patch e.g. Colchester's enclosure.
Sadly with a few exceptions, Guenons, my favourite lesser primates, are not enjoying much popularity at present. I hope they will 'come around again' though.