Good news its a female, perhaps only the 2nd(?) they have had so far- there's been the usual preponderence of male births in this group. Yes,the indoor area is pretty small for an expanding group.
Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoo News 2021
- Thread starter Benosaurus
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Good news its a female, perhaps only the 2nd(?) they have had so far- there's been the usual preponderence of male births in this group. Yes,the indoor area is pretty small for an expanding group.
The indoor area aside, the gelada enclosure is fantastic. Just like their natural habitat in the wild and I couldn't think of a better choice of species to live there. I would love to see the fun fair removed and replaced with something else. Preferably either a gelada house or group of aviaries similar to the ones near the sloths and otters.
I could be wrong but I believe the group currently consists of...
- 4 adults (1.3)
- 9 offspring (6.3)
(From my summary of 2020 I see I've written that a female gelada was born in 2020, however I can't see where I've got that from now, so it should probably be scratched off).
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A research paper has been released on 'The effects of a zoo environment on free‐living, native small mammal species'. Dudley zoo was the selected site and the paper can be seen below.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/zoo.21603
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/zoo.21603
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The zoo lost around £800,000 over the last 12 months.
Dudley Zoo prepares to reopen - Black Country Radio
However, they are ready to reopen on April 12th with all the safety measures still in place. Tickets can be bought here:
We’re opening again soon! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Dudley Zoo prepares to reopen - Black Country Radio
However, they are ready to reopen on April 12th with all the safety measures still in place. Tickets can be bought here:
We’re opening again soon! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
Land train & chairlifts closed yet Fun fair open WHY?
Is the funfair still operated by an external company? Might just be different approaches by different organisations.
"Work has started on the new outdoor orangutan enclosure and our Primate Keepers are leading the celebrations!
The gardening team have cleared the adjacent empty enclosure in preparation for building work, which will see the area transformed for our Bornean orangutans, Benji, Jazz and Sprout.
Zoo Director Derek Grove, said: “No one is more delighted than I am to be part of the team that will help deliver this additional facility for these wonderful animals.
“Three lockdowns in the past 12 months has meant we’ve had to delay some of our major site development, but we’ve always been determined to deliver our plans for our orangutans."
Amended plans, at a cost of £500,000, will now see the grassy paddock encompassed with a high mesh and glass barrier, with a semi-circular overhang at the top, which the orangutans will be able to access from their current dens."
Dudley Zoo
Work starts on new orang enclosure! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
The gardening team have cleared the adjacent empty enclosure in preparation for building work, which will see the area transformed for our Bornean orangutans, Benji, Jazz and Sprout.
Zoo Director Derek Grove, said: “No one is more delighted than I am to be part of the team that will help deliver this additional facility for these wonderful animals.
“Three lockdowns in the past 12 months has meant we’ve had to delay some of our major site development, but we’ve always been determined to deliver our plans for our orangutans."
Amended plans, at a cost of £500,000, will now see the grassy paddock encompassed with a high mesh and glass barrier, with a semi-circular overhang at the top, which the orangutans will be able to access from their current dens."
Dudley Zoo
Work starts on new orang enclosure! – Dudley Zoo and Castle
This is just the best news and such a relief after last year. A gigantic step forward and a significant milestone in the zoo's history.
Two more key sentences from the news article:
"A large timber climbing frame, hammocks and ropes will keep our arboreal great apes active and an outdoor heated shelter will keep them warm on cooler days."
"Once the new outdoor exhibit is completed, it is hoped we can secure additional funding to redevelop and combine their current outdoor space."
May I politely ask anyone who visits Dudley over the next few months to please take photos of the ongoing work and post them in the Zoochat gallery.
Two more key sentences from the news article:
"A large timber climbing frame, hammocks and ropes will keep our arboreal great apes active and an outdoor heated shelter will keep them warm on cooler days."
"Once the new outdoor exhibit is completed, it is hoped we can secure additional funding to redevelop and combine their current outdoor space."
May I politely ask anyone who visits Dudley over the next few months to please take photos of the ongoing work and post them in the Zoochat gallery.
Agreed, this is very welcome news. Has there been any information regarding what they plan to do with the current outdoor orang exhibits?
Yes and the one which has affected the public's perception of the zoo the most over the years.
For anyone not familiar with the layout, here's a diagram which should help explain what's going on;
(please note this is my shoddy diagram and not the zoo's work)
- 'Current orang enclosure 1' contains an adult non-breeding male called Benji (b. 1977).
- 'Current orang enclosure 2' contains an adult female called Jazz (b. 1991) and her daughter called Sprout (b. 2011).
Attachments
From memory, it isn't quite the *worst* enclosure in the zoo - with one or two which probably beat it out - but yeah, it's definitely up there.
Really? Which ones do you think are worse?
It's quite a few years since I last visited, so my memories are fairly hazy - I just have the recollection that when I visited for the first time, there were bits I thought were worse. I have a feeling one of the exhibits which struck me thus might have been the chimpanzee indoors, but I could be wrong.
Which is not to get away from the very pertinent fact that the orangutan enclosure is dire
I'm planning on visiting on either the 17th or the 18th. I will try to get pictures of the orangutan enclosure and any other new developments