Chester Zoo Chester Zoo News 2021

I can confirm that Tuan is still alive and climbing, I know there’s been some speculation recently. I’ve just watched him climb to the very top of his netted enclosure and he’s currently sat looking over the zoo which is really nice to see. :)
 
Visited today and can confirm that there are babirusa back in the island enclosure on bats bridge, despite the sign stating ‘nobody home’. Tropical realm, monsoon forest and all bird walkthroughs are currently closed due to avian flu. I’m really enjoying the old owl aviary row now that it has been stocked with the asian songbirds:)
 
I also visited today, I don’t know if it’s been mentioned but domestic goats are being kept in the enclosure near the lions. The sifakas were active so it was nice to see them for the first time however the viewing window had a lot of moisture on the inside making it blurry. There is also a second dusky pademelon enclosure up near the red panda enclosure which I don’t think has been mentioned on here.
 
pangolin12 said:
Visited today and can confirm that there are babirusa back in the island enclosure on bats bridge, despite the sign stating ‘nobody home’. Tropical realm, monsoon forest and all bird walkthroughs are currently closed due to avian flu. I’m really enjoying the old owl aviary row now that it has been stocked with the asian songbirds:)
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Is the goat enclosure new near the lions or an existing one?
 
It's a shame they are domestic goats. If this is to be their permanent home, Chester could have invested in a species of Indian antelope, deer or caprinae like an Indian sambar or even a Four horned antelope to fit with the Gir Forest theme
 
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Prochilodus246 said:
It's a shame they are domestic goats. If this is to be their permanent home, Chester could have invested in a species of Indian antelope, deer or caprinae like an Indian sambar or even a Four horned antelope to fit with the Gir Forest theme
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Having seen it (pre-stocking), it's very much a domestic goat pen they've built though - a Four-horned Antelope in there would have a panic attack..!

I think it's just intended to be a cheap-and-easy bit of extra interest for visitors if the lions are (as they so often are) sleeping, given the amount of diversion it involves to get there. Not the most exciting choice but hey ho.
 
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[QUOTE=" I think it's just intended to be a cheap-and-easy bit of extra interest for visitors if the lions are (as they so often are) sleeping, given the amount of diversion it involves to get there. Not the most exciting choice but hey ho.[/QUOTE]

That's understandable, and yes, just imagine the poor four-horned antelope :(
 
Chester keeping domestic goats comes off as a little weird, they aren't really the sort of zoo to keep familiar domestics like that.
 
Mayki said:
Chester keeping domestic goats comes off as a little weird, they aren't really the sort of zoo to keep familiar domestics like that.
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At one time they kept Bagot goats in the end pen in the hyaena row, more or less where the exit of the Butterfly House is now. And, if I remember rightly, African pygmy goats in a petting pen, close to the current location of the pygmy mongooses.
 
I've found two videos that date from the 90s which shows they had a farmyard area with various domestic breeds. Does anyone know where this was? It's also interesting to see the many species they kept in the past and the old enclosure designs.
 
The goats are part of the Gir Forest story and are linked to the conflict, and solutions to the conflict, between the indigenous farmers and the remaining Asiatic lion population.
 
Mayki said:
Chester keeping domestic goats comes off as a little weird, they aren't really the sort of zoo to keep familiar domestics like that.
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When speaking with a CZ keeper, she mentioned that the goats were part of an RSPCA rescue & would otherwise have been headed for the slaughterhouse. I agree though it doesn't seem very fitting with the character of Chester to be housing domestic goats...
 
If Chester Zoo is going to start taking in every domestic animal bound for a slaughterhouse it's going to get very crowded . . . :cool:
 
I saw a little piece on the BBC lunchtime news today about Chester Zoo's work in helping reintroduce the tequila splitfin to Mexico, where it had been extinct in the wild since 2003. An original 1,500 fish were released but their numbers have now grown sufficiently that they have begun spreading into the wider river system.

An article about the work can also be found here on the BBC website:
Biodiversity: The tale of the 'un-extinct' fish
 
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