Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2025

I went for a visit this morning to Colchester Zoo. These are the things that I noticed:
  • Had a clear view of both sloths in the Worlds Apart walkthrough indoor enclosure, so I definitely saw the recently-arrived female.
  • I only saw one white-lipped tamarin baby - just checking the news of the birth on the website, and an update has been added saying that one baby died on Wednesday 16th April, with a full postmortem going to take place.
  • The pair of Goeldi's monkeys were outside and mixed with the coppery titi trio. One of the adult titi monkeys seemed to have an injury to its foot. The male tamandua was also able to get outside, but was walking around its indoor area instead.
  • The African livestock walkthrough was completely closed, as they are redeveloping part of the area near to the entrance. The Wallaby Walkabout has also had some additions, with the heavy wooden entry gates replaced with mesh gates and also a row of wooden posts erected around the wallaby shelter, possibly to stop the animals accessing the roof.
  • The Woodland Hollow has re-opened. Now however it no longer has Lego models and the signage about the animals has been removed (including about the planned gorillas). Instead, it has been turned into a trail about the conservation of native wildlife - I didn't actually go around it, but I will do next time I visit.
  • In very pleasant news, the pair of African white-backed vultures are back on-display in the Vulture Valley aviary alongside the flock of Ruppell's griffon vultures.
  • Again, the three female ostriches were confined indoors. For the first time ever, I heard the male ostrich 'booming' while it was in the main paddock.
  • The platform between the Lost Madagascar lemur walkthrough and the mangabey enclosure is now open. I went up there, but by the time I got to the platform both the lemurs and mangabeys were either indoors or hidden away somewhere else.
 
Colchester have released a flurry of news articles today.

First is an update on the newly-arrived male chimpanzee Napoleon, who has been successfully integrated with the three females.

Secondly, the zoo has announced that the red-necked wallabies will no longer be on display - the last few remaining animals are so old that it was decided to retire them into an off-show area. Their enclosure is temporarily home to some pygmy goats while the African livestock walkthrough is closed for redevelopment, and will be developed itself later. Indeed, the wallabies have already been removed from the list of species on the zoo's main animal page.

Thirdly, the zoo has announced that Rajang's Forest will be closed from 2nd June. This is to carry out more thorough repair work to the roof damaged in the storm of April 2024 - while provisional repairs were done at the time, this work will be more permanent. The repairs are expected to take six weeks, and the orangutans will not be visible during this time.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Colchester have released a flurry of news articles today.

First is an update on the newly-arrived male chimpanzee Napoleon, who has been successfully integrated with the three females.

Secondly, the zoo has announced that the red-necked wallabies will no longer be on display - the last few remaining animals are so old that it was decided to retire them into an off-show area. Their enclosure is temporarily home to some pygmy goats while the African livestock walkthrough is closed for redevelopment, and will be developed itself later. Indeed, the wallabies have already been removed from the list of species on the zoo's main animal page.

Thirdly, the zoo has announced that Rajang's Forest will be closed from 2nd June. This is to carry out more thorough repair work to the roof damaged in the storm of April 2024 - while provisional repairs were done at the time, this work will be more permanent. The repairs are expected to take six weeks, and the orangutans will not be visible during this time.
Click to expand...
Unfortunate news about Rajang's Forest having to be closed but it is good that the zoo will hopefully not have to worry about any lasting damage from the storm long term.

Interesting update about Wallaby Walkabout, but I have been anticipating some news about that exhibit to come at some point as I believe there were three (bachelor group) wallabies left last I heard. I didn't see any when I went through the walkthrough recently and I think it was the same story when I spent time in there last year, though they could be more showy than my experience suggests. The last time they welcomed new individuals was only 2019 (six of them) so not that long ago, although I don't suppose they live too long.

It will make a nice home for those young pygmy goats for the time being, but there isn't any one obvious idea for what it's use could be in the long term. That enclosure is well known to have held Rocky Mountain goats previously until 2010, but it ceased to because it wasn't best suited to them with their hooves. It's not that big of a space but there could still be a range of options; a new inhabitant could continue to fit into the domestic theme of the surrounding Familiar Friends area, be more related to the nearby Edge of Africa, or something entirely unrelated to that half of the zoo.
 
I went for a visit to Colchester Zoo today. Not a huge amount of new things of note, but this is what I noticed:
  • Was good to see the pair of rhinoceros iguanas were mixed this morning, albeit under supervision of a keeper.
  • The smaller tank in Koi Niwa has a large number of new smaller koi carp.
  • The redevelopment work on the African livestock walkthrough has been completed, although I didn't go through it. I did also see the pygmy goats that were in the former wallaby walkthrough.
  • Went through the Woodland Hollow redevelopment for the first time - as well as general information about some British species (deer and owls) and showing how wildlife can be encouraged to gardens, there is information about species recorded from the zoo's grounds (bats), a bat recorder mounted on a tree and a model camera trap to represent the loaning scheme that the zoo runs with nearby schools.
  • I did manage to see the new male bush dog for the first time, together with the female.
 
Hi, I have never been to Colchester but am thinking of a visit and have a few questions:
- By the look of the map, there are a lot of South American areas including 'Inca Trail', 'Heart of the Amazon' and 'Canopy of South America', but they are dotted on other sides of the zoo? Any more insight?
-Is there a best route around the zoo that allows one to see everyting in say, a 5-6 hour time period
-Now this one isn't to do particularly with my visit, but which area or exhibit in the zoo would you call the best?

And also, if this is the wrong place to be asking this, please redirect me!
 
AmazonianHippo said:
Hi, I have never been to Colchester but am thinking of a visit and have a few questions:
- By the look of the map, there are a lot of South American areas including 'Inca Trail', 'Heart of the Amazon' and 'Canopy of South America', but they are dotted on other sides of the zoo? Any more insight?
-Is there a best route around the zoo that allows one to see everyting in say, a 5-6 hour time period
-Now this one isn't to do particularly with my visit, but which area or exhibit in the zoo would you call the best?

And also, if this is the wrong place to be asking this, please redirect me!
Click to expand...

To answer the three questions:
  • While quite a bit of Colchester's South American collection is continuous - almost everything between Capuchin Climb at the entrance and the Inca Trail near the top end of the zoo is South American - the zoo has never especially been a stickler for zoogeographical accuracy, and seems to have a motto of 'put it where it fits', which explains why things like the bush dogs, giant anteaters and anacondas are so out of the way compared to the other South American animals.
  • The second point I will make a more detailed post on, but I will say that I am able to get around the entire zoo in around two or three hours (including a break to eat).
  • Personally, my favourite single exhibit at Colchester is Otter Creek, the enclosure for the group of smooth-coated otters.
 
AmazonianHippo said:
Is there a best route around the zoo that allows one to see everyting in say, a 5-6 hour time period
Click to expand...

So, this is based on my visits - I tend to be at the zoo for opening, and am one of the first through the doors. Obviously, it may take longer if you are arriving later in the day.
  1. On entry, explore Capuchin Climb. Then, travel up, passing the indoor areas for Rainforest Walkthrough and go through Iguana Forest and loop around the outdoor section of Rainforest Walkthrough.
  2. Cross the outdoor picnic area above the Iguana Forest on the map, and enter Worlds Apart. It is basically a single pathway, but take a detour after the stingray pool to look at the golden-headed lion tamarins.
  3. After leaving the Worlds Apart walkthrough, turn left and go through Heart of the Amazon. On reaching the bottom of the monkey outdoor enclosures here, go through the underwater viewing area for the sea lions and through the tunnel to the orangutans. Once this is done, backtrack to the entrance of the sea lions.
  4. Go along the top path on the map, taking detours to look at the Inca Trail and the lower level of Bears of the Rising Sun.
  5. Go into the indoor area for the mangabeys and through the Feathers of the Forest walkthrough.
  6. Follow the pathway past the mangabey outdoor enclosure, turning left just after the main undercover viewing area to look through the window into the lemur walkthrough. Go back to the main pathway and walk past the meerkats, Barbary macaques, lions and fennec foxes (if near opening, bear in mind that the lion and fennec fox will probably be shut indoors at this time).
  7. Go round and head up to Koi Niwa. After this, I like to take a left on the path towards Familiar Friends and look at the bull elephant paddock, before backtracking towards the Familiar Friends area. While it is mostly domestics, this area does have the giant tortoises and the zoo's only invertebrates so is worth visiting.
  8. Just after the giant tortoise outdoor paddock is a gate that leads to a pathway that goes around to the hyenas. I prefer to go around the outer path throughout this area (just go left at every turn, even when backtracking) - that will mean you will see all the enclosures in this area.
  9. Once you have seen every animal in Edge of Africa, and are walking back up the path from the red river hogs, take a right onto what looks like an access road. This is a public path that takes you around to the bottom edge of the Kingdom of the Wild paddock. This will also take you past the vulture aviary and into the Kingdom of the Wild house itself.
  10. Once you have thoroughly explored the house (near the base of the big ramp to the upper level is an alcove with pancake tortoises and plated lizards) head outside from the upper level. You can go up the central walkway to look at the Kingdom of the Wild paddock and the elephant cow paddock if you choose.
  11. I then go up the slope to the elephant house, and go inside to look at the royal python enclosure, before heading back down the slope again. By this time, the lorikeet walkthrough has normally opened (it opens at 10:30), so I go through there.
  12. Backtrack to the meerkats (popping in to see if the lions and fennec foxes are visible on the way), before turning right and going to see the geladas. I often pop into the Meerkat Hangout to buy food here, but you can stop to eat anywhere along the route.
  13. Follow the walkway around to the flamingos, before going down to Otter Creek to see the smooth-coated otters.
  14. Turn left and follow the lake shore, back past the elephant house, until you reach the aardvarks and go in to see them.
  15. Follow the pathway past the lakes until you reach the queue for the road train. You can go on the train if you wish (it loops around and ends up back where it started), although I only go down here to see the bush dogs.
  16. Look at the tigers, and go to the far end for the spotted deer, before backtracking to the bottom of the hill.
  17. Go up the hill, stopping to look at the wolves, birds of prey, Komodo dragons, cheetahs, lion-tailed macaques and the River's Edge building.
  18. Go to the gibbons. After seeing their outdoor enclosure, turn left. This will take you past the gibbon indoor area, wreathed hornbills, red pandas and giant anteaters.
  19. By the binturong and small-clawed otter enclosure, go through the small doorway on the left and down the ramp to reach the footbridge that goes over the lemur island and allows another view of the binturongs, otters and also the lemur walkthrough. Once you have seen these, backtrack to where this section started from.
  20. Walk down the tunnel, looking at the indoor giant anteater enclosures, look in through the lower leopard viewing area and go up onto the elevated platform that overlooks the lemur walkthrough and mangabeys, if you failed to see either previously.
  21. Now, go up the hill, pausing to see the spider monkeys.
  22. At the top of the hill, go left into the Bears of the Rising Sun house to see the bears from the upper viewing area and the indoor area of the rufous hornbills. If they are not inside, the hornbills can be seen a bit further up the hill, next to the administrative office.
  23. On leaving the bear house, go across to the Canopy of South America and upper Ussuri Falls viewing area. This will allow you to see both leopard enclosures, plus the callitrichids.
  24. On leaving, go straight across onto the ramp that goes onto 'Billie-Joe's Path'. Follow it, going through the small reptile house, until you reach the chimpanzees.
  25. Follow the pathway round, looking at the chimps and crocodile. On exiting the house at the other end, you will be back near the entrance/exit building. From there, you can revisit anywhere you want to, or leave if you have seen everything.
Hope this is helpful.
 
Something I remembered from today, and have double-checked on the zoo's website. I did not notice the lone radiated tortoise in the elephant house today. I have just checked the zoo's animal list and the breeding programmes list on their website, and both have removed the radiated tortoise - the species has unequivocally left the collection.
 
I have just got back from a morning visit to Colchester. This is what I noticed:
  • Both rhinoceros iguanas were mixed together, this time without the presence of any keepers.
  • Something very small (definitely not an exhibit, before anyone gets excited) is being constructed outside the entrance to Heart of the Amazon.
  • Not sure how long the second one has been in there (the enclosure is not particularly conducive to seeing them), but the second black tree monitor is now on-display alongside the original one.
  • Rajang's Forest is completely closed now, with the scaffolding extending quite a way out into the access road.
  • In Feathers of the Forest, the crowned pigeon is sitting on a nest. There is also a crested wood partridge nest - I saw one egg in it, with another egg abandoned on the ground. Considering no adult was brooding, I'm doubtful that this nesting attempt will lead to anything.
  • In Kingdom of the Wild, the door between the Madagascar tree boa enclosure and the West African mud turtle and cichlid enclosure has been completely removed, giving the boas full access to the entire space. I saw one on the branch within the doorway, and another on the back wall of the mud turtle enclosure.
  • For the first time in a very long while, saw the older of the two aardvarks walking around outdoors. When I visited them indoors later, both aardvarks were up and active.
 
Richie Hell said:
There was a crane and a truck from Cross-Border Animal Services at Kingdom of the Wild today. Looked like something was getting loaded
Click to expand...

That would be Tayo the young male White Rhino going to his new home. I did a rhino experience in March or so and they said he would be leaving around June. They were just waiting for the paperwork as usual. Also a new male maneless zebra should be arriving this summer as well.
 
Strathmorezoo said:
A news item from the East Anglican daily Times
Two new male Cheetahs arrived at 10pm on Saturday 24th May.
One male Duma from Ashia cheetah reserve in the Western Cape. The other male, Tswalu,from the Tswalu Game Reserve on the southern edge of the Kalahari. The zoo said that they are both doing well.
Click to expand...

The newspaper journalist has got their wires crossed - the new Cheetahs moved to the Umphafa reserve (that the zoo owns in Africa) . Not Colchester Zoo
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Something I remembered from today, and have double-checked on the zoo's website. I did not notice the lone radiated tortoise in the elephant house today. I have just checked the zoo's animal list and the breeding programmes list on their website, and both have removed the radiated tortoise - the species has unequivocally left the collection.
Click to expand...
My only thought with this is that maybe it went to Bristol to be with a group of them, I know there in the new tropical house and radiated tortoise weren’t kept at the old zoo site
 
The animal list on the zoo's website has been updated, and another species has been removed - the yellow-banded poison-dart frog. Not too surprising, as there has only been a single one for quite some time and I haven't seen it since probably the start of 2025 at least.
 
Nisha said:
Tayo has moved to Safari Madrid
Click to expand...
It must be ... that pretty soonish 1 and if bonus 1+1 white rhino should calve..., as why else move young subadult/juvenile male Tayo on now?

Safari Madrid maintains a bachelor group of white rhino. I do believe they already have 3 on site from other zoos around (Continental) Europe.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
It must be ... that pretty soonish 1 and if bonus 1+1 white rhino should calve..., as why else move young subadult/juvenile male Tayo on now?

Safari Madrid maintains a bachelor group of white rhino. I do believe they already have 3 on site from other zoos around (Continental) Europe.
Click to expand...

Colchester don't presently have a breeding male (Otto died sometime ago). So presumably they are moving Tayo now before a new adult male arrives.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top