Hamerton Zoo Park Hamerton Zoo News 2025

TeaLovingDave said:
It amuses me that on one hand, people constantly speculate about future developments at Hamerton, yet on the other hand when a *very* interesting piece of information is officially released via the Zoo Grapevine magazine a month or so ago, no one at all seems to notice or remark upon it because their eyes overlook the details and assume it's the same information they already knew :rolleyes::D
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Is this in reference to the import of 4.4 aardwolf? I was surprised too that it has been discussed in more depth!
 
Al said:
Is this in reference to the import of 4.4 aardwolf? I was surprised too that it has been discussed in more depth!
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Indeed - people already knew from social media posts that aardwolf had arrived, and therefore didn't pay attention to the numbers cited when Zoo Grapevine reported on the matter. :rolleyes::D
 
TeaLovingDave said:
It amuses me that on one hand, people constantly speculate about future developments at Hamerton, yet on the other hand when a *very* interesting piece of information is officially released via the Zoo Grapevine magazine a month or so ago, no one at all seems to notice or remark upon it because their eyes overlook the details and assume it's the same information they already knew :rolleyes::D
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Now I’ve got to dig out that Zoo Grapevine and look it up!:)
 
Was at Hamerton this afternoon.
Saw 2 aardwolves , one active, one asleep in the shade
Mother brown hyaena brought a baby out 3 times in the space of 10 minutes. Each time it made a screech in the House and as soon as she put it down it shot back inside.
Very hot today, a lot of no shows, but oncilla and slender mongoose were active
 
Prochilodus246 said:
I don't suppose someone could please remind me of the subspecies of Binturong that Hamerton keep beside the Black-backed Jackals? :)
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I’m pretty sure a group of Javan binturong are located beside the Black-Backed Jackal enclosure but I could be wrong as I haven’t been to Hamerton in quite a bit.
 
According to zootierliste they have both Malayan binturong, Arctictis binturong binturong (RAFFLES, 1822) and North-Sumatran binturong, Arctictis binturong niasensis
(LYON, 1916). I don't know where the other binturongs would be kept.
 
JonWild said:
I’m pretty sure a group of Javan binturong are located beside the Black-Backed Jackal enclosure but I could be wrong as I haven’t been to Hamerton in quite a bit.
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Perseus6 said:
According to zootierliste they have both Malayan binturong, Arctictis binturong binturong (RAFFLES, 1822) and North-Sumatran binturong, Arctictis binturong niasensis
(LYON, 1916). I don't know where the other binturongs would be kept.
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The situation as I understand it is as follows:

  • Hamerton had generic "zoomix" binturongs for some time - the last of these died recently.
  • The zoo imported what they were informed were Javan Binturong several years ago - however it ultimately turned out that they came from southern Sumatra, a population officially still classified as nominate but unofficially known from genetics and morphology to be a distinct subspecies requiring a split.
  • Pending this split the Hamerton binturongs have been listed on ZTL as nominate, and last I heard are now the only binturongs at the zoo.
As such I think (given the lack of reference and/or source) that the ZTL entry for niasensis was added by someone who had heard the above and assumed this was the same taxon as the undescribed clade, and that the entry refers to the exact same animals as the nominate entry. I'd be surprised if the undescribed clade *has* been identified as niasensis given the fact Nias Island is in northern Sumatra, but I couldn't rule it out.
 
Sorry to interrupt the thread, but are the black-backed jackals at Hamerton of any subspecific status? According to Zootierliste they imported a pair of nominates in 2023 from South Africa, but then both southern and non subspecific are listed?
 
Dr. Loxodonta said:
Sorry to interrupt the thread, but are the black-backed jackals at Hamerton of any subspecific status? According to Zootierliste they imported a pair of nominates in 2023 from South Africa, but then both southern and non subspecific are listed?
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Again, this is a good example of why the reliability of ZTL entries should be taken with a pinch of salt.

The zoo *did* import nominate stock from South Africa recently, and the animals in question were added to ZTL under the correct identification. However, the jackals which the zoo imported in the late 1990s (and which have dwindled in number in recent years) were *also* nominate animals from South Africa - I believe they arrived around the same time as the original Southern Aardwolf import, in fact! Unfortunately, when they were added to ZTL the editor responsible jumped to conclusions and added them onto the site as non-subspecific, something which has never been corrected (despite requests for the superfluous entry to be deleted).

I'm not at all sure whether the last animal from the original population is still alive - she is very old and has been located in a semi-offshow paddock behind one of the tiger exhibits for many years now - but given the above, she is the same subspecies as the new stock in any case!
 
I received my new Hamerton Zoo guide today, a few points to note:
  • The short-beaked echidna which arrived in 2020, were listed in the previous guidebook as 0,2. In the newest guidebook, it appears they are now listed as 2,0.
  • As mentioned in the thread elsewhere, Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) are due to arrive in 2025 from Belgium and Estonian collections. These will be housed between the Tiger Falls exhibit and the Bear Meadow exhibit.
  • 2,0 Lesser spot-nosed guenon arrived in 2024, let's hope their arrival will increase the numbers at Hamerton.
  • There is just a single Northern swamp wallaby at the collection now.
  • A second brown hyaena enclosure looks set to be opened, this one is situated near the Bear Meadow exhibit - presumably holding the youngsters born to the adult pair in their first litter.
 
We went 2 days ago and managed to see all 4 Aardwolves. The little ones were a little bit playful and lying around, they are adorable.

It was a very quiet day, with not many animals being active, but it was quite hot, so you really can't blame them.

We also saw the latest Binturong baby, oh my! So active and very playfull.

I'm sure there was only 2 Lesser spot-nosed Guenon on our last a few months back, but there were 3 now.

The Macaque enclosure seems to be coming along nicely, lots of climbing structures and the fencing/electric wires are all up.
Though, looking at what Hamerton mainly specializes in, are they a good fit for this place? (I'm not much of an expert off course)

I've lost the name now, but some Pigeon species from Australia have now also moved into the enclosure with the Roadrunner and Tawny Frogmouths, they used to be more up front near the Pudu.

Didn't spot the latest Dik Dik addition, only ever saw 2 on this visit, and once again, for the 30th+ time, no sighting of the little Ringtail Pussum. It's the only animal we've never managed to see.

You now also enter & exit via the gift shop, which looks a lot nicer then before, and the play area has had a good update with a whole new play/climbing/slide structure on it.

They have a new guide book with the Golden Possums on the cover, and it's quite different from the previous 2 books (which are quite identical) and I believe they had a new year review? Not sure, but it had the Cheetah cubs on it, and by looking at the pages inside, looked the same as the one I got last year.
 
Moorhunhe said:
We went 2 days ago and managed to see all 4 Aardwolves. The little ones were a little bit playful and lying around, they are adorable.

It was a very quiet day, with not many animals being active, but it was quite hot, so you really can't blame them.

We also saw the latest Binturong baby, oh my! So active and very playfull.

I'm sure there was only 2 Lesser spot-nosed Guenon on our last a few months back, but there were 3 now.

The Macaque enclosure seems to be coming along nicely, lots of climbing structures and the fencing/electric wires are all up.
Though, looking at what Hamerton mainly specializes in, are they a good fit for this place? (I'm not much of an expert off course)

I've lost the name now, but some Pigeon species from Australia have now also moved into the enclosure with the Roadrunner and Tawny Frogmouths, they used to be more up front near the Pudu.

Didn't spot the latest Dik Dik addition, only ever saw 2 on this visit, and once again, for the 30th+ time, no sighting of the little Ringtail Pussum. It's the only animal we've never managed to see.

You now also enter & exit via the gift shop, which looks a lot nicer then before, and the play area has had a good update with a whole new play/climbing/slide structure on it.

They have a new guide book with the Golden Possums on the cover, and it's quite different from the previous 2 books (which are quite identical) and I believe they had a new year review? Not sure, but it had the Cheetah cubs on it, and by looking at the pages inside, looked the same as the one I got last year.
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Couple of comments -
I've just checked the two previous guide books - wombat, and white-bearded civet and they were not at all identical, though they are certainly of similar format and look to have been designed by the same people.
So far as I know they have only done one recent 'review' in 2023, which was very interesting. They may of course still have it available.
Why would Japanese macaques not be a 'good fit'? The area concerned is large and that section of the zoo could do with a group of cheeky, busy (and hardy!) monkeys, of a species rarely seen - and likely to be less so if they are being phased out elsewhere. Seems like quite a good fit to me.
 
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ZooNews2024 said:
Couple of comments - I've just checked the two previous guide books - wombat, and white-bearded civet and they were not identical, though they are certainly of similar format and have been designed by the same people.civet.
Why would Japanese macaques not be a 'good fit'? The area is large and that section of the zoo could do with a group of cheeky, busy (and hardy!) monkeys, of a species rarely seen and likely to be less so if they are being phased out elsewhere. Seem like quite a good fit to me.
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I wonder, do you know how many macaques are coming in and what the sex ratio will be?
 
ZooNews2024 said:
Couple of comments -
I've just checked the two previous guide books - wombat, and white-bearded civet and they were not identical, though they are certainly of similar format and have been designed by the same people.civet.
So far as I know they have only done one recent 'review' in 2023, which was very interesting. They may of course still have it available.
Why would Japanese macaques not be a 'good fit'? The area concerned is large and that section of the zoo could do with a group of cheeky, busy (and hardy!) monkeys, of a species rarely seen - and likely to be less so if they are being phased out elsewhere. Seem like quite a good fit to me.
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On my visit last month, they still had the 2023 reviews on sale.
 
TNT said:
I wonder, do you know how many macaques are coming in and what the sex ratio will be?
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Sorry, no.
The guide-book say Estonia and Belgium, but I dont know if that is still the plan.
Books are inevitably a 'snap-sot' in time, and might be out-of-date in some areas before they even come off the press - especially if the collection is large with lots going on.
 
ZooNews2024 said:
So far as I know they have only done one recent 'review' in 2023, which was very interesting. They may of course still have it available.
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Good to know - although I long-since obtained a copy for my personal collection I intend to obtain another for the Bartlett Society archive when I visit in a week or two.
 
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