Chester Zoo Questions/comments about Chester Zoo

P

Pertinax

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
BongoRob or Hornbill (or anyone else);
a few questions from my recent Chester visit- a really good day.

1. There seems to be no male Brow-antlered deer at present.
Did the male die recently? Presumably if so it will be replaced from the batchelor group at Knowsley.

2. I saw only one Phillipine deer exhibit- behind the Asian rhino's house. This had only three animals; male/female and baby. Where are the others kept?

3. Hornbill- is 'Writhed- billed' Hornbill where you got your name from, or is Writhed Hornbill still yet another species? (I did see most of the others)

4. Do you know why Tarictic Hornbills have their name?

5.I saw the Timor Sparrows in the Red Ape building(only 7 now) Very smart and have the same(or similar) call to Java Sparrow's.

6. Rhinos- I saw Rosie briefly, not Quinto at all. Is that rhino building shut to the public nowdays? They have changed the paddock layout too since my last visit.

7. The little creature in the case in the Okapi house does look like a gerbil- maybe he's just a space filler?

8. What had happened to the Lion cub? Being handraised, or died? Both parents were out together, no sign of cub.

9. Tiger enclosure much improved since my last visit. Now its only the Lion one which needs a makeover....
 
There is another group of Philippine deer visible from the monorail. They are kept behind the old lechwe exhibit, and are off show. There is a picture of them on the gallery.

The old building is shut to the public. In 2006, Rosie was kept in the purpose built off show rhino house, so was quinto, I think he's still off show. Where did you see rosie?

The writhed hornbill is also known as the mindanao writhe billed hornbill, the writhed billed hornbill, the white headed hornbill and as the mindanao wrinkled hornbill. Writhedhornbill is the name that most sites use nowadays.

The tarictic hornbills are named because of their call.

The lion cub is being hand raised.

What did you think of the new exhibits, like the elephants, Orangs, Okapi and Islands in Danger?
 
Thanks Hornbill....:)

So I actually saw your Writhed(Writhe-billed) Hornbills in the tropical house.

I've commented on the Orangutan house in the thread- 'Realm v.Gorilla Kingdom'.

Didn't use the Monorail hence I never saw the other Phillipine Deer group.

Islands in Danger I've seen before. There is a new male Dragon. The Okapi House is new. It is fine. I liked the outdoor enclosures for them. Nearby were your Visayan Warty Pigs which I liked too...

Rhinos-it could have been the other Czech female Ema I saw.. She was in the paddock which Rosie used to be in and was let into that (closed) building- the original Rhino House. I presumed it was Rosie(from her size- as she is small for an adult) I saw one(probably male) rhino in the offshow paddock too.

Any idea what happened to the male Brow-antlered deer? That group has grown a lot since my last visit- I counted 14 now, up from three or four previously. The lion-tailed macaque group is doing well too.
 
Writhedhornbill said:
The tarictic hornbills are named because of their call.
Click to expand...

Yes, I was just checking if you knew... ;) (I didn't until now)

I believe there are four species from different islands in the Phillipines, plus a fifth species on Sulawesi? I saw the male Sulawesi one in the Whipsnade Bird garden, and photo'd it for you- however it may take a while to upload.... He's a very attractive bird with a sulphur yellow face..

I also saw one Tartictic hornbill in Bristol's bird house. Not sure what species that was.

Elephants- the new house looks good. Very spacious. There are some funny things happening with their elephants though. See my post about this on the ' Is Birma pregnant' thread....
 
grantsmb said:
BongoRob or Hornbill (or anyone else);
a few questions from my recent Chester visit- a really good day.

1. There seems to be no male Brow-antlered deer at present.
Did the male die recently? Presumably if so it will be replaced from the batchelor group at Knowsley.

...
Click to expand...

I'm not sure but I think I heard they were being phased out, is that correct? I may be thinking of the Axis Deer (Chital) which as far as I know have already gone from the Asian Paddock since the Rhino's introduction. I seem to think, however that the same was going to happen to the Brow-Antlered and the Rhino would share with blackbuck and maybe one other asian gazelle (probably Chinkara if they could get them). This option maybe to reduce the compaction and general destruction of the grass which would come about from two largish deer herds and a pair of rhinos.

Sorry to keep going on about this, but was the crocodile situation the same as usual with a number of African Dwarf being kept in the old alligator enclosure at the end?

Was the addax paddock still empty and very grassy?

What was in the round pen near the grey kangaroos? Am I right in thinking the Banded Mongoose were replaced by Yellow?

Has any work started on the aquarium?
 
Philippine Spotted Deer. Spare males are in a small pen adjacent to the ostrich enclosure, on the north side, it's opposite the waterfowl hide, but it's easy to miss.

The gerbil-like rodent in the okapi house is probably an Arvicanthis. I'm not certain. I posted a photo and aksed if anyone could identify it, but no one has.

The neighbouring exhibit should have had Mesic Four-striped Grass Mice in it. Despite the house now being open for around 18 months the rodents have not been labelled. Many visitors are convinced they've seen shrews.

One of the Timor Sparrows died.

The lion cub is being hand-reared. Previous hand-reared lion cubs were exhibited in the cat house or old wolverine enclosure. Since neither exists now, it's a mystery where this one will go.

Yellow Mongoose replaced the Banded Mongoose near the kangaroos. The other Banded Mongoose are still with the warthogs.
 
Just looked again at my mystery picture and ZooGiraffe says it is a Kenyan Black Spiny Mouse. Many thanks to him.
 
The female at Bristol is a Hybrid taricitc hornbill. She's quite old now, and Bristol may get some of the Pure bred visayan tarictic hornbills soon.

The 5 Penelelopides species are:

Mindanao taricitc
Mindoro tarictic
Luzon Taricitc
Sulawesi taricitc
Visayan Taricitc

Only the Visayan (at Chester and soon avifauna), Samar (( Walsrode)previously held+ bred at San Diego), Polillo ( a subspecies of Luzon hornbill, there is a pair at Frankfurt zoo) and the Sulawesi(Kept at Three U.S zoos, London, Whipsnade and Walsrode) are held in Captivity outside their home countries.

The others are Hybrids, eg. Bristol and Chester's females and the pair at jerusalem zoo. The only exception may be the Female at London(who looks very much like a female samar taricit hornbill) and Alfred, the old male at Chester(who no-one really knows what subspecies he is!)
 
bongorob said:
Philippine Spotted Deer. Spare males are in a small pen adjacent to the ostrich enclosure, on the north side, it's opposite the waterfowl hide, but it's easy to miss.
Click to expand...

Does that mean there are three groups? Otherwise there is only a breeding pair + fawn- the ones I saw- near the ASian rhino's house.
 
Yes, I've just done some reasearch, and Berlin's Tarictic hornbill looks like a male Luzon taricitc hornbill, and Jerusalem have Samar Tarictic hornbills, which are a subspecies of the mindanao taricitc.
 
^Chris^ said:
I seem to think, however that the same was going to happen to the Brow-Antlered and the Rhino would share with blackbuck and maybe one other asian gazelle (probably Chinkara if they could get them). This option maybe to reduce the compaction and general destruction of the grass which would come about from two largish deer herds and a pair of rhinos.
Click to expand...

Okay, that makes some sense. I noticed the paddock was already heavily grazed and it will get worse. My guess in that case is the Brow antlered Stag has been seperated or removed to prevent another crop of fawns next year..

I hope they don't 'phase them out' as they're a very attractive species. I suppose if they stayed elsewhere in UK it would be okay but I think Chester should concentrate on them. Perhaps simply move them? I'd like to see a BIG herd of them somewhere e.g. a hundred animals...

I hope Bongorob can answer your other questions. Even in six hours I didn't take in everything and I'm not a 'regular' to Chester...
 
grantsmb said:
Does that mean there are three groups? Otherwise there is only a breeding pair + fawn- the ones I saw- near the ASian rhino's house.
Click to expand...

There were three groups of Philippines Spotted Deer about four weeks ago. The bachelor group is near to the gemsbok and waterfowl. The ones grant merntions seeing are north of the Twilight Zone building, and the main group as Hornbill posted are offshow. Their enclosure is behind the anoa island and as he says the best view is from the monorail.

I don't know anything concerning the Brow-antlered Deer. They could be placed in the area where the addax should have gone. Axis Deer left Chester several years ago.

The zoo have looked at exhibiting two species of Asian gazelles, so Chinkara may be coming. I only heard about Bennett's and Goitred, neither of which they have yet.
 
bongorob said:
There were three groups of Philippines Spotted Deer about four weeks ago. I don't know anything concerning the Brow-antlered Deer. They could be placed in the area where the addax should have gone. Axis Deer left Chester several years ago.
Click to expand...

Anyone know how many Phillipine Deer are in; a. the main group. b. the male group. or c. the total?

I imagine the Brow-antlered deer will be moved sometime soon. The paddock is looking 'poached' and overgrazed and the Rhino(s) will churn it up more too.

I hope they simply move the Brow- antlered but keep breeding them as they are rare. I wouldn't like to see them 'phased out'.
 
like someone sugested moving the Brow Antlered Deer to the old Lechwe enclsoure along with the Blackbuck would be better than keeping thwm with the rhinos.
 
ZooMania said:
like someone sugested moving the Brow Antlered Deer to the old Lechwe enclsoure along with the Blackbuck would be better than keeping thwm with the rhinos.
Click to expand...
As far as i`m aware their is no plan to get rid of the Brow-antlered Deer and i don`t think moving them to the old Lechwe paddock,as that would mean moving them to the giraffe section from rhino section,and finally when they get the planning application sorted their is a bridge going in over their from back of twilight zone to somewhere round that area,the reason for the delay is that someone forgot to put the notice up along the bridleway that runs down the middle of the zoo!
 
A bridge has been proposed in that location since 1968. Let's hope it is built this time, the other bridge can get quite crowded.
 
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