Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo news 2012 #1

TeaLovingDave

TeaLovingDave

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A new thread for the New Year, for the discussion of everything that happens at Edinburgh Zoo in the coming months - and with a new thread comes a new arrival at the zoo: the Facebook page has confirmed that a Pygmy Hippo calf was born on New Years Eve, and has been appropriately named Eve. The calf is already onshow, and photographs have been uploaded by the Edinburgh Zoo Facebook team.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150504656787243.390316.352975967242&type=1

This is, I believe, the third calf born to the current breeding pair?
 
I think its only the second calf to have been born to this pair... cannot wait to go see it... they are always at there cutiest when they are tiny
 
Brilliant, last time she was separate from Otto a few weeks before she had Leishan so why were the pair together on the 28th?

Still brilliant news.:D
 
Went today after being turned away yesterday due to the high winds and subsequent closure. The staff were really good about getting us a 'new' slot to see the Pandas. We were very lucky as the male was extremely active the whole time we were there. I think the exhibit is good. The zoo deserves credit for the theming, walkways and staff training given to the educators. As nearly all the visitors went straight to the Panda area we were able to have Budongo, Brilliant Birds and Magic Forest to ourselves - very privileged! I'm disappointed about not seeing the Golden Cats, Polecats or the Cock-of-the-Rock male.
I'm pretty upset that the Drills are still in that 1950's CAGE (not an 'exhibit').
Overall, considering the weather and the hype, a very rewarding and enjoyable visit. p.s. how cool are the Luzon Cloud Rats and Cus Cus?
 
TriGB said:
I'm disappointed about not seeing the Golden Cats, Polecats or the Cock-of-the-Rock male.
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Does this mean that the cock-of-the-rock are on display, if so whereabouts are they?

Well said about the drills too, totally agree.
 
TriGB said:
I'm pretty upset that the Drills are still in that 1950's CAGE (not an 'exhibit').
Click to expand...

Well hopefully if they make enough money from the pandas they will be able to improve the areas of the zoo that need upgrading.
 
Does anyone know what is happening with the duck ponds at the zoo, i believe, they are being refurbished?
 
TriGB said:
Went today after being turned away yesterday due to the high winds and subsequent closure. The staff were really good about getting us a 'new' slot to see the Pandas. We were very lucky as the male was extremely active the whole time we were there. I think the exhibit is good. The zoo deserves credit for the theming, walkways and staff training given to the educators. As nearly all the visitors went straight to the Panda area we were able to have Budongo, Brilliant Birds and Magic Forest to ourselves - very privileged! I'm disappointed about not seeing the Golden Cats, Polecats or the Cock-of-the-Rock male.
I'm pretty upset that the Drills are still in that 1950's CAGE (not an 'exhibit').
Overall, considering the weather and the hype, a very rewarding and enjoyable visit. p.s. how cool are the Luzon Cloud Rats and Cus Cus?
Click to expand...

You've got to time it well with the golden cats, I saw two towards the end of the day which is probably the best time to see them as they had just been fed.
 
TriGB said:
I'm pretty upset that the Drills are still in that 1950's CAGE (not an 'exhibit').
Overall, considering the weather and the hype, a very rewarding and enjoyable visit. p.s. how cool are the Luzon Cloud Rats and Cus Cus
Click to expand...

The external aesthetics may be 1950s, but the layout and internal layout of the enclosure(I'm not fond of 'exhibit') seems to suit the animals, they seem happy and are breeding - surely a sign of good husbandry in such species.

Incidentally, another move I've not seen noted is that the Binturongs are now housed in the enclosure above and next to the old Red River Hog one (They are now in the old Bush Dog one) - when we were there, the binturongs were sleeping, but they were in plain view in the internal exhibit.
 
In what way does spending nearly £43,000 benefit the giant pandas or the well being of any other animal in the zoo for that matter? £43,000 for a "welcome party", The Scottish government previously stated that no public money whatsoever would be spent on the giant panda venture, this would come from commercial sponsorship, which is now apparent that this amounts to the round sum of zero.The sea lions, or shall I just now say sea lion however are living in sub standard accommodation, as well as some of the cats, not to worry, crack open the champagne to wet the pandas heads at the expense of the honest tax payer.
 
Im sorry but you are both believing the word of a group who are actively against Zoos? We dont know how much has been spend on the pandas really...we dont know how much the government have spent.. or how much the zoo has spent... but what i do know is the zoo is the busiest i have ever seen...and that will only increase in the summer... so exactly WHY is that a bad thing for the zoo and the other animals? The zoo making money so it can be put back into upgrading other animal enclosures is bad? Not only is it good for the Zoo but for Scottish tourism in general... I lost count of the different languages that I heard at the zoo recently.

Sorry for the rant... just alittle annoyed ( and just back from a girls night out with a tad to much to drink...lol) that when a zoo is taking a risk or attempting to encourage people to attend a zoo... we seem to be constantly pulling them back down. Everyone is well aware at the zoo there are enclosures needing upgraded and hopefully with the arrival of the black and white friends they will have the money to make those changes
 
I could not care less about the cost of that party ... as long as the arrival of the giant pands provides a conservation message, raises the profile and financial standings of the Edinburgh Zoo, it is fine by me.

This ... is just another piece of nasty journalism a certain segment of Scottish paper(zzz) are prone to publish or should I say dare print with their predisposed disliking of any zoo. It is mere jingoistic, puerile, self placating anti-zoo blah die blah just to fill a bloody paper!

Back to the news: did a new L'Hoest or new Hamlyn male arrive in January? The website is a bit cloudy on it naming it L'Hoest on the site and Hamlyn in the intro on the newsletter.
 
Whew... glad its not just me that thought that about the journalism :)

Yeah i noticed that about the L'Hoest/Hamlyn... i am going on Thursday so i will have a look or ask around :)
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I could not care less about the cost of that party ... as long as the arrival of the giant pands provides a conservation message, raises the profile and financial standings of the Edinburgh Zoo, it is fine by me.

This ... is just another piece of nasty journalism a certain segment of Scottish paper(zzz) are prone to publish or should I say dare print with their predisposed disliking of any zoo. It is mere jingoistic, puerile, self placating anti-zoo blah die blah just to fill a bloody paper!

Back to the news: did a new L'Hoest or new Hamlyn male arrive in January? The website is a bit cloudy on it naming it L'Hoest on the site and Hamlyn in the intro on the newsletter.
Click to expand...

I think it would be prudent to remember that not everyone is so keen on zoos as us, things are financially tough here in the U.K.at the moment and I can appreciate any tax payer questioning the £43,000 cost of a welcoming party for the giant pandas, how many working hours for a nurse or a police officer would this amount pay for? Just another nasty piece of journalism?, well if that is the case Edinburgh certainly seams to get more than its fair share of that!, how come in recent times the likes of Chester, London or Jersey do not appear to get such a bad press?, is it not just another case of the truth hurting certain people and Edinburgh Zoo yet again being caught with its pants down?
 
TARZAN said:
I think it would be prudent to remember that not everyone is so keen on zoos as us, things are financially tough here in the U.K.at the moment and I can appreciate any tax payer questioning the £43,000 cost of a welcoming party for the giant pandas, how many working hours for a nurse or a police officer would this amount pay for?
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And the cost of the Olympics/Wayne Rooney's salary/the cost of the average Ferrari or three-bedroom suburban semi (or, say, CAPS' annual budget) would pay for hundreds of hours too - but it won't, because that isnt the NHS/Home Office's money. I'm afraid that's how the world works.

I think it's safe to assume the zoo have spent that money in order to generate interest and sponsorship to bring in more money in return. That's how a business works, and how a charity works. If they've judged wrongly in this case, I'm sure we'll find out in due course.
 
Clouded Leopard said:
Well, they should be sensible to spend money on Drill enclosure that needs a big improvement instead of throwing a "welcome party".


Row over pandas' giant welcome party | World news | guardian.co.uk
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I agree it is probably not a good use of the money but this has nothing to do with the zoo. It was not their money being used. The article states it was a gift from the government. Don't blame to the zoo blame the government. I am pretty sure they didn't go to the zoo and say we have £43,000, would you like it to improve the enclosure of other animals or have a welcome party for your pandas?

The fact is the government will have been thinking that by throwing a welcome party for the pandas then the publicity will lead to an increase in tourism.
 
Maguari said:
And the cost of the Olympics/Wayne Rooney's salary/the cost of the average Ferrari or three-bedroom suburban semi (or, say, CAPS' annual budget) would pay for hundreds of hours too - but it won't, because that isnt the NHS/Home Office's money. I'm afraid that's how the world works.

I think it's safe to assume the zoo have spent that money in order to generate interest and sponsorship to bring in more money in return. That's how a business works, and how a charity works. If they've judged wrongly in this case, I'm sure we'll find out in due course.
Click to expand...

well said maguari. it is my pet hate to hear people moaning about any few quid spent on animal welfare or promotion, when so much money is being spent on spoilt footballers, bankers bonus's, political junkets and so on. last year in ireland 100 grand or so was spent on necessary research (eec directive) into amphibian numbers/disease etc. and there was a huge negative media led furore re nurses/police and their lack of uniforms/overtime and so on, and this in a country that was wrecked by the greed and excess of bankers, developers and so on.
 
dublinlion said:
well said maguari. it is my pet hate to hear people moaning about any few quid spent on animal welfare or promotion, when so much money is being spent on spoilt footballers, bankers bonus's, political junkets and so on. last year in ireland 100 grand or so was spent on necessary research (eec directive) into amphibian numbers/disease etc. and there was a huge negative media led furore re nurses/police and their lack of uniforms/overtime and so on, and this in a country that was wrecked by the greed and excess of bankers, developers and so on.
Click to expand...

But this isn't a "few quid" being spent on animal welfare or promotion, if it was I would certainly be in favour of that, but it was money spent on a party. Also the money spent on amphibian research, I do not disagree with this, it is money being spent which will hopefully benefit the animals concerned, not just to waste on some champagne bash for a privileged few, who I would suggest many would have no real interest in the giant pandas or the zoo, more interested in stuffing themselves and getting drunk at the expense of the tax payer.
 
If you are that worried then tax the rich .. (but then you just got the wrong government there)! :cool:

Can we get back on some real news now?!

Malayan tapir born!
Pygmy hippo born!

et cetera.
 
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