Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoological Gardens in 2013

Joao settling in

Latest news from DZG's website is that male Sumatran tiger, Joao, is settling in well. He and Daseep can now see each other through the internal enclosures and there has been some vocalisation between them. The Zoo expects that he will be ready to explore the outside "sometime in the coming weeks".
 
Managed to see him today. He's not on display but you can just about see him though the wooden fence. He's a big boy, and very noisy. I hope they get along well.

Jill seems to like the extension to the aviary, she was up as high as she could get and was very chatty.

The reindeer are mating, or trying. The attempt I saw was interrupted by yearling trying to join in. Lots of pee sniffing too.

The reptile house is still half empty, and they have gutted the gift shop.
 
Visit 23/11/2013:

Work is going on at the far end of the zoo car park which, according to a keeper, is being resurfaced and eventually linked to the Black Country Living Museum to form a new entrance.

The gift shop is still down to its bare bones, so we had to use the old entrance that also had scaffolding around it.

Inca was curled up in a ball, in a self-dug hollow.

Daseep (Sumatran Tiger) was very active around the enclosure, and I managed to get a peak at Joao (who looks very impressive) through a small gap in the fence.

The new male Lion Mwamba was very vocal throughout and has seemed to have picked his favourite female.

Several displays in the reptile house were empty with a sign explaining they were due for renovation.

The porcupine enclosure in the tropical house has been dug up to expose the large, old Koi pond underneath. A keeper explained that the koi were being moved into it while the other pools are repaired. He also said the koi may end up staying in there, with a new animal to occupy the land area.
 
Benosaurus said:
The porcupine enclosure in the tropical house has been dug up to expose the large, old Koi pond underneath. A keeper explained that the koi were being moved into it while the other pools are repaired. He also said the koi may end up staying in there, with a new animal to occupy the land area.
Click to expand...

Actually the enclosure was buit to house a group of Nile Crocodiles,when these left it housed Asian Short-clwaed Otter and then was used to house the Koi for a short time until,it became used for the porcupines.
 
zoogiraffe said:
Actually the enclosure was buit to house a group of Nile Crocodiles,when these left it housed Asian Short-clwaed Otter and then was used to house the Koi for a short time until,it became used for the porcupines.
Click to expand...


I'm probably not old enough to remember the Nile Crocodiles. (What year were they?)

From my earliest recollection the pool enclosure held; Koi (for many years) -> Asian Short-Clawed Otter (when the building was redesigned as Monkey Tails) -> then Porcupines.
 
Benosaurus said:
I'm probably not old enough to remember the Nile Crocodiles. (What year were they?)

From my earliest recollection the pool enclosure held; Koi (for many years) -> Asian Short-Clawed Otter (when the building was redesigned as Monkey Tails) -> then Porcupines.
Click to expand...
It was when the building was still called the Geochrom and long before they converted part of the building to house the Chimp's.
 
lamna said:
Managed to see him today. He's not on display but you can just about see him though the wooden fence. He's a big boy, and very noisy. I hope they get along well.

Jill seems to like the extension to the aviary, she was up as high as she could get and was very chatty.

The reindeer are mating, or trying. The attempt I saw was interrupted by yearling trying to join in. Lots of pee sniffing too.

The reptile house is still half empty, and they have gutted the gift shop.
Click to expand...

yeah i saw joao a few days ago and took some pics and video through the fence gap, they have since put boards around so you cannot see him, i think he's become less vocal as a result, he will be given supervised contact with daseep in the coming weeks

work to the new entrance from the car park is underway, if it ends up like the artist sketch it will be impressive
 
Roul roul

A female roul roul has relocated to DZG from Chester Zoo to form a breeding pair with the male, who moved to Dudley midsummer.

Both birds are currently in off-show heated aviaries for the winter months, but will return to their outdoor aviary in springtime. The female is in an adjacent enclosure to the male while she undergoes her 30 day quarantine period, but they can see and hear each other.
 
Daseep and Joao

The two Sumatran tigers have met in the open air enclosure for the first time. Apparently, the introduction went very well and the two have been exploring the external den together. They will remain off show until early next week to ensure that Joao is confident in his new surroundings before he is introduced to the general public.
 
Joao's public debut

The BBC's "Midlands Today" programme at 6:30pm this evening showed footage of Joao and Daseep together in the tecton enclosure. He certainly is a beautiful cat and they appear to be getting on well together.
 
Angel said:
The BBC's "Midlands Today" programme at 6:30pm this evening showed footage of Joao and Daseep together in the tecton enclosure. He certainly is a beautiful cat and they appear to be getting on well together.
Click to expand...

He looked very thickset and huge next to Daseep. He's not even fully grown.

The news reporters were yet again pronouncing his name as 'Joe' -not sure if this is correct.
 
Angel said:
The BBC's "Midlands Today" programme at 6:30pm this evening showed footage of Joao and Daseep together in the tecton enclosure. He certainly is a beautiful cat and they appear to be getting on well together.
Click to expand...

I missed the program as I was on my way back from college interview, does anybody have a link to the episode?
 
Ring tailed lemur twins

News on the Zoo's website today that twin ring-tailed lemurs were born on 19 November and can be seen with their mum, Phoebe, in the small primate house.
 
Went today, there were an encouraging number of visitors, especially for a chilly January day.

Building work is ongoing on the gift shop/entrance, along with the new joint entrance with the Black Country Living Museum.

In Monkey Tails the porcupine exhibit is being renovated, the earth and barkchips have been cleared out of the old pool and it looks like they will be filling it up again.

Joao and Daseep seem to be getting along ok. No affection but neither seemed to be bothered by the other and Joao seems to have settled in nicely.

Both giraffes look to be heavily pregnant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top