Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoological Gardens in 2016

The following is taken from the summer 2016 edition of the members 'ZooNooz' magazine.

The info only covers December 2015 to May 2016, so is not fully up to date (a lot has happened since), but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Notable arrivals from other collections:
0.0.12 Green and black poison dart frog
1.0 Savanna monitor
1.1 Black swan
0.1 Mellor's duck
1.0 White faced scops owl
0.1 Bali Mynah
1.0 Crested turaco
18 Australian rainbow lorikeet *
1.0 Black and white ruffed lemur
1.0 Reindeer

Notable departures to other collections:
1.0 Eastern pygmy marmoset
1.0 White faced saki
8.0 Black rat
1.0 South American tapir
3.3 Barbary sheep

Notable deaths:
0.1 Tokay gecko
1.2 Reeve's pheasant
1.0 Ringed teal
0.1 Hamerkop
0.0.1 Parma wallaby
1.0 Carpathian lynx **
0.0.1 Short clawed otter
0.1 Giraffe ***
1.2 Barbary sheep

Notable births:
0.1 Parma wallaby
0.0.2 Pygmy marmoset
0.2 Pygmy goat

* Not sure if they mean 18 or if there's supposed to be a '.' in there somewhere.
** This was a surprise to me. Was it a kitten or an adult?
*** Hybrid adult.
 
Benosaurus said:
The following is taken from the summer 2016 edition of the members 'ZooNooz' magazine. The info only covers December 2015 to May 2016, so is not fully up to date (a lot has happened since), but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Notable deaths:
1.0 Carpathian lynx **
** This was a surprise to me. Was it a kitten or an adult?
Click to expand...

I'd not heard this reported either. The three kittens from the first litter left in August and October 2015 so it couldn't have been any of them. There were announcements in the website News that the adult female celebrated her 6th birthday on 6th May 2016 and the adult male celebrated his 5th birthday on 29th May 2016 so, given the period covered by the magazine, think it's unlikely to be the female and almost certainly not the male. That leaves the two male cubs that were born in May 2015 - both of which were still alive in February 2016.
 
Angel said:
I'd not heard this reported either. The three kittens from the first litter left in August and October 2015 so it couldn't have been any of them. There were announcements in the website News that the adult female celebrated her 6th birthday on 6th May 2016 and the adult male celebrated his 5th birthday on 29th May 2016 so, given the period covered by the magazine, think it's unlikely to be the female and almost certainly not the male. That leaves the two male cubs that were born in May 2015 - both of which were still alive in February 2016.
Click to expand...

'1.0' would indicate a male animal (a female would be 0.1).
 
Decided to risk a visit today in spite of the weather predictions and was very glad I did. Spent most of the visit in glorious sunshine and not too many visitors.

I had been prepared to dislike Flamingo Falls as I loved the sense of familiarity when viewing the old flamingo pool (I don't think it's changed much in all the years I've been visiting). I was very pleasantly surprised by it and by seeing the increased flamingo flock. The indoor viewing area was light and spacious and the new fencing gave the impression that I was closer to the birds outside than with the wall that was there previously. I was pleased to see that the large willow tree and gunnera had been retained.

I really liked the yellow breasted capuchins in the right hand tecton - they were making great use of the wooden ladders and walkways and it was good to see them foraging naturally in the logs and bark mulch on the floor.

No sign of Inca the elderly Asiatic bear but great to see another elderly resident - Bart, the Geoffroy's cat. A little thinner and slightly stiff in his movements since I last saw him but trotting agilely round his enclosure nonetheless.

Work on the old cassowary enclosure is progressing. The front of the enclosure has been brought forward a lot into what was the picnic area but I didn't see any sign of indoor viewing. That said, it's still very obviously a work in progress.

Saw at least 4 of the new wild dogs - or rather I saw 1 wild dog and 3 furry bodies fast asleep.

The Reptile House is looking good - but there were a couple of occupied enclosures with no signage, which I found irritating.

The old sensory garden has been completely cleared and the entrances blocked off pending redevelopment.

Unfortunately, I arrived at the red squirrel enclosure at the same time as a party of young children who were making enough noise to scare a charging rhino so, not surprisingly, the squirrels were a no show.

I quite liked Lorikeet Lookout - I got the impression that the building has had a good clean up since it was Monkey Tails as all the glass seemed to be very clean and it felt bright and fresh inside. The lorikeets were quite active and I was able to get within 3 or 4 feet of them (I was the only visitor in there at the time). The large pool (formerly the porcupine enclosure) shows off the koi carp well and, as I was leaving, I nearly tripped over 2 pairs of roul roul partridge that were foraging around.

There were a lot of new benches all around the Zoo and a couple of new picnic tables too.
 
Angel said:
No sign of Inca the elderly Asiatic bear but great to see another elderly resident - Bart, the Geoffroy's cat. A little thinner and slightly stiff in his movements since I last saw him but trotting agilely round his enclosure nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Nice to hear the old fellow is still trotting along (literally) as normal :) he is not only the oldest Geoffroy's Cat in captivity, but I believe he is now also the captive lifespan record holder! Got quite a soft spot for him.
 
How likely is it that the howler monkeys will join the capuchins in the old macaque enclosure/tecton?

Are these two species compatible in captivity?
 
Yesterday, Olomouc zoo sent young female giant anteater ROMY to Dudley zoo.
 
Giant anteater

The female giant anteater has arrived at DZG and is settling into her new enclosure.
A new species for DZG | Dudley Zoological Gardens

I was somewhat bemused to read the quote from the Zoo's Curator that:
"We’ve wanted anteaters for a long time and as a lot of visitors mistake our Brazilian tapirs for anteaters, they can actually see them now too and notice the differences." :eek: I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - I once heard a group of teenagers referring to the Malayan tapir at Chester as a giant panda :rolleyes:
 
Angel said:
I was somewhat bemused to read the quote from the Zoo's Curator that:
"We’ve wanted anteaters for a long time and as a lot of visitors mistake our Brazilian tapirs for anteaters, they can actually see them now too and notice the differences." :eek:
Click to expand...
this, bizarrely, appears to be a common mistake. At Dusit Zoo (Bangkok) the tapir sign even explains that they are not anteaters!

 
Yes, Chli can personally also confirm that Bangkok Zoo info shield.

You would be surprised how many people make this mistake and cannot even begin to know or understand evolutionary relationships between species, viz the rhino-tapir grouping! :eek:
 
"We’ve sad news about our oldest female Patagonian sealion, Cleo.

The 28 year-old, who was a favourite of keepers, died this afternoon in her sleep and will be missed by all at DZG.

The life expectancy for a captive sealion is between 20 – 25 years old.

Younger sealions Marina, Tania and Deisy remain in the moat with male Oba in the adjacent pool".


Sad news about Cleo | Dudley Zoological Gardens
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
It was posted some time ago one of the giraffe females had passed away. Any idea which one and how?
Click to expand...


I believe it was Mia born 2003 I think it was to do with a possible broken/injured leg although I could be wrong
 
Embu said:
I believe it was Mia born 2003 I think it was to do with a possible broken/injured leg although I could be wrong
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Dudley Zoo mourning the death of female giraffe, Mia (From Dudley News)

21 Dec 2015

"Dudley Zoo’s 11-year-old giraffe Mia died yesterday (Sunday) after fracturing her leg.

Zoo director Derek Grove said staff were understandably devastated by her loss, adding: “Mia had been receiving regular veterinary treatment for her legs, unfortunately the fracture was inoperable.”

Mia came to the zoo in 2011 from Norfolk and gave birth to her calf, Kito in February last year. "
 
This is my first visit in nearly 2 years so a much more than usual review will be on coming as this is my local collection, arrived around 10.10am through the new (to me and all new views are the same) this is a vast improvement on what used to be the entrance.

Just walking into the collection is now more embracing and gives the whole collection a great start to the day even the funfair appears to have had a face lift, this is now more children related and even the people running the rides are more friendly.

I am not a funfair at the zoo person especially this one but a good effort has been made to spruce it up also it was great to see the burger hut as moved and been vastly improved and moved over on to the side of the shop and entrance, but I think the zoo missed a trick by not having an exhibit where the burger hut used to be instead of the climbing frames they have installed instead.

Now onto the exhibits I was not expecting much because of the reviews some people have given it but I must admit I do like the Flamingo exhibit but the pool in the indoor part could have been better and bigger.

Now I know people have said where the Chilean Flamingos have come from but where has the single Red/American flamingo come from as they now have 2 and they have had one for quite a few years.

Now onto the Macaque indoor viewing a great idea for a part of the zoo nobody could make their minds up on what to do with it till now I am not convinced it is a great exhibit but it makes the most of the ground.

I do wonder what they could have put their instead maybe a cat species or an exhibit for Alpine Ibex now that would have been an improvement, mind you I do like the Gelada exhibit it looks much more natural then the one a little further up the hill.

I won’t bore everyone with the old exhibits that haven’t been updated since my last visit as I reviewed these on a thread earlier on zoo chat so off to the extended Tapir and Capybara exhibit this has been extended into the old Grey kangaroo enclosure this was done for breeding purposes I was told.

The Grey kangaroos have moved to the old Babirusa enclosure this was felt to be better as they now have a chance to graze on the tougher grass and now for the Anteater enclosure this was the old cassowary enclosure but greatly extended only fall back on this is they have taken away over half the picnic area by the aviaries there is a notice telling people the Anteater is more active around 2 – 4pm which to me is a great idea.
There were 4 African dogs in the enclosure today all a sleep as usual but still giving great views on a bout great views the Sumatran Tiger (female if I’m not wrong) gave everyone a great display in the indoor area very close to the window she was staring out and then showing her teeth then back to some wonderful staring at everything that moved.

Now onto what I would say (unfortunately) is a waste of space and I can’t understand as to why the zoo went down this way I’m on about the Lorikeet walk through (and this coming from a bird lover) Only a few birds in the display and I am not one for allowing people and children feeding animals while at collections a few more species would have been better but if it keeps the kids happy who am I to moan. On the point of the Old Monkey Tails it appears the Speckled Pigeon is now in the aviary next to the Anteater.

There were one or two things I think need to be addressed at the zoo and they are the Great Grey Owls exhibit the plants need to be either thinned or at least half of them taken out, the aviary up by the Ballroom needs to be either demolished or refurbished (I would rather refurbished).

I did like the Castle creatures feature and the information on the walls about the past give you the feelings of what it was like in the old days, but a small bungee jumping thing inside the castle grounds sorry but no thank you.

Now we have the future arrivals and the movers firstly a female snow leopard is due at the zoo this Autumn, the Howler monkeys are moving to the old Macaque exhibit in the Triple Tecton complex they will have an indoor viewing area on the path to the right as you enter the complex this in my opinion could be a great move but I do wonder what will fill the exhibit left by the Howler monkeys.

Over all it was great to see the zoo moving forward I did enjoy my day at the zoo and do wonder what the next plan will be to bring more improvements to the zoo.

I would love to see the Orangutans moved to half the land that the Chimpanzees currently occupy and would love to see the old bear ravine better used than it currently is.

Overall score 7.5 out of 10
 
Adrian k said:
Now we have the future arrivals and the movers firstly a female snow leopard is due at the zoo this Autumn, the Howler monkeys are moving to the old Macaque exhibit in the Triple Tecton complex they will have an indoor viewing area on the path to the right as you enter the complex this in my opinion could be a great move but I do wonder what will fill the exhibit left by the Howler monkeys.
Click to expand...

The old macaque enclosure on the right of the triple complex is currently occupied by the capuchins is it not? Will the howlers be mixed with these or will they be moved again?
 
Yesterday the Capuchin were where they have always been in the first primate house at the back of the Discovery centre and the keepers were working on the New Black Howler enclosure indoor viewing area.

Now onto the bird collection at the zoo yes the collection is getting better but the problem they have is you can't see them due to very dense planting in the aviaries this is both bad for the species inside the aviaries and the public as well.

I am one for species to have areas were they can be away from the public but to have 95% of an aviary enclosed in overgrown shrubs and trees is a little ridiculous as the species have no chance of exercising within these aviaries.
 
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