OLD AVAIRY

This is the old avairy by the cafe (st marys ballroom) it used to house the Toucan which is now in the main avairies by the Barbary Sheep.
This is now being refurbished but does anyone known what used to be housed in this avairy before the Toco Toucan

It's had lots of things over the years - Puna Ibis and White-faced Sakis spring to mind - I think also lemurs of some type.

After the Ibis moved out it housed a pair of hand reared Black and white ruffed lemurs, then housed Saki's with Cotton topped Tamarins

Sakis must surely hold some kind of record as the small mammal most likely to be kept in mixed exhibits and least likely to be kept on their own.They remind me of oryx in that during a period of 25-30 years they went from being a tremendous rarity in zoos to being one of the species most commonly kept.The big trick with sakis is not to let them get wet during cold weather.Anyway, let us enjoy them while they are common, as these are cyclical fashions in zoos and who knows, perhaps in the next 10 years they may be seldom-kept again.