Most interesting photos. This is the Sumatran male 'Dagu' who went on to be Jersey's breeding male. He was only at Dudley between August '97 and March '98 and I've never seen a photo of him at Dudley before, so thanks for posting them.
There are some of him on the 'Durrell' gallery adjacent to this one, though he was a youngster then and they were not taken at Jersey.
P.S. I really wish you could find me a photo of the Sumatran orangutan male 'Adam' when he was at Flamingo Park.
Thank-you. Was Sleepy Hollow involved with this animal in some way? I am sure the place was mentioned on a notice about him - I don't think I am imagining that...or am I?
I am afraid I have no photos of Orangs at Flamingo Park. When they were there I did not have the camera equipment to cope with the exhibit which was not at all conducive to photography anyway. Sorry Pertinax.
Thank-you. Was Sleepy Hollow involved with this animal in some way? I am sure the place was mentioned on a notice about him - I don't think I am imagining that...or am I?
I am afraid I have no photos of Orangs at Flamingo Park.
I remember the name 'Sleepy Hollow' but not where or what it was. If you can remind me I'll try and remember if it had anything to do with 'Dagu'.
Don't worry about Flamingo Orangs. But I'm still hoping someone will post some photos of them, or of 'Adam' at Colchester Zoo. Like 'Dagu' he was another Sumatran male who moved around several Zoos in his lifetime, more so than 'Dagu' in fact. 'Dagu' will no doubt stay at Jersey the rest of his life now, so his story had a happy ending.
Sleepy Hollow, "farm animals and wildlife", was at Blockley near Moreton-in-Marsh. I have two leaflets and the 1999 one mentions "constant attacks from a small band of narrow minded villagers", adding that the park must move to new premises. My other leaflet is from 1996 and features Clyde the Orang-utan, in fact May 26th and 27th and August 11th were "Meet Clyde" days.
Just back for a quick edit. When I went to put away my two leaflets I found I had two more that had been right next to the others. The first was not glossy and the place was still a farm park, but the second was from 1998 and had a Leopard on the front. The 1996 leaflet still had "farm park" in the name of the place, but it was just "Sleepy Hollow" by 1998. Going back to Clyde, he was said to be hand-reared. I had wondered if he were the same animal as Dagu under a different name, but presumably Dagu was not hand-reared and the Orang pictured on the leaflet looks a much younger animal even allowing for a time lapse of say two years from when the leaflet was being prepared. I suppose it could have been an old photo though.
Going back to Clyde, he was said to be hand-reared. I had wondered if he were the same animal as Dagu under a different name, but presumably Dagu was not hand-reared and the Orang pictured on the leaflet looks a much younger animal even allowing for a time lapse of say two years from when the leaflet was being prepared. I suppose it could have been an old photo though.
Thanks. Now I remember, at least vaguely. I am almost 100% certain 'Dagu' and 'Clyde' were one and the same. He(Dagu) was born at Dresden but at three years old was transferred to a UK animal dealer and then to a private owner who had him for the next nine years. In the studbook this owner is listed as a 'B. Hewlett' I am pretty sure I heard that he obtained him on the strength of the Clint Eastwood film so very likely would have named him 'Clyde'. I thought this was in Essex(Brentwood) so how he ended up for about a year in 1996 at 'Sleepy Hollow' is a bit more mysterious, maybe he was gifted.
'Dagu' was certainly the only privately owned Orangutan in the UK during this period so it almost has to be him. I am unaware how he then came to go to Dudley either- he arrived there August 16th 1997, maybe he was by then becoming uncontrollable as a 'pet' and they sought to rehome him. He was only at Dudley six months before his move to Jersey. I remember Jersey describing him at the time as having been 'on his own for ten years'.
Re the photos- Orangs can grow very rapidly and change in late adolescence, or as you said, the photos may have been old ones anyway.
Aha, thank-you. This is what Sleepy Hollow's 1996 leaflet says:
"Simply amazing! Sleepy Hollow is honoured to bring you one of the world's most intelligent animals. He is witty, he is cheeky and he is all love. Clyde will steal your hearts. Come and hear Clyde's story, why he was hand-reared, why he is at Sleepy Hollow and what the future holds for him. We would like to stress that Clyde has in no way been trained, he is simply one of the few men of the jungle."
That was in the section on meeting Clyde in May. In August it says "we would like to give you a second chance to see Clyde before we close in October." Does that mean he was not on show all of the time or only at Sleepy Hollow for these special events? The first quote suggests he lived there though. A lot of the big cat events also suggest the animals did not live there all of the time. Does anyone have any more information?
I am not sure whether he was really handraised(right from birth that is) or not. As he still turned out to be a successful breeder at Jersey despite so much humanisation, and no contact with other Orangutans for so long, I remain a bit sceptical. Certainly he had a very unusual background for a captive Orangutan, and how Dresden came to place him with a UK animal dealer- the start of his unusual life- isn't known to me.
I agree more of his story would be interesting to know.
Thank-you. Big cats certainly do not appear on the park maps on the leaflets. Looking again at the 1998 leaflet it says "at present our cats can only be seen at designated times during the day and are not on permanent display to the public, the only exception being the lynx. We are, however, working towards new outdoor enclosures so that these magnificent creatures can be fully appreciated by all throughout the season." That, although it maybe infers as much, does not actually say they were there all the time. Of course by 1999 the place was about to close or move, but even so there is a section on the leaflet about "Cub Contact, Experience a Big Cat or Wolf Cub". Were these animals brought in for the season or just when someone booked? The leaflet does say there was a Big Cat and Predator talk every day at 3 p.m., so maybe the animals were hired for the season - easier to do with youngsters rather than adults.
