Hippo and Saki Exhibit at Halle 04/09/11

A somewhat incongruous mix of Pygmy Hippos and White-faced Sakis (the sakis replaced the Mandrills that originally lived here).

Do you know when the mandrills lived there? I know that there were sakis there when I visited in 2008. And why were the mandrills switched out with sakis?

To be honest, this is why I wish I'd got around to uploading these sooner, as my memory of what we were told is already fading! I think there were problems with the Mandrills harrassing the hippos - I don't think they were there long. They put the sakis in to fill in the upper space of the exhibit and they got on so well in there that they stayed.

That's a shame as the mandrills would have made for a more entertaining and geographically correct display. Maybe some species of guenon could be considered instead?

in 2007 there was a group of Red crowned Mangabeys joining the hippo's, but apperently this combination also did not work?

lintworm said:

in 2007 there was a group of Red crowned Mangabeys joining the hippo's, but apperently this combination also did not work?

Click to expand...

Indeed. That is why now are the sakis in.

Well, it sounds like you can't blame Halle Zoo for not trying to get it geographically correct! Having just checked my files it seems that the house was renovated to it's current state in 2001 so the mandrills and mangabeys must have had a few years in there.