There are definately 3 patas left. Despite being a colchester regular, I too dislike this enclosure, along with the Pygmy Hippo one. I personally think it would be nice if the whole area was developed and given over to the Pygmy Hippo.
Pertinax- I'm struggling to remember where the Patas were housed before this, can you remember?
I think I'm right in saying that they were in what is now the squirrel monkey enclosure (or was when last I looked; knowing how things work at Colchester it's possibly now got wallabies in it and is called Kangaroo Canyon instead). This was up near the sealion enclosure.
Did they ever feature in "Out of Africa" (ugh!). When that first opened (early 90s?) it had black mangabeys and black-and-white colobus, but it has had a number of different things in it since.
It would make sense that they were housed there. This building opened in 01, so they would have been moved in then, and the Old Patas enclosure developed into Heart of the Amazon, which has Squirrel Monkeys and Red Backed Bearded Saki.
I haven't been for ten years, but the Patas monkeys were housed in a large cage on a slope just down from the old elephant paddock (then camels, later playa patagonia). The indoor house also contained an exhibit for yellow mongoose.
the Patas monkeys were housed in a large cage on a slope just down from the old elephant paddock (then camels, later playa patagonia). The indoor house also contained an exhibit for yellow mongoose.
That's about as much as I can remember about it too, but the dozen or so monkeys (breeding well at that time) were probably the largest zoo group in the UK then(very few zoos still exhibit this species here now). I don't know why the group dwindled so radically but I think when the 'Out of Africa' building was built the remainder were put in there as they were 'African'. They missed out on the more recent 'Edge of Africa' area where the open Colobus and Mandrill enclosures are, though that would have certainly suited them better. The whole 'cage scenario' seems wrong for this largely ground-dwelling species and its a pity they didn't follow the Colobus and Mandrills, going from cages into more open environments. Colchester do still seem to like incorporating these complicated boardwaks, overhead tunnels, viewing windows etc into their enclosures, at least in the older part of the Zoo.
Broken tails- usually either from accidental damage or, quite commonly, Frostbite. When the group was large probably two/thirds had shortened tails.
Losing tail sections is something that seems peculiar to guenons, and not just rainforest species. Like the Patas monkeys, vervets also often suffer this in captive environments.
Tail-loss seems largely confined to African species - particularly Guenons and related species ,including the grassland ones. Also common in Mangabeys too- the R.C. Mangabey groups at both Colchester and Paignton have at least one member with a half tail. Doesn't seem to occur in Colobus (or Langurs) though (protected by longer hair?) and generally seems a lot less common in primates from S. America or Asia.
