Blackbrook Zoo (Closed) 2014 update

zoogiraffe

zoogiraffe

Well-Known Member
The Scarlet Cafe is still closed after the break in,the person that broke in was found dead a few miles away face down in a stream,his postmortem showed that he was high on drugs at the time!

The last Saddle-billed Stork in the UK has passed away,he arrived in the UK in 1991 as a wild caught adult.

The Double-wattled Cassowary has been sent to a collection in Belgium,for breeding but given that she is well over 20 years old and blind in one eye,I am not sure how much use she will be!

They also have plans to bring in a few more mammal species this year,which is good news as at the moment the mammal collection is very sparse,with just Meerkat,Visayan Warty Pig,Siberian Chipmunk and Domestic Goat at the moment!
 
zoogiraffe said:
The Scarlet Cafe is still closed after the break in,the person that broke in was found dead a few miles away face down in a stream,his postmortem showed that he was high on drugs at the time!

The last Saddle-billed Stork in the UK has passed away,he arrived in the UK in 1991 as a wild caught adult.

The Double-wattled Cassowary has been sent to a collection in Belgium,for breeding but given that she is well over 20 years old and blind in one eye,I am not sure how much use she will be!

They also have plans to bring in a few more mammal species this year,which is good news as at the moment the mammal collection is very sparse,with just Meerkat,Visayan Warty Pig,Siberian Chipmunk and Domestic Goat at the moment!
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No lemurs at all?
 
Blackbrook....

I wouldn't think twenty is old for a Cassowary. Having only one eye might make her a better breeding proposition -- less likely to kill the male.
 
It will never happen, but I'd love it if they brought in a cassowary species which was *not* double-wattled :p
 
FBBird said:
I wouldn't think twenty is old for a Cassowary. Having only one eye might make her a better breeding proposition -- less likely to kill the male.
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Well she has killed or injured atleast 2 males at Blackbrook with only one eye so I will not hold my breath that she will not manage it again!
 
Blackbrook.......

That's another theory shot to hell then. We had an one-eyed Amherst Pheasant cock for many years. If he ever started to hunt his hen, she used to nip round to his blind side. Maybe Cassowaries aren't so easily fooled.
 
zoogiraffe said:
The Scarlet Cafe is still closed after the break in,the person that broke in was found dead a few miles away face down in a stream,his postmortem showed that he was high on drugs at the time!
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I am very surprised that there was no mention of this in the media.
 
bongorob said:
I am very surprised that there was no mention of this in the media.
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Death's of middle-aged men are not generally considered newsworthy.

If you google, "Blackbrook death" (third story down) you'll find a little more on the matter (Sentinal website). Doesn't mention post mortem results though.
 
Can you post the link? The third story down that I got was about thr Black Brook river in West Yorkshire.
 
zoogiraffe said:
Well she has killed or injured atleast 2 males at Blackbrook with only one eye so I will not hold my breath that she will not manage it again!
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One of my female cassowaries lost an eye when charging against the wall of the pen at two months. She was not impaired much by the disability and went to Cambron in Belgium when an adult in 1990. She only died after breaking a leg at 10, but could easily have lived until 20. Once they reach puberty at 18 months all cassowaries become very aggressive and there are numerous cases where they have killed other birds of their own kind, particularly during the mating season. Social contact is not their strong point.
It would certainly be nice to see some of the other cassowary species, but only Walsrode has the Single-wattled and Bennetts and those unpaired. Veldhoven in Holland used to have two Bennetts, one went to Walsrode, and there was talk about a breeder in Portugal who had Single-wattled. These days, with tighter international controls, it will not be that easy to get imports. EAZA has therefore staked the future on Double-wattled which has an ESB. Even though cassowaries in captivity are of uncertain origin and useless for any reintroduction programme, the Double-wattled are bred successfully, if insufficiently to replace the stock, and will probably disappear by the mid-century in Europe.
 
Thanks Bongorob, I take there are no plans to replace any of the hoofstock they previously held ?
 
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