Belfast Zoo Belfast Zoo News 2022

Zoofan15 said:
Belfast zoo are phasing out elephants:

Belfast Zoo elephants set to be rehomed at new facility

Belfast City Council confirmed in a statement it was a “very difficult decision” to “phase out” the elephants from the zoo.

They said they are now “working closely” with the European Association of Zoos and Acquaria to “identify the best possibly new home for them”.
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As much as I’m tempted to say Whipsnade, due to their age…Longleat?
 
Panthera1981 said:
As much as I’m tempted to say Whipsnade, due to their age…Longleat?
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I doubt Whipsnade would be interested in taking on these two older females. They’ve faced many challenges in forming a cohesive herd with factions between the cows and a high mortality rate of calves.

Their focus is surely on forming a cohesive herd and breeding the females they have to create a sustainable population long term. New elephants would only considered if they’ll contribute to both these goals.
 
Zoofan15 said:
I doubt Whipsnade would be interested in taking on these two older females. They’ve faced many challenges in forming a cohesive herd with factions between the cows and a high mortality rate of calves.

Their focus is surely on forming a cohesive herd and breeding the females they have to create a sustainable population long term. New elephants would only considered if they’ll contribute to both these goals.
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Of course it’ll never happen (the zoo have stated as much) but it’s a shame Paignton couldn’t be considered. I don’t know how much the facility has changed since Duchess died, but elephants (albeit elderly) would generate much needed income for the zoo in its current state. Having said that, would the pair’s needs outweigh the financial footfall?

So any likely UK destination, personally, would be Longleat.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Of course it’ll never happen (the zoo have stated as much) but it’s a shame Paignton couldn’t be considered. I don’t know how much the facility has changed since Duchess died, but elephants (albeit elderly) would generate much needed income for the zoo in its current state. Having said that, would the pair’s needs outweigh the financial footfall?
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The surge in visitation from their arrival would be temporary and would never be recouped considering the cost of feeding them and administering the inevitable veterinary care two elderly elephants will need on an ongoing basis.
 
I would like to think Longleat seen as they maybe the only place in the UK that would be suitable to house them(considering the new elephant house was built) however they will more likely be rehomed elsewhere in Europe I would imagine, I could be wrong.
 
Two Francois langurs have been born:

Two endangered Francois’ langur monkeys born at Belfast Zoo

Two new Francois' langur monkeys have been born just over a month apart at Belfast Zoo.

The first of the new arrivals was spotted by keepers on March 2 to mother Chua and the second endangered new born arrived on April 18 to mother Nicolene.

It is a busy time for male AJ who is father to both the new infants and the babies will join big sister Hongxin who was born last May.

Hongxin was hand-raised by a zookeeper last year and has now been fully reintroduced back into the family unit, according to Belfast Zoo.
 
0.1 two-toed sloth named Priscita has arrived from Straubing Zoo in Germany, to pair up with resident male Enrique.

In case anyone is wondering, I have no idea what happened to the previous female Natja (did she pass away, or move to another collection? I don't know).

Belfast Zoo
 
3.0 alpacas have arrived. They have been named Donard, Binnian, and Croob, after different peaks in the Mourne mountains where they were bred locally.

The alpacas will be housed at both the farm and in a new enclosure near the entrance.

Meet the fluffiest new residents of Belfast Zoo

Personally, I wouldn't say these are a super exciting new species for the zoo, but I still think its cool that the zoo now has one wild animal (the vicuna) and its domesticated descendant (the alpaca).
 
I had a very pleasant visit to the zoo yesterday despite the weather going back and forth between rainy and sunny. Here are some observations I made while there:
  • The red panda’s enclosure (formerly where the fossa lived) now has new fencing and a higher roof following an upgrade.
  • Crowned lemurs were signed in the sifakas' enclosure, and I’ve just realized looking on Zootierliste that the last sifaka died earlier this year. This now leaves Cotswold as the only UK holder of this species. :(
  • On a happier note, I spoke to a keeper, who confirmed that the remaining Malayan tapir is still alive off-show, and is being kept together with a capybara for company (which is rather strange since the Malayan is the only tapir outside of the Americas, where capybara are native).
  • I had known of this already, but the last two red-backed bearded saki moved out earlier this year to Tierpark Berlin, and their enclosure is now home to the colobus, speaking of which…
  • The enclosure near the top where the colobus were is getting renovated. Last month, MagpieGoose posted an image to the gallery showing a sign about Eurasian wolves coming soon (I recognised the whereabouts because the ape house is in the background, and the enclosure is currently signed ‘coming soon’ on the map). However, the keeper told me that those plans are now in turnaround, and I couldn’t see that sign anywhere at the enclosure when I visited.
  • The same keeper also debunked the rumour about the elephants being phased out, saying that where the elephants will go depends on discussions from the city council and the Asian elephant EEP, so it seems the two elderly elephants will be at the zoo for years to come, and may live out their days there.
  • The old red river hog enclosure at the top has now become a picnic area. Some of you might be annoyed that the zoo may be wasting space for animal enclosures, but I enjoyed having my lunch under one of the shelters. Interestingly enough, the house connected to that enclosure is still intact but left empty, so who knows what will become of it?
  • The male and female giant anteater are now back together in the enclosure outside the rainforest house. The male was sleeping in their house, while the female was lumbering around outside while a peahen and her chicks were watching, which was nice to see.
  • On a side note, I was lucky to see the new tree kangaroo joey in the house with its parents, and I thought it looked absolutely adorable! :)
I'll be posting photos from my visit in a short while, so again stay tuned!
 
Babyrousa said:
Crowned lemurs were signed in the sifakas' enclosure, and I’ve just realized looking on Zootierliste that the last sifaka died earlier this year. This now leaves Cotswold as the only UK holder of this species. :(
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Chester holds them also
 
Babyrousa said:
I had a very pleasant visit to the zoo yesterday despite the weather going back and forth between rainy and sunny. Here are some observations I made while there:
  • The red panda’s enclosure (formerly where the fossa lived) now has new fencing and a higher roof following an upgrade.
  • Crowned lemurs were signed in the sifakas' enclosure, and I’ve just realized looking on Zootierliste that the last sifaka died earlier this year. This now leaves Cotswold as the only UK holder of this species. :(
  • On a happier note, I spoke to a keeper, who confirmed that the remaining Malayan tapir is still alive off-show, and is being kept together with a capybara for company (which is rather strange since the Malayan is the only tapir outside of the Americas, where capybara are native).
  • I had known of this already, but the last two red-backed bearded saki moved out earlier this year to Tierpark Berlin, and their enclosure is now home to the colobus, speaking of which…
  • The enclosure near the top where the colobus were is getting renovated. Last month, MagpieGoose posted an image to the gallery showing a sign about Eurasian wolves coming soon (I recognised the whereabouts because the ape house is in the background, and the enclosure is currently signed ‘coming soon’ on the map). However, the keeper told me that those plans are now in turnaround, and I couldn’t see that sign anywhere at the enclosure when I visited.
  • The same keeper also debunked the rumour about the elephants being phased out, saying that where the elephants will go depends on discussions from the city council and the Asian elephant EEP, so it seems the two elderly elephants will be at the zoo for years to come, and may live out their days there.
  • The old red river hog enclosure at the top has now become a picnic area. Some of you might be annoyed that the zoo may be wasting space for animal enclosures, but I enjoyed having my lunch under one of the shelters. Interestingly enough, the house connected to that enclosure is still intact but left empty, so who knows what will become of it?
  • The male and female giant anteater are now back together in the enclosure outside the rainforest house. The male was sleeping in their house, while the female was lumbering around outside while a peahen and her chicks were watching, which was nice to see.
  • On a side note, I was lucky to see the new tree kangaroo joey in the house with its parents, and I thought it looked absolutely adorable! :)
I'll be posting photos from my visit in a short while, so again stay tuned!
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Shame about the wolves. Was there any reason why?
 
AthleticBinturong said:
Shame about the wolves. Was there any reason why?
Click to expand...
The keeper told me that the manager was not too fond of the idea of the enclosure being home to wolves. Personally, given the steepness of the enclosure, I would like it to have a wild caprine of some kind (perhaps markhor or Nubian ibex?).
Still, wolves would have been a nice addition to the zoo's native species, since they once lived in Ireland.
 
Babyrousa said:
The keeper told me that the manager was not too fond of the idea of the enclosure being home to wolves. Personally, given the steepness of the enclosure, I would like it to have a wild caprine of some kind (perhaps markhor or Nubian ibex?).
Still, wolves would have been a nice addition to the zoo's native species, since they once lived in Ireland.
Click to expand...
Any caprine would be very nice, there isn't much variety of them across Britain and Ireland now sadly.
 
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