Belfast Zoo Belfast Zoo

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Pertinax said:
Yes, Juju had plucked a little bare spot on his upper arm. Don't forget there were two (not one) juveniles in with them. I always find after visiting Howletts, that all other Gorilla groups seems rather insignificant for a while- there is just no comparison!!

Boulas was still at Belfast at least until a couple of weeks ago. He was supposed to be joining the small new bachelor group in Warsaw but it seems this may have been called off. There may be other changes happening there as well but Boulas still needs to leave as I've been told there's a lot of tension between him and the younger male Gugas.
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Pertinax,

Does this move infer that Gugas will take over as group silverback? In what respect is he related to the other gorilla family members at Belfast?

Any chance (Al) of further gorilla changes in the group in Belfast before long?

Cheers,

Jelle
 
jelle said:
Does this move infer that Gugas will take over as group silverback? In what respect is he related to the other gorilla family members at Belfast?

Any chance (Al) of further gorilla changes in the group in Belfast before long?
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Yes it does. Gugas is wild caught, probably the last such one to enter the zoo population. He's about 14 years old but because of the dominant Boulas, has not had a real chance to breed yet. Belfast have not had a Gorilla birth in ten years. Boulas was obtained from Port Lymne some years ago (Gugas being only a baby then) but despite matings, there have been no pregnancies.

At present Boulas is intimidating Gugas(now Silverbacked also) who stays in a shut-off much of the time to keep out of Boulas' way.

There are two potential breeding females, Kamilah(daughter of London Zaire) who has bred once (with the previous male Keke wo died)), and Bikira who hasn't (female No 3. Delilah is very old now) Bikira was slated to go to Valencia but nothing has happened. There may be changes afoot for both the younger females as Al says more moves are planned.
 
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Last time I saw Gugas he and Boulas were having a minor 'face off', that was several months ago and I can imagine that there would be tension. Those of us who know Zaire at London would recognise her daughter Kamili who is the image of her, certainly a few years ago anyway, before she started losing her hair. Shame that the group cannot thrive, there was such sadness when the young silverback Keke suddenly died along with Salome's ( who was then at London with Kumba and Zaire) youngster Asali. I hope for the group that Boulas is not infertile and of course this then poses probs for him. Dublin Zoo had the same problem for quite some time before Harry arrived and now the group is beginning to do very well. Roll on the new enclosure there.

Belfast Zoo is a real gem and in a most beautiful position overlooking Belfast Lough for those who have not been there. It has seen extraordinary changes over the last fifteen years. I remember the awful cages of yesteryear. You might need oxygen though to climb to the top of the zoo as it is on a mountainside and amazing for it!

Would love to see some outdoor climbing structures and hide outs for the gorillas though. The outdoor space has such potential and is not really used as just bare grass on a slope. Wonder if that could happen sometime soon?

Most come to see the gorillas and chimps there soon, miss Kukuma particulary!!
 
Al said:
Hi gorillafollower i'll post bout belfasts animals asap, though for now boulas is still here at belfast and will not be going to warsaw.:o
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Thanks Al for letting me know. Would love to know any news about the gorilla and chimps groups when you get the odd minute.

Cheers, great photos by the way:)
 
GorillaFollower said:
I hope for the group that Boulas is not infertile and of course this then poses probs for him.
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Boulas has been at Belfast seven years now- either he is infertile or maybe there have been no pregnancies due to high stress levels/tension in the group.

Also Gugas, being wildcaught and totally unrepresented is far more important to breed from than good old Boulas. Hopefully they are going to rework the current situation soon but I don't know exactly how if Boulas is not going- maybe he still is but to somewhere else?.:confused:
 
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Belfast gorilla and chimp groups.

It is planned that Gugas will become the new silverback of our group. This will mean that Boulas will indeed move on as will a young female Bikira. Two new females will then arrive, from which zoo im not sure. Like many places animal transfers often depend on many differing circumstances. They can often take time so we will all have to be patient, indeed it would be amazing to have a breeding group of gorillas once again here! The outside paddock has recently had some new climbing structures added and i believe more will be added when funding is available.

The chimp currently has 2 males and 4 females. Andy is the dominant male and lewis is his son and is a castrated male. the females are lizzie, kim, phoebe and sophie. The latter two andys daughters. There has been no breeding intentially fore a number of years. There had been talk about sending the two younger females awaya nd replacing them with unrelated animals to build up the group again although now i beleive there is a request from the ESB not to breed non-pure chimps!
 
Al said:
It is planned that Gugas will become the new silverback of our group. This will mean that Boulas will indeed move on as will a young female Bikira. Two new females will then arrive, from which zoo im not sure. Like many places animal transfers often depend on many differing circumstances. They can often take time so we will all have to be patient, indeed it would be amazing to have a breeding group of gorillas once again here! The outside paddock has recently had some new climbing structures added and i believe more will be added when funding is available.

The chimp currently has 2 males and 4 females. Andy is the dominant male and lewis is his son and is a castrated male. the females are lizzie, kim, phoebe and sophie. The latter two andys daughters. There has been no breeding intentially fore a number of years. There had been talk about sending the two younger females awaya nd replacing them with unrelated animals to build up the group again although now i beleive there is a request from the ESB not to breed non-pure chimps!
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Good to hear that the outside gorilla paddock now has more climbing structures available. I wonder where Boulas and Bakiri will end up? Bakiri indeed has a lovely character, shame about Boulas if he is perhaps infertile, difficult to know what will happen, hard to integrate into an established bachelor group, I don't think this would be possible back at Port Lympne. Perhaps a new group scenario would create new possiblities.I know that the mesh over the glass was potentially a good idea but not sure of how successful. Wondered if anyone knew of how the Queen's University study of playing Mozart to the gorillas helped. Would be fascinated to know!!!

Thanks for the info, can you explain the ESB request about non-pure chimps? Is that Lizzie with the slightly wonky eye, she must be getting on a bit?

Thanks for the info!:)
 
Al said:
It is planned that Gugas will become the new silverback of our group. This will mean that Boulas will indeed move on as will a young female Bikira. Two new females will then arrive, from which zoo im not sure.
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Thanks for the confirmation abut this Al.

Do you know why Boulas isn't now going to join the Warsaw male group though?:confused:
 
:) I believe that the gorillas indeed seemed more relaxed with the classical music and hated the rainforest sounds interestingly!

I think basically european zoos should try and provide more space breeding known sub-species of chimps such as the western!
 
GorillaFollower said:
shame about Boulas if he is perhaps infertile, difficult to know what will happen, hard to integrate into an established bachelor group, I don't think this would be possible back at Port Lympne.
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Boulas is a bit of a problem. I think it would be next to impossible to reintegrate him with other males back at Port Lympne. He was pretty aggressive to younger ones when he was there before, let alone now. If he returned there I reckon he would have to live solitary(like Timbou) in another section of that enclosure. Even the four younger males at PL are kept permanently in two seperate pairs nowadays, not as a group. The combinations there are 5, 1, 2 & 2.
 
Al said:
:) I believe that the gorillas indeed seemed more relaxed with the classical music and hated the rainforest sounds interestingly!

I think basically european zoos should try and provide more space breeding known sub-species of chimps such as the western!
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That is so funny! I guess they have good taste in Belfast really considering that only about 8% of UK population listen to classical music and some of them are gorillas!! Maybe the rainforest stuff was played on a loop and became of bit too unlike the real conditions which would change I guess throughout the day!! Mad!

I think for too long zoos have not considered the sub species of chimps, indeed, I always have felt that for a long time their have been the 'poor cousins' in relation the treatment of gorillas in captivity. Things are changing as Belfast is showing and Whipsnade and Dublin have better spaces for the chimps. Perhaps there is now only an acknowledgement of the differing sub species so interesting to see if this will be adhered to.

Was it is an all male group at Warsaw that Boulas was perhaps going to?:)
 
human-animal relationships

hi al. i was wondering if you could give me any info on the relationships zookeepers at belfast zoo have with their animals?:)
how they act around the animals they look after and so on.
im very interested in anthropomorphism and how it is shown by the public and keepers towards the animals. also what their opinions of it is?

clare
 
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Was at the zoo yesterday and got a mini-tour from Al around the Bongos, Tapirs, Lemurs and even the Black-footed cats!:eek:
They are all such beautiful animals. And the reception area is Amazing!
Thanks again Al!:D:D
 
Kwikila has arrived!

Just a quick update!

Kwikila our female goodfellows tee kangaroo arrived last night from beauval in france! she is an amazing animal and i have to admit im looking forward to caring for her!


:)
 
Am I right in thinking Belfast provided Cotswold Wildlife Park's Sifaka (I was looking forward to seeing him at said park today, but he didn't come out :(), and how many are there at this zoo at the mo?
 
Brilliant site; Belfast is among my top five zoo-to-see wishlist (with Whipsnade, Howletts, Port Lymnpe & West Midlands), so this definately shows me more of it.

Anyone want to answer my question? :p
 
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