Birmingham Nature Centre Birmingham Nature Centre News 2012

Visited yesterday (9/8) and thought I would expand a bit on what Robmv has initially covered.
There appears to be a new Reeve's pheasnt aviary situated behind the pied tamarin woods; the predator cages are now nearly completely empty, only a tragopan and the ring-tailed lemurs are left; Moonlight is a very nicely done rennovation, I saw all the species in question, also there is a monitor displaying information about the animals as you walk in. Maybe this is an alternative to signage within the building? There are now also 2 rhea mixed with the capybara as well as the 2 rhea as you enter.
On the other side of the coin, the collections emperor tamarins have left but I don't know to where. A shame as I do like those little guys! :D
 
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Brum said:
the collections emperor tamarins have left
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That must have happened very recently: I photographed one on Sunday (in the "Tamarin Conservation Centre" enclosure - mixed with Golden-headed Lion Tamarin)
 
robmv said:
That must have happened very recently: I photographed one on Sunday (in the "Tamarin Conservation Centre" enclosure - mixed with Golden-headed Lion Tamarin)
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Well if they are still there then I missed them and I also failed to see any signs for them. I did notice that the tamarins have changed around a lot since my last visit, it is probably my fault I missed them. :o
 
I visited today and the otters seem to have vanished, there was a single bird in the enclosure with no signage so I hadn't a clue what it was.

I really like Moonlight it's very well done and makes good use of a small area.
 
I visited again today:

Emperor tamarins are still about, one of the mouse lemurs decided to pop its head out of a nest box, and I also saw a sugar glider in the pygmy slow loris enclosure - no sign of tenrecs or mouse lemurs in the nocturnal house yet. 'Moonlight' is absolutely brilliant.

Another impressive visit - I'm addicted :D
 
Haha, posted within a minute of chizlit.

I saw an otter swimming about in the pool, and the demoiselle crane in the same enclosure was showing very nicely.
 
devilfish said:
Haha, posted within a minute of chizlit.

I saw an otter swimming about in the pool, and the demoiselle crane in the same enclosure was showing very nicely.
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Lol, so they are still in there! Usually they are very active and showy, but that big beaked bird must have scared them off!
 
Birmingham Nature Centre

If this place really has got a Demoiselle crane in with otters, I suggest it will not be long before the otters kill and eat it. It's all rather upsetting.
 
I must admit I too am a little worried with putting a Demoiselle Crane in with the Otters does sound rather dodgey and wouldn't be surprised if they don't move the Crane out a.s.a.p
 
I also thought the same, but as I didn't see any otters maybe they are rotated, but if not the question remains where are they?
 
We still have Emperor tamarins, they are in the golden headed lion tamarin enclosure. This enclosure is quite spacious and the tamarins tend to be high up in the trees. The mouse lemurs will be transfered to our moonlight world as soon as all outstanding enclosure development is completed. The new ocelot enclosure should be completed in 6 weeks. The open topped ring tailed lemur exhibit will be ready in 5 -6 weeks. The Aloatran gentle lemur enclosure should be ready in 4 -5 weeks. The agouti enclosure will be finished in 3-4 weeks. All of these enclosures would have been completed if the weather had been a little less severe!!
The Asian short clawed otters and Demoiselle crane seem to live together very well indeed. This idea was developed after a mallard duck decided to lay her eggs within the otter enclosure. The ducklings thrived within the enclosure; the otters showed no hunting or aggressive behaviour(s) towards them. The Demoiselle crane has lots of bamboo cover to 'de-stress' at any time.
Because of the extended development work some signage is need of upgrading; this will be updated asap.
 
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Hope I didn't offend with my remark about the otter/crane mixture. I still think it is at best a risky situation. It may be that Short-clawed Otters don't take large prey, but even if they just ganged up and teased it there could trouble.
 
Just got back from a very wet visit, it was fantastic as the place was nigh on deserted! ;)
Quite a few no shows but given the weather I suppose it was to be expected. The crane/otter mix is still in place and the otters were being extremely active whilst the crane looked on completely unworried. Also there is signage for the mouse lemurs in Moonlight but I failed to see them, I'm puzzled as to where they currently are as they didn't show in their original enclosure either. :confused:
New enclosures are coming along nicely, the ocelot exhibit looks as though it will have indoor viewing as well! :D The lemur enclosures both look nearly complete and the gentle lemurs should arrive by the end of the month according to the signs on the enclosure.
Also there appears to be an anole of some sort in the invert house and one of the pythons is currently off show as they have bred but I can't remember which species. I'll have to check my photo's later and see if I took a picture of the notice.

Photo's of recent developments should make it into the gallery at some point today! :D
 
The mouse lemurs are in their original enclosure next to the Black & White Ruffed Lemur enclosure. These lemurs are quite secretive and can normally be seen during quiet periods. Abbott's day gecko's (Phelsuma abbottii) are the lizard species in the invertebrate house. You are correct that we have taken our Savu Island Pythons (Liasis macklotii savuensis)offshow because we have successfully reproduced them for a second time. Both the Ring Tailed Lemur and Aloatran Gentle Lemur enclosures are almost complete and should in fact be ready for animals in 2-3 weeks. The Ocelot enclosure will indeed have 2 spacious inside areas which will be partially onshow to visitors. Again the infrastructure, climbing frame, rocks and planting will take around 3 weeks to complete. Once the ring tailed lemurs are in their new enclosure then this will redeveloped to house a pair of yellow breasted capuchin monkeys. Once all this work is finished this area will be called something to reflect the zoogeographic region of South America.
 
Saguinus said:
The mouse lemurs are in their original enclosure next to the Black & White Ruffed Lemur enclosure. These lemurs are quite secretive and can normally be seen during quiet periods. Abbott's day gecko's (Phelsuma abbottii) are the lizard species in the invertebrate house. You are correct that we have taken our Savu Island Pythons (Liasis macklotii savuensis)offshow because we have successfully reproduced them for a second time. Both the Ring Tailed Lemur and Aloatran Gentle Lemur enclosures are almost complete and should in fact be ready for animals in 2-3 weeks. The Ocelot enclosure will indeed have 2 spacious inside areas which will be partially onshow to visitors. Again the infrastructure, climbing frame, rocks and planting will take around 3 weeks to complete. Once the ring tailed lemurs are in their new enclosure then this will redeveloped to house a pair of yellow breasted capuchin monkeys. Once all this work is finished this area will be called something to reflect the zoogeographic region of South America.
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Are there still plans to mix the mouse lemurs with the Malagasy jumping rats? The aerial space seems ideal for them and it would be a great mixed species exhibit to complement the rest of the house.
Are there any plans for the Invert House as there are 2 empty terrariums and 2 holding a reptile and an amphibian respectively?
 
The mouse lemurs will be mixed with the Malagasy jumping rats in the near future. The invertebrate house will remain an eclectic mix in the short term but this will be developed along with the original mouse lemur exhibit once all outstanding exhibits are complete. I will post the developments closer to their redevelopment dates.
 
Good news on the mouse lemur front, I can't wait to (possibly) see them in there! Glad to know that there is also a plan for the invertebrate house as well. I'm still dying with anticipation over the ocelot enclosure, it's shaping up nicely!
 
As announced on Facebook, the ocelot enclosure is now completed and the cats onshow :) it really sounds like BNC has come along quite some way since my visit in June!
 
TeaLovingDave said:
As announced on Facebook, the ocelot enclosure is now completed and the cats onshow :) it really sounds like BNC has come along quite some way since my visit in June!
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Great news, I've been dying to see them for months! :)
A visit over the coming few days is a must. It's been delayed a few times but from what I have seen, the cats will have a decent 2 enclosures! :D
 
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