Blackpool Zoo Blackpool Zoo News 2012

Pertinax said:
Are you trying to wind me up?:D

I saw the ones at Howletts for precisely 10 seconds....:(
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Not intentionally. ;)

I went to Blackpool again today and I observed the following and also found out some rather interesting news;

Gibbons- The young female 'Hollie' is no longer at the Zoo, she died last weekend. A post-mortem showed that she died after a short illness with a Bacterial disease. Her parents 'Ivy' and 'Chamoa' have been mating a lot however.

Wolves- The male 'Diago' was introduced outside, the three females were also outside again. The single female inside is still not allowed outdoors just yet.

Any questions, feel free to ask. :)
 
Pertinax said:
Are you trying to wind me up?:D

I saw the ones at Howletts for precisely 10 seconds....:(
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They were fairly active when i went to Howletts on a cold Day this April,but i have to admit that in 4 visits that was the first time! Twice they've been invisible & once i also only saw one for 10 secs or so.
 
Visited yesterday - enjoyed it immensley - Wolf ridge is great and got nice views of two of the wolves - they seem a little wary of the little train that goes past the back of their enclosure but I'm sure that will pass with familiarity.

Chatted to one of the Birds keepers whilst watching the Kea attempting a nest build, they have been doing all the right things nesting wise but no eggs yet, fingers crossed. This is a 'new' male since my last visit as the old male died after a 'seizure' of some type but on a positive note, this new male is a better genetic specimen apparently. Be great to get them to successfully raise young! Fabulous parrots Keas.

Also spoke to a Giraffe keeper who tells me that the Females who arrived from FOTA are pregnant - a bit of a buy one get one free bargain, although does have implications I suppose if you are struggling for space?

No idea if either of these are old news but it was news to me so thought I'd share!

Really enjoyed my visit - great to see the Anteaters very active and on show for me as I'm used to Chesters painfully shy ones :D

Zambar as always is a glorious specimen of a Male Amur Tiger and he was active later in the day for me.

Sealion show was a good example of showing training benefits in an entertaining way, surprised me when one of the keepers went swimming with them, first time I've seen that in the UK and quite enlightening talking to her afterwards about how the sealions were trained to work in the water with keepers and why as well as how they select animals and which are the fast learners. Also found out that the young male 'Emo?' is brother/half brother to Reggie the young male at Knowsley Safari Park as he exhibits the same enthusiasm and speed of learning apparently.

I still don't like seeing the Spider Monkeys that roam free almost constantly being squirted with water to keep them away from people in the Amazonia exhibit, I know it doesn't hurt them but if you don't want them free roaming and potentially having contact then don't let them roam free. Mind you they had managed to steal a Calippo, some sweets and a dummy in the time I was there!!
 
karoocheetah said:
Also spoke to a Giraffe keeper who tells me that the Females who arrived from FOTA are pregnant - a bit of a buy one get one free bargain, although does have implications I suppose if you are struggling for space?
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Think someone has their wires crossed.... Both of the original females who came over were pregnant on arrival (2008) and both went on to have healthy calves later that year and during 2009. The male calf that was born to one of these females is the only male that Blackpool have kept since the current group was formed. He left in June 2010 for Folly Farm, so chances of any pregnancies occuring are next to impossible :p
 
karoocheetah said:
Visited yesterday - enjoyed it immensley - Wolf ridge is great and got nice views of two of the wolves - they seem a little wary of the little train that goes past the back of their enclosure but I'm sure that will pass with familiarity.

Chatted to one of the Birds keepers whilst watching the Kea attempting a nest build, they have been doing all the right things nesting wise but no eggs yet, fingers crossed. This is a 'new' male since my last visit as the old male died after a 'seizure' of some type but on a positive note, this new male is a better genetic specimen apparently. Be great to get them to successfully raise young! Fabulous parrots Keas.

Also spoke to a Giraffe keeper who tells me that the Females who arrived from FOTA are pregnant - a bit of a buy one get one free bargain, although does have implications I suppose if you are struggling for space?

No idea if either of these are old news but it was news to me so thought I'd share!

Really enjoyed my visit - great to see the Anteaters very active and on show for me as I'm used to Chesters painfully shy ones :D

Zambar as always is a glorious specimen of a Male Amur Tiger and he was active later in the day for me.

Sealion show was a good example of showing training benefits in an entertaining way, surprised me when one of the keepers went swimming with them, first time I've seen that in the UK and quite enlightening talking to her afterwards about how the sealions were trained to work in the water with keepers and why as well as how they select animals and which are the fast learners. Also found out that the young male 'Emo?' is brother/half brother to Reggie the young male at Knowsley Safari Park as he exhibits the same enthusiasm and speed of learning apparently.

I still don't like seeing the Spider Monkeys that roam free almost constantly being squirted with water to keep them away from people in the Amazonia exhibit, I know it doesn't hurt them but if you don't want them free roaming and potentially having contact then don't let them roam free. Mind you they had managed to steal a Calippo, some sweets and a dummy in the time I was there!!
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I believe the 'Spider Monkeys' are actually 'Squirrel Monkeys' ;):p.

The young male Sealion 'Elmo' is indeed half brother to 'Reggie' at Knowsley. Their father is 'Bimbo' (?) I think, but Elmo's mother is Isobel.

The female Giraffes are not pregnant, their all hybrid and if they are pregnant then it's the longest gestation period ever. They arrived in 2008.

From a visit yesterday, I spoke to Karoocheetah and also saw MarieBee. Today's visit showed some interesting events;

Gorillas- Njema and Kena were separated from the group at about 2.20. I don't know why but Njema was in the area which is in the middle of the Gorilla indoor area and the Orangutan indoor area too, I never knew there was an off-show area I only saw it as Kena was there when she was separated.

Sakis- A newborn has been born to the pair in Amazonia (Belle x Paddy). This is their third birth, none have been successful previously.
 
karoocheetah said:
Chatted to one of the Birds keepers whilst watching the Kea attempting a nest build, they have been doing all the right things nesting wise but no eggs yet, fingers crossed. This is a 'new' male since my last visit as the old male died after a 'seizure' of some type but on a positive note, this new male is a better genetic specimen apparently. Be great to get them to successfully raise young! Fabulous parrots Keas.
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We can but hope - Kea are a great species.
 
Yes You're right it was Squirrel not Spider - in my defence I was tired :)

I did say I wasn't sure if the news was old or new, also aware that the group is a hybrid female group - so the pregnant cows arrived in 2008? obviously 4 years on it still wrankles!!

I thought the Keas was good news and none of you mention it :( tsk tsk!

yep good to bump into Jordan & Becki in Zambars Lair - missed Mariebee as she was shopping whilst I was helping get the keys to my dads scooter back to reception - it was a family trip rather than a zoochatters trip for me!
 
I am considering making a short visit shortly to the zoo and would like some information on which bird species are currently on show and where also which other species should I make for while on a visit?
 
First thing that came to mind is Cape Shoveller in the ibis aviary across from the childrens' zoo.
 
adrian1963 said:
I am considering making a short visit shortly to the zoo and would like some information on which bird species are currently on show and where also which other species should I make for while on a visit?
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There is also a newly arrived pair of Eclectus Parrots from Edinburgh near the entrance of 'Wallaby walkthrough'.
 
adrian1963 said:
I am considering making a short visit shortly to the zoo and would like some information on which bird species are currently on show and where also which other species should I make for while on a visit?
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They have the only Magellanic penguins in the UK.
 
Popped in for a quick visit on Saturday 21st and I was quite surprised by the amount of people around the zoo, hope it keeps up like that for the next few months on the species side I was hoping to see the Iberian Wolves and I wasn’t let down a great enclosure and the Wolves were very active I did manage to get some very impressive photographs and will share with everyone if they go to my flickr page later this week.

I also managed to see my first Giant Anteater and what a fascinating species will be back to look at these wonderful animals shortly.

The Wallaby and Kangaroo walk through was its usual wonderful self the species were very active and I nearly got knocked over by one of the Red Kangaroo’s (closest I have ever been to one) I do wonder why they exhibit these wonderful animals in a walk through as they are very strong and could cause a little injury or two to children.

Would love to see some sort of bear species at the zoo (I don’t include Red Panda as a bear species) as I think they would be a great addition to the collection.

Will be returning in the near future for a good days visit but I was entertained by the Sea Lion Display and was wondering how people feel about using animals like this
 
adrian1963 said:
Popped in for a quick visit on Saturday 21st and I was quite surprised by the amount of people around the zoo, hope it keeps up like that for the next few months on the species side I was hoping to see the Iberian Wolves and I wasn’t let down a great enclosure and the Wolves were very active I did manage to get some very impressive photographs and will share with everyone if they go to my flickr page later this week.

I also managed to see my first Giant Anteater and what a fascinating species will be back to look at these wonderful animals shortly.

The Wallaby and Kangaroo walk through was its usual wonderful self the species were very active and I nearly got knocked over by one of the Red Kangaroo’s (closest I have ever been to one) I do wonder why they exhibit these wonderful animals in a walk through as they are very strong and could cause a little injury or two to children.

Would love to see some sort of bear species at the zoo (I don’t include Red Panda as a bear species) as I think they would be a great addition to the collection.

Will be returning in the near future for a good days visit but I was entertained by the Sea Lion Display and was wondering how people feel about using animals like this
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I think everybody (Even Pertinax ;)) seems to be happy with their activity. Having heard reports from PL/Howletts at how invisible they are I'm quite happy to say that I see them active every other week when I'm their. ;)

The ANteaters are also very active to say their Anteaters. :D - I believe some of the Chester regulars are happy to see them outdoors rather than them being invisible. ;)
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
I think everybody (Even Pertinax ;)) seems to be happy with their activity. Having heard reports from PL/Howletts at how invisible they are I'm quite happy to say that I see them active every other week when I'm their. ;)
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Actually I'm quite sick about how easily visible they are at Blackpool.:(

Its not what I expected at all and I am curious as to why their behaviour should be so different here than at Howletts/Port Lympne. Is it the enclosure, the animals themselves, the newness of the exhibit or something else perhaps? Will they stay like this or become less visible with time I wonder.
 
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