Today I went to Chessington for the first time in over a year, and decided that rather than include a whole trip report, just to note some of the interesting species (new and old) that are there.
- I was surprised by how active many the animals were today- the gorillas, tigers, leopards, binturongs and lions were all making for great displays. One unexpected turn was watching the gorillas having a short but nonetheless violent looking bout; it was fascinating to watch if a little disconcerting.
- The new Wanyama Village and Reserve is a greatly welcome addition to the zoo, with very active and busy meerkat and dwarf mongoose enclosures, along with crested porcupines, Siberian chipmunks and agouti and the main reserve itself home to four male Grevy's zebras (two were out in the main paddock and the other pair were in the sandy paddock around the house) and at least five scimitar-horned oryx including a relatively young calf. Watching the two zebra racing around the grassy paddock and testing their strength was a sight to behold. No sign of the sitatunga however.
- The Monkey and Bird Garden seems to have undergone a slimming in the collection. Since my last visit the Bali starlings, Asian glossy starlings and black francolins have all left, and the complete bird and mammal list in the area was as follows:
White-naped crane
Orinoco goose
Brazilian duck
Fulvous whistling duck
Rosybill pochard *
Hamerkop
Military macaw
Giant wood-rail
Northern helmeted curassow
Pied avocet *
White-cheeked turaco *
Luzon bleeding-heart dove
Superb starling *
Scarlet macaw
Moluccan cockatoo
King vulture
Great grey owl
Red-legged seriema
Andean condor
Striated caracara
Southern ground hornbill
Black-headed spider monkey
Alaotran gentle lemur *
Red-handed tamarin
Bolivian squirrel monkey
* Indicates species that were labelled, but I never actually saw
- Because their pool was being cleaned today, the sea lions never seemed to emerge from their off-display enclosure
- The Sea Life Centre still has a moderately interesting collection, but still nothing much to write home about
- The new Wild Asia section houses six animal species, and really could do with housing more ASIAN species, with only one of the six actually being from Asia itself. Despite the geographical inaccuracies, it still was a great little piece, with a standard lorikeet walk-through, along with a vivarium inside the gift shop. This vivarium housed a false water cobra, and is certainly the first time I've ever seen a new zoo species in a gift shop. Species in the walkthrough were:
Rainbow lorikeet (Oceania)
Blue-faced honeyeater (Australia)
Hottentot teal (Africa)
Chiloe wigeon (South America)
Mandarin dusk (ASIA!)
- Doubtlessly, the highlight was the Creepy Caves, with a cracking little collection of animals, some of which I have never personally seen in a captive collection before. The list of species in here were:
Giant Asian pond turtle
Peach-throated monitor lizard
Western mud turtle
Nile monitor lizard
Pink-winged stick insect
Saharan dab lizard
Red-eyed tree frog
Bell's hingeback tortoise
Jamaican boa
Sudan plated lizard
Philippine sailfin lizard
Fruit beetle
Solifugae (Absolutely fantastic to watch)
Blue poison-arrow frog
Desert hairy scorpion
Madagascan hissing cockroach
Caribbean hermit crab
African giant land snail *
Pink-toed tarantula *
Congo mantis *
Monkey-tailed skink
Some kind of unlabelled toad
Red-footed tortoise
Burmese python
Standing's day gecko
* Indicates species that for some reason, had enclosures too darkened to see anything
- Another unusual highlight was the general behaviour of the other visitors. They were reading the information signs left right and centre, and the only comment deserving of a serious misconception were a person calling the fossa "some kind of monkey".
- In terms of new gorilla housing, I saw parts of the new housing, but did not get a good look, because the whole area was fenced off behind bamboo screening. I thought the monorail would offer a good view, but when we finally got around to the monorail, there was a hour-long queue, so we decided against that.
All in all, a great little collection that just seems to continue bettering itself.
- I was surprised by how active many the animals were today- the gorillas, tigers, leopards, binturongs and lions were all making for great displays. One unexpected turn was watching the gorillas having a short but nonetheless violent looking bout; it was fascinating to watch if a little disconcerting.
- The new Wanyama Village and Reserve is a greatly welcome addition to the zoo, with very active and busy meerkat and dwarf mongoose enclosures, along with crested porcupines, Siberian chipmunks and agouti and the main reserve itself home to four male Grevy's zebras (two were out in the main paddock and the other pair were in the sandy paddock around the house) and at least five scimitar-horned oryx including a relatively young calf. Watching the two zebra racing around the grassy paddock and testing their strength was a sight to behold. No sign of the sitatunga however.
- The Monkey and Bird Garden seems to have undergone a slimming in the collection. Since my last visit the Bali starlings, Asian glossy starlings and black francolins have all left, and the complete bird and mammal list in the area was as follows:
White-naped crane
Orinoco goose
Brazilian duck
Fulvous whistling duck
Rosybill pochard *
Hamerkop
Military macaw
Giant wood-rail
Northern helmeted curassow
Pied avocet *
White-cheeked turaco *
Luzon bleeding-heart dove
Superb starling *
Scarlet macaw
Moluccan cockatoo
King vulture
Great grey owl
Red-legged seriema
Andean condor
Striated caracara
Southern ground hornbill
Black-headed spider monkey
Alaotran gentle lemur *
Red-handed tamarin
Bolivian squirrel monkey
* Indicates species that were labelled, but I never actually saw
- Because their pool was being cleaned today, the sea lions never seemed to emerge from their off-display enclosure
- The Sea Life Centre still has a moderately interesting collection, but still nothing much to write home about
- The new Wild Asia section houses six animal species, and really could do with housing more ASIAN species, with only one of the six actually being from Asia itself. Despite the geographical inaccuracies, it still was a great little piece, with a standard lorikeet walk-through, along with a vivarium inside the gift shop. This vivarium housed a false water cobra, and is certainly the first time I've ever seen a new zoo species in a gift shop. Species in the walkthrough were:
Rainbow lorikeet (Oceania)
Blue-faced honeyeater (Australia)
Hottentot teal (Africa)
Chiloe wigeon (South America)
Mandarin dusk (ASIA!)
- Doubtlessly, the highlight was the Creepy Caves, with a cracking little collection of animals, some of which I have never personally seen in a captive collection before. The list of species in here were:
Giant Asian pond turtle
Peach-throated monitor lizard
Western mud turtle
Nile monitor lizard
Pink-winged stick insect
Saharan dab lizard
Red-eyed tree frog
Bell's hingeback tortoise
Jamaican boa
Sudan plated lizard
Philippine sailfin lizard
Fruit beetle
Solifugae (Absolutely fantastic to watch)
Blue poison-arrow frog
Desert hairy scorpion
Madagascan hissing cockroach
Caribbean hermit crab
African giant land snail *
Pink-toed tarantula *
Congo mantis *
Monkey-tailed skink
Some kind of unlabelled toad
Red-footed tortoise
Burmese python
Standing's day gecko
* Indicates species that for some reason, had enclosures too darkened to see anything
- Another unusual highlight was the general behaviour of the other visitors. They were reading the information signs left right and centre, and the only comment deserving of a serious misconception were a person calling the fossa "some kind of monkey".
- In terms of new gorilla housing, I saw parts of the new housing, but did not get a good look, because the whole area was fenced off behind bamboo screening. I thought the monorail would offer a good view, but when we finally got around to the monorail, there was a hour-long queue, so we decided against that.
All in all, a great little collection that just seems to continue bettering itself.
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