Is / Was she the only pygmy hippo left?
Bristol Zoo (Closed) Bristol Zoo news 2021
- Thread starter Pootle
- Start date
I think she was the only one. Presumably this move is part of the winding down of the collection prior to the relocation at Wild Place. Perhaps the 'Hippo House' will now stay empty/closed? And I wonder if they will resume with either Hippo species at Wild Place in the future.
Hopefully yes as this species is quite in need of place in Europe.
Would be nice if they clarify that ... what the plans are at Wild Place for this and other species!
I was gonna say.... aren't YWP planning on getting Pygmy Hippos soon??? I have heard mention of this in their thread but not much else.
Are there that many spare animals available? Several zoos have single animals I thought? Whipsnade, Marwell? Bristol until now for a start
A few years back Marwell Zoo sent a pygmy hippo on B/L to an US zoo collection, I think Montgomery Zoo. There have been a few others as well joining the AZA SSP program or being sent to an US zoo. I can think of a French zoo par exemple.
Still no news on Gorilla Kera? Anybody seen her? Hopefully, I will be able to visit again soon.
The Hedgehog
Well-Known Member
I visited today. I knew that the Nocturnal House, the Lemur Walk-through, the Butterfly tent and the Bird House would be closed, but more or less everything else was open, although some of the paths were closed because of the one-way system. Actually the pygmy hippo house was closed too, because the last hippo was sent to America as noted above. Then only thing that really frustrated me was that the little row of exhibits for small reptiles were cordoned off. The former Alaotra lemur enclosure was cordoned off too. There were also a few empty enclosures, including the Asian turtle breeding room and the otter enclosure and I think the smaller section of old Dalton Burgess aviary was too (in spite of labels for Bali mynah and Princess of Wales parakeet).
I was looking forward to visiting the Aquarium as I wanted to test out a new home-made piece of photo kit and I wanted to see the new Malagasy cichlid tank mentioned on the zoo's website. I have yet to consider my photos, but the Malagasy tank was an initial disappointment: it is the fourth large tank so it is generously sized, but it was very turbid indeed and I could see nothing at all on my first visit, except for extra filtration. Fortunately the water was little clearer in the afternoon, and a little group of half-grown Mangarahara cichlids was swimming along the front of the tank, so I tried a few photos.
I saw the little chevrotain with its mother in the indoor part of the fruit bat exhibit, and the young tree kangaroo is almost as big as its mother. But the sloth mother and infant were only a ball of fur.
The gorillas were hard to see. I only saw the two juveniles outside for few moments. As there are no talks and, I presume no outdoor feeds (at least none are announced), the adults prefer to stay indoors. With social distancing, rather dirty glass and the labyrinthine arrangement of the indoor quarters with gorillas appearing and disappearing, I could only identify big Jock and Touni with her baby, so I don't know whether I saw Kera or not. Likewise with no public talk, I didn't see a keeper to ask about Kera. I did have a chat with a volunteer, who said 'she is coming out more often', so I pass that on for what it's worth.
I was looking forward to visiting the Aquarium as I wanted to test out a new home-made piece of photo kit and I wanted to see the new Malagasy cichlid tank mentioned on the zoo's website. I have yet to consider my photos, but the Malagasy tank was an initial disappointment: it is the fourth large tank so it is generously sized, but it was very turbid indeed and I could see nothing at all on my first visit, except for extra filtration. Fortunately the water was little clearer in the afternoon, and a little group of half-grown Mangarahara cichlids was swimming along the front of the tank, so I tried a few photos.
I saw the little chevrotain with its mother in the indoor part of the fruit bat exhibit, and the young tree kangaroo is almost as big as its mother. But the sloth mother and infant were only a ball of fur.
The gorillas were hard to see. I only saw the two juveniles outside for few moments. As there are no talks and, I presume no outdoor feeds (at least none are announced), the adults prefer to stay indoors. With social distancing, rather dirty glass and the labyrinthine arrangement of the indoor quarters with gorillas appearing and disappearing, I could only identify big Jock and Touni with her baby, so I don't know whether I saw Kera or not. Likewise with no public talk, I didn't see a keeper to ask about Kera. I did have a chat with a volunteer, who said 'she is coming out more often', so I pass that on for what it's worth.
I'm visiting Bristol zoo for the first time very soon and I'm wondering how good the reptile house is with the current restrictions as this, and the gorillas, are the main reasons for my visit. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
The Reptile House is fine, except for the little side corridor where there are about 8 small exhibits for hatchlings and small species (including dart frogs, day geckos and dwarf chameleons) plus viewing windows into the turtle room and the incubation room. Because these exhibits are so close together, social distancing would be impossible, so they are roped off. All the large and medium sized exhibits are accessible and fully stocked, most of the species have been kept there for years. As I said before, the gorillas were hard to see, perhaps the windy weather did not help.
I would never discourage anyone from visiting Bristol; but if you can, I would suggest that you wait for another month or so, by which time we hope that the restrictions will be lifted and you will be able to see more - including the Nocturnal House, I forgot to mention above that work was going on in its entrance corridor at the end of the lion enclosure. If you have any specific questions, send me a PM.
Kera is the biggest of the three females, blackish with(usually) plucked areas on her upper arms/shoulder area. I agree its difficult to see them all well in the indoor areas nowadays, and some sections are quite dark too. It will be interesting to see what sort of new build they get when the relocation to Wild Place takes place.
The mystery is solved- they've been training Kera to surrogate the young baby Hasani- it is all over their news now. I thought her absence was most likely either illness or surrogacy training and pleased to hear it was the latter scenario and successful too. It should give Kera a chance to be a 'mother' now too as her handraised background means she and Jock don't breed together (her daughter Afia was sired by the (then) younger-aged blackback male Komale).
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Thanks for your help
I have just seen Bristol's announcement too. I think it explains everything and it's very good news indeed. Even if Kera would allow Jock to mate, in view of the difficulties she had when Afia was born, I wonder if it would be wise or even possible for her to get pregnant again: but now she can play a really important role in the group and the experience could be important if a similar situation were to arise again in the future.
Agree on both points, probably safer if she didn't herself have another baby, and if she raises Hasani successfully it could be a useful asset for them if it happens again. Its possible she is already contracepted of course, though in her case I don't think they would need to.
Btw, are there any animals currently in the enclosure just opposite the entrance, where the Drills were?
Linné's two-toed sloths. I believe mother and infant, but as I said above, I only saw a shaggy ball of fur.