Chester Zoo Chester 2012 #4

Great thing about Zoochat, the place NOT to find out any information until after it goes on Facebook!

My money is on Jamilah for matriarch, she's a proper little madam!
 
Since Chester Zoo became a lot more active on social media they have become a lot more savvy about playing the media game as a whole - so they use both twotter and faceache for breaking news and the 'lets keep the followers interested' games - no problem with that - that's exactly what they are for.
The upshot is that we have seen what used to be a very media wary organisation become a much more media open organisation.

So when there are oodles of people commenting of Facebook for instance that various animals are obviously pregnant and they want to know when they are due - what would be the point of hiding the fact any more?

Giving newborns time to bond, settle, survive - whatever you want to call it - before allowing public access is just common sense.
 
ZooChat really isn't as important in media terms as certain people think, the number of visitors here is tiny and mostly consists of zoo enthusiasts who can of course, easily see when animals are pregnant. If we discuss a birth, it hardly puts a dent in the zoo's publicity drive.

I just worry about the number of people who will visit in an attempt to see new arrivals that turn out to be off-show on the back of Faceache announcements, when let's face it, a lot of the people there aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
 
SMR said:
ZooChat really isn't as important in media terms as certain people think, the number of visitors here is tiny and mostly consists of zoo enthusiasts who can of course, easily see when animals are pregnant. If we discuss a birth, it hardly puts a dent in the zoo's publicity drive.
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Correct. There's a couple(?) of thousand users on here at most, and that's wordlwide, while the majority of these aren't active at any one time. Those actually involved with/interested in/visiting a particular zoo and reporting about it e.g. Chester, must represent an infinitately tiny handful compared to their visiting public generally.

I believe Zoochat represents an information link to the Zoos that very few members of the general zoo visiting public are ever likely to tap into or use as a resource. So I think something broadcast, or mentioned or speculated about on here, is unlikely to have any real impact on publicity a zoo may be organising in regard to its animals.
 
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Pertinax said:
Correct. There's a couple(?) of thousand users on here at most, and that's wordlwide, while the majority of these aren't active at any one time. Those actually involved with/interested in/visiting a particular zoo and reporting about it e.g. Chester, must represent an infinitately tiny handful compared to their visiting public generally.

I believe Zoochat represents an information link to the Zoos that very few members of the general zoo visiting public are ever likely to tap into or use as a resource. So I think something broadcast, or mentioned or speculated about on here, is unlikely to have any real impact on publicity a zoo may be organising in regard to its animals.
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But it's obvious that the UK zoo's do take notice of what is posted on this forum as they react to it sometimes, whether directly or indirectly. Some zoo's activly participate here, others lurk and others actually ban their staff from posting.
This may well be true for zoos in other countries but I wouldn't particularly know.
 
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karoocheetah said:
It doesn't look like we have a 'true' matriarch in the purest sense. Jangoli as a very dominant cow, the others tend to look to her reaction to new things. Maya is a foodie which isn't always easy. I suppose it should be Thi being a grandmother and mother but she's not the pushy type. The herds dynamics are certainly interesting to watch, especialky with a new bull thown into the mix, Aung Bo is still a relative youngster so I think I'm expecting good things from him as he settles in.
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Regarding Maya's great love of food, I remember over twenty years ago, during her short stay at Chessington before she came to Chester, you were allowed to feed the elephants then, I bought her a bag of that multi coloured pop corn, 50p, it lasted two seconds of coarse, so I bought another, then another, before long I had spent over a fiver on her treats, that probably would equate now to about £20, happy days, when you had money to spend like that on a few treats for an elephant:)
 
Goodbye Asani

Black Rhino, Asani has today left Chester to go to Port Lympne. Statement from Chester's facebook...

Yesterday we said hello to our new baby giraffe but today we've said goodbye to our black rhino, Asani. Having been born here in 2008, he is now on his way to Port Lympne Wild Animal Park where he will meet up with new females as part of the European endangered species breeding programme.

Will miss him, but hope he does well down there :)
 
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karoocheetah said:
But it's obvious that the UK zoo's do take notice of what is posted on this forum as they react to it sometimes, whether directly or indirectly. Some zoo's activly participate here, others lurk and others actually ban their staff from posting.
.
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Yes, but surely not because they genuinely fear that comments on here will affect them publicly.
 
SMR said:
I just worry about the number of people who will visit in an attempt to see new arrivals that turn out to be off-show on the back of Faceache announcements.
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This is a very good point as from the general public point of view, many families who must fork out at least £50 plus for a day at Chester Zoo will see on facebook that there is a baby Giraffe and that maybe the deciding factor on their visit to the zoo. Although they will have a good day out, they must be disappointed to arrive and find out that the Giraffe house is shut!. I am all for these houses being open when there is a new born myself (unless there are obvious problems of course). This is because the mother will be used to the public being around and making noise, so I don’t think that would be an issue. Also to compromise the whole situation surely it is practical to have a set up where only so many people are allowed to see the baby at any one time and are told to remain quiet. This in my opinion would give the paying public the opportunity to see what has been advertised as a zoo success and also I feel would help the new born become used to numbers of people around rather than the zoo deciding one day that it is time to open the house fully after being closed and the young animal after days in peace and quiet is subjected to what we all know is the noise that happens on busy zoo days in the giraffe house.
 
Pertinax said:
Correct. There's a couple(?) of thousand users on here at most, and that's wordlwide, while the majority of these aren't active at any one time. Those actually involved with/interested in/visiting a particular zoo and reporting about it e.g. Chester, must represent an infinitately tiny handful compared to their visiting public generally.

I believe Zoochat represents an information link to the Zoos that very few members of the general zoo visiting public are ever likely to tap into or use as a resource. So I think something broadcast, or mentioned or speculated about on here, is unlikely to have any real impact on publicity a zoo may be organising in regard to its animals.
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In my experience, general zoo visitors can also be unaware of publicity put out by zoos. I've lost count of the number of people I've heard expressing surprise at Paignton's newest giraffe calf, for instance.
 
Pootle said:
This is a very good point as from the general public point of view, many families who must fork out at least £50 plus for a day at Chester Zoo will see on facebook that there is a baby Giraffe and that maybe the deciding factor on their visit to the zoo. Although they will have a good day out, they must be disappointed to arrive and find out that the Giraffe house is shut!.
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It does say in the announcement that the house is shut (see Nisha's post #30). My sympathy for such people would be limited!
 
Maguari said:
It does say in the announcement that the house is shut (see Nisha's post #30). My sympathy for such people would be limited!
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If it states it is shut it is a different matter and good for mentioning this fact. Saying that I am sure most people will read baby giraffe and not read the rest! I still however think it would be pretty harmless to let measured numbers into the giraffe house to view the new born under supervision.

From Giraffes to Rhinos. Are three females at the zoo confirmed as being pregnant?
 
Pootle said:
What was it you posted about having little sympathy for people not reading something properly? :D

(sorry couldn't resist!)
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:D :D

Ah, but if I were spending £50 and driving across the country on the back of it I'd have read it very carefully indeed! :p
 
Nisha said:
Mark Pilgrim said so in the most recent Z magazine (the three being Ema, Malindi and Zuri)
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Thats it, thanks Nisha. I knew I had read it somewhere, but could find nothing on the internet, then as you do, I started questioning myself as if I had made it up!

Back at the end of May this year, I observed what I thought was a pregnant rhino, so I will pat myself on the back for being correct :) (there is a first for everything :p)
 
According to a member of staff I chatted to today, they had been asked a lot why it wasn't possible to see the baby giraffe, but by endless school children, not by families. I'm not sure they can be excused for not fully reading an announcement either, but the news could be diluted as word went around a classroom.

Incidentally, for some reason all the giraffes were kept inside today, not just mother and calf. I'm not sure why they couldn't allow them out as the mother was being isolated in one of the back stalls.

In other news, both giant otters were swimming in the underwater viewing and in the outdoor pool. No sign of cubs. No sign of an okapi birth or orang birth either (saw both prospective mothers).

The Chilean flamingo chicks have been removed from their enclosure and are being hand reared. Tigers were off-show (the viewing window to their dens boarded-up) while work was undertaken in the enclosure.

P.S. There was a young scimitar-horned oryx out on the hard-standing. Not sure when it was born but only looked a week or two old.
 
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SMR said:
According to a member of staff I chatted to today, they had been asked a lot why it wasn't possible to see the baby giraffe, but by endless school children, not by families. I'm not sure they can be excused for not fully reading an announcement either, but the news could be diluted as word went around a classroom.

Incidentally, for some reason all the giraffes were kept inside today, not just mother and calf. I'm not sure why they couldn't allow them out as the mother was being isolated in one of the back stalls.

In other news, both giant otters were swimming in the underwater viewing and in the outdoor pool. No sign of cubs. No sign of an okapi birth or orang birth either (saw both prospective mothers).

The Chilean flamingo chicks have been removed from their enclosure and are being hand reared. Tigers were off-show (the viewing window to their dens boarded-up) while work was undertaken in the enclosure.

P.S. There was a young scimitar-horned oryx out on the hard-standing. Not sure when it was born but only looked a week or two old.
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I'm don't know a lot about Giant Otter rearing apart from there is a very high mortality rate, if both parents are out could this mean they dns?

Are both female Sumatran Orangutans pregnant? Chester's breeding females have produced six/seven (?) youngsters between not a bad record at all.
 
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