Chester Zoo Chester in 2013 #1

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I hope Maya and Jangolie are never moved, it seems they are doing great in the herd and they may be more important for the stability of the group then it seems. They would probably bored to death if they went to a zoo with just a few older females. Both are rather old and deserve to live out their lives peacefully with the elephants they are bonded with. Nayan and Sundara`s calf will certainly have to leave in the future.
 
Very nice photo SMR. Personally I hope it's another male, so Upali's genes can be spread everywhere.
 
bongorob said:
I doubt that the house is over stocked, according to Zoolex it was designed to hold 2.8 plus 5 youngsters.
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That's true, but herd dynamics and keeping methods have changed since. At the members' evening with the elephant team, they were specifically asked how many elephants the house could hold, and the answer was that it was already over capacity. That event was held well before the latest births.
 
The latest elephant calf is female, according to the Chester Zoo FB page :)
 
Yassa said:
I hope Maya and Jangolie are never moved, it seems they are doing great in the herd and they may be more important for the stability of the group then it seems.
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Jangolie is also a breeder, or she has been. If she had had female calves instead of males, she could be heading her own family unit like Thi by now. I guess there is no reason she couldn't breed again, unless the new bull is too small for her?
 
Pertinax said:
Jangolie is also a breeder, or she has been. If she had had female calves instead of males, she could be heading her own family unit like Thi by now. I guess there is no reason she couldn't breed again, unless the new bull is too small for her?
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Haven't a clue what the maximum breeding age is for the species, but at 45, and not having bred for 10 years, I suspect Jangolie is unlikely to breed again. I'd happily be proven wrong, of course.
 
I was very fortunate to see the new baby Elephant around 12 or so hours old on Tuesday afternoon. It was also my first time seeing the other baby Elephant :)
 
Does anyone know what's going in the old sitatunga enclosure ?
It's been split into two
It was nice seeing some of the animals in the snow on Saturday
The female cheetah (forgot her name ) in the yurt enclosure was enjoying running about in the snow :)
 
Grévy's zebra on the west side (former gemsbok enclosure) and bongos on the east side (former sitatunga enclosure), bongos moved across a week ago.

The zebras are back where they were in 1971, the house was originally constructed for them.
 
That's great thanks
The Bongos must have been there Saturday I did not notice them
Thats a good place for the Bongos will be able to see then well there :)
 
Had our first visit of 2013 last Friday, very nice and quiet it was too and a bit snowy. I really must remember to wear contact lenses not glasses next time I visit in the winter as entering every house is immediate steam up on the eyes, the butterfly house especially!. We didn’t cover the whole zoo, missed out the Tropical House, Giraffes, Okapi and that general area, as it was only a half day visit, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Aardvarks snoozing in what was the Porcupines quarters, where are the porcupines now housed?
As on previous visits we where lucky to see the sloths moving and feeding, this time they where being hand fed (last time they had food out on trays), have they become dependent on hand feeding for some reason? Also whilst in the Jaguar house I didn’t see a jaguar, what is the current situation, still the 4 or have some moved on yet? (I have heard or read that movement was imminent). Baby elephants looking pretty settled with the family and also the little black rhino was in with its mother (Ema Elsa?), a very vocal and energetic young rhino. As the weather was pretty cold many animals where housed or chose not to venture out in the cold. An advantage of this is that the photographers where also partially off show. As this visit was also membership renewal it was a main entrance job, now the cards are intact for another 12 months, it is back to the ‘pedestrians’ entrance and exit for me!
Oh and I just remembered the Aquarium was closed too.
Any info on the above ?'s much appreciated.
 
Pootle said:
Had our first visit of 2013 last Friday, very nice and quiet it was too and a bit snowy. I really must remember to wear contact lenses not glasses next time I visit in the winter as entering every house is immediate steam up on the eyes, the butterfly house especially!. We didn’t cover the whole zoo, missed out the Tropical House, Giraffes, Okapi and that general area, as it was only a half day visit, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Aardvarks snoozing in what was the Porcupines quarters, where are the porcupines now housed?
As on previous visits we where lucky to see the sloths moving and feeding, this time they where being hand fed (last time they had food out on trays), have they become dependent on hand feeding for some reason?
Also whilst in the Jaguar house I didn’t see a jaguar, what is the current situation, still the 4 or have some moved on yet? (I have heard or read that movement was imminent).
Baby elephants looking pretty settled with the family and also the little black rhino was in with its mother (Ema Elsa?), a very vocal and energetic young rhino.
As the weather was pretty cold many animals where housed or chose not to venture out in the cold. An advantage of this is that the photographers where also partially off show. As this visit was also membership renewal it was a main entrance job, now the cards are intact for another 12 months, it is back to the ‘pedestrians’ entrance and exit for me!
Oh and I just remembered the Aquarium was closed too.
Any info on the above ?'s much appreciated.
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Porcupines are now where the Aardvarks were - in with the Meerkats - lets see them pick on the spikey dudes hey!!

No the Sloths are still capable of self feeding - you were just lucky I guess - hand feeding gives the keepers chance to check them out a bit too.

Jaguars: Coro & Bonita have moved to Amazonia in East Anglia - breeding pair mooted but no dates or confirmation yet.

Black Rhino: Young Chanua is a little madam and totally unphased by the public - she is great to watch. Correct Ema is her mum.

Glad you had fun :D
 
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The last time I was in the Aqiuarium Pootle (two days before you visited), there was a strong smell of paint. I wonder if that is why it was closed last Friday.
 
Announcement from Blackpool today, that their Borneon Orangs will be travelling down to Chester on Wednesday 6th Feb for the temporary loan... as expected they will be off show during there time at Chester
 
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