God of Mischief
Member
Hi! Does anyone have species lists for Butterfly Journey or Secret World of the Okapi? Those are the two areas I missed on my last visit. Thanks in advance.
Chester Zoo Chester Zoo discussion and questions 2025
- Thread starter Typhlonectes
- Start date
Okapi House
Okapi (Okapia jophnstoni)
Red Forest Duiker (Cephalopus natalensis)
African Pygmy Mouse (Mus minutoides)
Acacia Rat (Thallomys paedulcus)
Barbary Striped Grass Mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus)
Lake Malawi Cichlid (Lethrinops chinigali)
Lake Malawi Cichlid (Rhamphochromis 'chiligali')
Western Gaboon Viper (Bitis rhinoceros)
I haven't been to Butterfiles yet this year.
Okapi (Okapia jophnstoni)
Red Forest Duiker (Cephalopus natalensis)
African Pygmy Mouse (Mus minutoides)
Acacia Rat (Thallomys paedulcus)
Barbary Striped Grass Mouse (Lemniscomys barbarus)
Lake Malawi Cichlid (Lethrinops chinigali)
Lake Malawi Cichlid (Rhamphochromis 'chiligali')
Western Gaboon Viper (Bitis rhinoceros)
I haven't been to Butterfiles yet this year.
God of Mischief
Member
Thanks. I'm surprised the species list is the same as my last visit a couple of years ago despite half of them now being in Heart of Africa!
The round-eared sengi (Macroscelides proboscideus) have completely moved over to Heart of Africa, and a few of the rodents have additional groups over there as well. My understanding is that Chester has had quite a bit of success breeding them.
Dave J Hill
Member
Asian Elephants @ Chester.
I for one are looking forward to the arrival of Karishma and her daughter Elizabeth from Whipsnade to Chester. This hopefully will enable the Elephant team @ Chester rebuild their breeding program after the unfortunate chain of events that's happened over the last 2 years.
Even though Karisma will be a non breeding female, she should make an experienced Matriarch for the herd and offer support as Indali and Elizabeth both approach breeding age. Hopefully these 2 young females will form a bond that could be very beneficial in the long term future breeding program.
However extremely exciting news for Chester and the future of their breeding program. Whilst Karishma is non breeding (due to still carrying a fetus from a previous pregnancy), she'll hopefully provide Indali especially with the guidance and leadership she'd need at this age where she's beginning to enter adulthood. Karishma's daughter, Elizabeth is also the same age as Indali.
According to reports from Whipsnade this transfer should be planned for Early May 2025. So hopefully in the very near future. Will be interesting to see how they react with Chester's resident elephants and how the family dynamics work out.
Just wondering what other members views are on this transfer of new Bloodline to Chester Herd.
I for one are looking forward to the arrival of Karishma and her daughter Elizabeth from Whipsnade to Chester. This hopefully will enable the Elephant team @ Chester rebuild their breeding program after the unfortunate chain of events that's happened over the last 2 years.
Even though Karisma will be a non breeding female, she should make an experienced Matriarch for the herd and offer support as Indali and Elizabeth both approach breeding age. Hopefully these 2 young females will form a bond that could be very beneficial in the long term future breeding program.
However extremely exciting news for Chester and the future of their breeding program. Whilst Karishma is non breeding (due to still carrying a fetus from a previous pregnancy), she'll hopefully provide Indali especially with the guidance and leadership she'd need at this age where she's beginning to enter adulthood. Karishma's daughter, Elizabeth is also the same age as Indali.
According to reports from Whipsnade this transfer should be planned for Early May 2025. So hopefully in the very near future. Will be interesting to see how they react with Chester's resident elephants and how the family dynamics work out.
Just wondering what other members views are on this transfer of new Bloodline to Chester Herd.
GiraffeJett
Member
Does anyone know what the current Congo Buffalo population stands at Chester Zoo?
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Raikou
Well-Known Member
According to the 2024 annual report, there are 1 male and 4 females.
They still had on my last visit. The male has been sterilised.
The zoo has no plans to exhibit gorillas.
AmazonianHippo
Well-Known Member
Or at least not in the foreseeable future, however long-term anything is on the cards really.
I too am really looking forward to this move - it's really beneficial for all elephants involved.
Karishma and Elizabeth will both get a new start. Karishma well get the opportunity to take on the matriarchal position and lead a herd. Indali will also get the opportunity to meet another young cow her age in Elizabeth. Fingers crossed the pair will get along well together. It'll be interesting to see the dynamics with those two and Anjan, if he remains. It should be really good for all three socially.
And obviously both Indali and Anjan are in need of guidance and mentorship from older elephants, so Karishma will hopefully be able to fulfil that role. Especially with Indali, who'll need all the support she can get once she breeds and has a calf of her own.
It would be good to see Karishma again on my next visit to Chester whenever that will be. I haven't seen her since she was a little youngster at Twycross.
Charles
Well-Known Member
Can someone give context as to why karishma is still carrying her unborn calf?
It’s not unknown for a cow elephant to retain a dead foetus in mummified form. It happened with an African female at Colchester, who may still be in that state
Re. Elephant transfer:
This transfer will hopefully benefit all involved.
Aside from the benefits this will bring to Chester’s herd, it will also enable Whipsnade (who has two matrilines, plus Lucha) to streamline their herd:
——————
0.1 Lucha (1982)
0.1 Kaylee (1982) - Donna (2009) - Nang Phaya (2022)
——————
0.1 Karishma (1998) - Elizabeth (2016)
——————
Though time will, I’m hopeful Indali’s young age will make her more receptive of the incoming cows than you’d expect from an adult cow. There’s the potential for her and Elizabeth especially to form a good relationship, with Karishma providing guidance and support to them both.
Re. Retained fetus in elephants:
The retention of a fetus is definitely not an uncommon phenomenon in elephants. One study focussed on 10 captive cows that retained their deceased fetus for varying periods between 3 months and 7 years.
Since surgical intervention (e.g. caesarean or foetototomy) has previously had fatal results for the dam, the best course of action (depending how far the calf has progressed during labour) is sometimes to do nothing i.e. allow the cow to retain the fetus.
Rajang-GOAT
Well-Known Member
I believe you are talking about Zola, who's waters broke for her first calf in December 2003, but retained the body of the calf for another 2 years or so. She went on to have two more stillborns in 2008 and 2011.
A more well known example is Asian elephant Lucha at Whipsnade, who as far as I am aware is still carrying a fetus from 2002.
As others have said, this should be a beneficial move if all goes well, with potential to reinvigorate the herd at Chester. Hopefully we can see more success in elephant breeding across the UK in the second part of this decade.
Does anyone know the name and gender of Bornean Orangutan Sarikei’s baby born in 2023?
It was a female offspring; however now that you mention it, I'm not sure a name was ever announced.