Chester Zoo Chester Zoo News 2020

Jana said:
Zoo Jihlava will pick up a 4,0 group of Bush Dogs at Chester later this week.

Apparently, continental zoos are rushing to realize all planned animal transports to/from the UK before brexit date.
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Interesting... do you know if these are young animals born at Chester? Any idea how many bush dogs that leaves Chester with?
 
Sand Cat said:
Interesting... do you know if these are young animals born at Chester? Any idea how many bush dogs that leaves Chester with?
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Sorry, I don´t know answers on your questions. I know only about Jihlava - they have now an empty enclosure after their last male went to Birmingham. So they accepted again a bachelor group of dogs that are used to each other and won´t need separation.
 
The Red pandas have been moving around a little. Dad is back in the usual enclosure, while mum and the little one are off show for the time being. One of last year's offspring has moved to France, while the other is still in ROTRA. They might all be shifting around again in the near future.
 
Indlovu said:
There were at least 13 on display on Saturday.
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They have a nice troupe of bush dogs, yes. It would be nice to see some other UK and continental collections take up husbandry of the species in their collections. They certainly fit the South American rainforest theme of many zoos and are by all accounts great exhibit animals (IMO: much better than the overrated meerkats ....).
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
They have a nice troupe of bush dogs, yes. It would be nice to see some other UK and continental collections take up husbandry of the species in their collections. They certainly fit the South American rainforest theme of many zoos and are by all accounts great exhibit animals (IMO: much better than the overrated meerkats ....).
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Whilst I like Bush Dogs, they seem to be everywhere now (not that this is a bad thing)... I'd say they've lost the "special" appeal that they once had.
 
ThomasNotTom said:
Whilst I like Bush Dogs, they seem to be everywhere now (not that this is a bad thing)... I'd say they've lost the "special" appeal that they once had.
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I know of at least one UK collection going into them next year as well as Birmingham recently. I do like seeing them. I feel they are pretty under appreciated really. Much better to see then Meerkats in my opinion. Great to watch, great social dynamics if displayed in a pack. Got that cute appeal whilst also being very feisty. A win win really in my book. I remember as a kid, having a guide book from Twycross and the picture dictated them as being as large as bears. That was my only disappointment when I actually saw one!
 
Antoine said:
Hazina, 3,5 years old eastern black rhino left the park to join Bioparc Zoo de Doué in France last friday.
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Any plans for a new bull to arrive? Appreciate they may well be in short supply. I was hoping one of Sammy's sons from PL may arrive but they are still quite young and may well be earmarked for other collections.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
They have a nice troupe of bush dogs, yes. It would be nice to see some other UK and continental collections take up husbandry of the species in their collections. They certainly fit the South American rainforest theme of many zoos and are by all accounts great exhibit animals (IMO: much better than the overrated meerkats ....).
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Axe Valley have had a small breeding group for I think the last two years
 
Bubalus said:
Much better to see then Meerkats in my opinion. Great to watch, great social dynamics if displayed in a pack. Got that cute appeal whilst also being very feisty. A win win really in my book.
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I have never seen an enclosure (however large and complex) without worn paths showing evidence of continuous pacing behavior. So, we have repeatedly declined them, the multiple times we've been offered them over the years, and will be sticking to the Meerkats, with hopefully a brand-new enclosure for next year, materials and labour permitting...
 
Andrew Swales said:
I have never seen an enclosure (however large and complex) without worn paths showing evidence of continuous pacing behavior. So, we have repeatedly declined them, the multiple times we've been offered them over the years, and will be sticking to the Meerkats, with hopefully a brand-new enclosure for next year, materials and labour permitting...
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You could argue this for a lot of carnivore species though, both large and small.
Having worked with both species, I'd still hands down take bush dogs over meerkats any day
 
Bubalus said:
You could argue this for a lot of carnivore species though, both large and small.
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Yes, I guess it is a question of degree - but every Bush Dog enclosure I have seen shows very obvious pad-ways, in a way that no Meerkat enclosure I have seen, does.
A matter of personal opinion, so each to their own...
 
Andrew Swales said:
I have never seen an enclosure (however large and complex) without worn paths showing evidence of continuous pacing behavior. So, we have repeatedly declined them, the multiple times we've been offered them over the years, and will be sticking to the Meerkats, with hopefully a brand-new enclosure for next year, materials and labour permitting...
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Doesn’t that happen with all Canids?
 
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Andrew Swales said:
Yes, I guess it is a question of degree - but every Bush Dog enclosure I have seen shows very obvious pad-ways, in a way that no Meerkat enclosure I have seen, does.
A matter of personal opinion, so each to their own...
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I think the answer to that is quite simple really. A lot of bush dog enclosures are grass based so therefore pathways will be obvious as they wear away the grass and leave the mud. Most meerkat enclosures will be stone/sand/dirt based. A lot easier to rake over tracking each day by a keeper. Basically like laying down fresh carpet for them everyday. No signs of wear and tear
 
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Andrew Swales said:
I have never seen an enclosure (however large and complex) without worn paths showing evidence of continuous pacing behavior. So, we have repeatedly declined them, the multiple times we've been offered them over the years, and will be sticking to the Meerkats, with hopefully a brand-new enclosure for next year, materials and labour permitting...
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I agree that bushdogs do make and regularly follow paths around their enclosures - but I have always thought of it as a pack behaviour, with each dog following the one in front of it to maintain contact between small animals in a complex forest environment - possibly involving patrolling territory as well. In my experience the dogs rarely show the stereotyped pacing behaviour that can be seen in some big cats and mustelids. I think bushdogs show very well when a group has a large enclosure with some areas of thick planting and a fairly large pool in the sunniest spot. But that doesn't mean that I want to see bushdogs in every zoo, or that I don't understand the importance of suricates.
 
FBBird said:
Doesn’t that happen with all Canids?
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Yes, I'm sure it does to some degree; although it is nowhere near as obvious with say our Corsac Foxes which have at times been quite a large group. I am sure Gentle Lemur is quite right, as from what I've seen it seems to be 'pack trails' rather than stereotyped behaviour, and of course spp like Corsacs dont form packs. But, I certainly wouldn't accept that is is just because Bush Dogs are kept in grass enclosures - and if visitors accept the animals continually 'trotting' around the same path, then yes I guess they make an active exhibit. We considered eventually replacing our elderly and pretty much invisible ASC Otters (which only come out during lock-downs!) with Bush Dogs, but they are not for us, and we don't really 'need' another Canid.
 
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