Chester Zoo Chester Zoo News 2024

The amount of calves Chester has lost to EEHV is both scary and sad

Also, while I know Motty was a mistake, it is rly cool as a showcase of elephant genetics and how two distant species could interbreed

Actually, what's the MRCA of African and Asian elephants?
 
tigris115 said:
The amount of calves Chester has lost to EEHV is both scary and sad
Click to expand...

Sadly, it really is. Especially with victims being so young. Was just heart breaking seeing Nandita passing away right among them in The Secret Life of the Zoo. Especially given by the time you see those symptoms appear, you know it's already too late for them.

The only saving grace from all those lost to it, is that now Chester Zoo has found new ways to identify it sooner and be able to treat it. So now thankfully there is hope for any elephants born there in the future and worldwide.

It's just a shame this treatment wasn't discovered sooner to save all those lost before Indali.
 
tigris115 said:
Actually, what's the MRCA of African and Asian elephants?
Click to expand...

I believe the common ancestor would have been some time in the Miocene (23-5.3 million years ago), and probably towards the latter end of that, given Asian elephants share a lineage with mammoths (Mammuthus), the earliest of which originated about 6 million years ago. I’m not sure for certain though, prehistoric mammals aren’t really my area.
 
pendraig_milnerae said:
I believe the common ancestor would have been some time in the Miocene (23-5.3 million years ago), and probably towards the latter end of that, given Asian elephants share a lineage with mammoths (Mammuthus), the earliest of which originated about 6 million years ago. I’m not sure for certain though, prehistoric mammals aren’t really my area.
Click to expand...

You're right on when African and Asian elephants diverged apart. Was about 6 million years ago.

The very first elephant to appear was around 60 million years ago in Eritherium in Morocco, which was only 60cm tall.
However it was around 19 to 18 million years ago in the Early Miocene that elephants started to spread from African to Eurasia. But it does seem to be around that time frame of 23 to 5.3 million years ago.
 
LCPete said:
Nearly forgot to say a few days ago (16th) May was lucky enough to see the Roloway monkeys go outside for the first time, we saw 4 apparently if I’m correct there is 5 including a newborn
Click to expand...
A newborn already, fantastic! I also saw the zoo finally officially announced them on social media the other day even though they've been on show for about two months already.
 
Fallax said:
A newborn already, fantastic! I also saw the zoo finally officially announced them on social media the other day even though they've been on show for about two months already.
Click to expand...

yes it’s amazing news , we didn’t actually see the newborn but was told by a volunteer about it
Was so nice to see the juvenile running around outside
 
I also visited Chester (25/05/24). I had a really enjoyable day out. I stayed till closing time where the animals seem to be more active compare to earlier in the day.

I’ve posted images of the new Tutara exhibit on the media. It’s a really spacious enclosure for them. It’s situated just by the entrance of the Tropical Realm next to the Radiated Tortoise. I did manage to see a tail of the Tutara. They were bigger than what I thought they were.

Really enjoyed going through the primate house later in the day. The Roloway Monkey family is extremely active, especially the younger boys Anum and Ilo. I couldn’t see mom but dad Grizu was keeping an eye on his troublesome sons. The keeper I spoke to couldn’t confirm if another offspring has been born or not.

The Snow Leopard exhibit was lovely. It has nice theming around the exhibit and it gives a lot of space for the animals. Like a usuual snow leopard they were inside sleeping.

Have the fossa offspring been transferred to another collection? I only managed to see two individuals. The lemurs were very vocal when I went into the walkthrough today.
 
pendraig_milnerae said:
I believe the common ancestor would have been some time in the Miocene (23-5.3 million years ago), and probably towards the latter end of that, given Asian elephants share a lineage with mammoths (Mammuthus), the earliest of which originated about 6 million years ago. I’m not sure for certain though, prehistoric mammals aren’t really my area.
Click to expand...
All modern elephants, inclusive the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), originate from the present Sahara/Sahel region branching out to the 3 Continents into African Loxodonta, Asiatic Elephas and Indo-European northern\temperate Mammuthus.
 
Pandaboi said:
I’ve posted images of the new Tutara exhibit on the media. It’s a really spacious enclosure for them. It’s situated just by the entrance of the Tropical Realm next to the Radiated Tortoise. I did manage to see a tail of the Tutara. They were bigger than what I thought they were.
Click to expand...

Ah, so the old Galapagos Tortoise exhibit that has been variously empty and under construction for a while then; I have to confess to distinctly mixed feelings about the matter!

On one hand, it *is* excellent news that a species so unique and representing a major breeding achievement by the zoo has gone back onshow, and I very much look forward to hopefully seeing them again.

On the other hand, they should have *never* been removed from their existing exhibit - which was more spacious than their new exhibit, better-suited for their needs as regards environmental conditions and substrate, and to which they had grown accustomed over the course of years, all factors contributing to the successful breeding of the species - let alone replaced with a bunch of duplicate species already displayed elsewhere in the zoo. Between the disruption, the exhibit, and the fact the entire building is likely to be demolished within the next few years and they won't have the time to grow familiar and comfortable they had last time, I think it is doubtful they will breed again or be as reliably-visible as they once were :( even if the whole breeding group has gone back onshow and not merely two or three individuals, as may turn out be the case.

So, definitely something to celebrate.... but at the same time I'm not going to be shouting unmitigated praises from the rooftops :p:D
 
Pandaboi said:
Have the fossa offspring been transferred to another collection? I only managed to see two individuals. The lemurs were very vocal when I went into the walkthrough today.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about any other individuals but it was reported back in October 2023 that the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis in Cumbria will acquire a (0.1) fossa in spring 2024.
 
They may have to move them due to issues with the building, there original enclosure was on the outside wall, maybe heating, water ingress was an Issue.
 
jde7582 said:
They may have to move them due to issues with the building, there original enclosure was on the outside wall, maybe heating, water ingress was an Issue.
Click to expand...

The fact the original exhibit was on the outer perimeter of the house and allowed cooler temperatures than within the tropical house itself is actually one of the reasons why it was so good for the species - along with the fact that it contained deep substrate for their burrowing and breeding behaviour, again due to the location of the exhibit in relation to the main body of the house.

In any case, if heating and water ingress were problems that would have made the redevelopment of the exhibit for heat-sensitive Malagasy reptiles immediately after pulling the tuatara offshow even more of a foolish move :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top