Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2009 #2

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roz
  • Start date Start date
A few other observations from yesterday:

Aardvarks bank in their usual house although can't go outside as building work going on in new and old enclosure.
New leopard enclosure progressing well and starting to be clearer what it will look like.
Baby anteater was on view and playing with it's mum & also getting a piggy back ride from her.
There are a couple of fairly new squirrel monkey babies.
The llama and alpaca area is being redeveloped although not sure what will be there as couldn't see any signs.
 
There's another message on FB from 2 hours ago saying 'How very sad losing the lioness'. It really is ...... I'm surprised how shocked and saddened I feel but I guess you imagine you 'know' these animals when you visit regularly.

On Wednesday, the indoor lion area was closed and you could see Leoni lying on the straw. A notice said it was temporarily shut while a veterinary procedure was being carried out. How sad, if true ..... I always imagined Subu would go 1st. Also sad to think of him on his own as they seemed to be close - often lying within feet of each other (as below, in July this year). I wonder what they'll do now ........ whether a new lioness would be considered just yet or not ?

Also saw the baby anteater for the 1st time on Wednesday. A keeper said they didn't yet know if it was male or female though I could have sworn I'd read somewhere it was male ?? However, my 6 year old asked the same keeper what its name was and was told 'Zorrio' ......... I wasn't paying attention at that point so take that bit of news with a pinch of salt.

We stayed till about 6.30pm and were really pleased to see Tiga being very active indoors at Orangutan Forest - climbing and swinging without the ubiquitous sacking or towel over his head.

Ditto actually saw three aadvarks moving outside for a change (they are usually under their heat lamp as regular visitors know).

Also saw a baby mandrill clinging underneath its mum's belly.

No sign of the baby pygmy hippo yet ......

Saw Zamba - all ears and big feet. Very cute. There are some great photos of him on Colchester's FB site ...... he's been let out for a short period in the main paddock. This news is also on Colchester's web site - he's apparently taken his 1st mudbath.
 
I can understand folks getting attached to animals like Leoni. A lion on its own .... no clan, no fun!

It however also is a window of opportunity to finally go out of generic lions and progressively bring in pure-bred and wild-caught - threatened/ more or less endangered lions (several Continental zoos like Antwerpen are going into pure-bred African lions). Way to go ... methinks!
 
You probably find this may be a move colchester will take when Subu dies he is 21 and doing remarkably well for his age. Either that or holding a non-breeding male group would be very useful in freeing up potential space.
 
Aww sad news if it is true but nothing official yet?? I keep looking

I personally have never felt happy with lion rock, it has never seemed big enough to me and never felt it 'displayed' the lions at there best!

I personally would love to see lions in the future moved to a bigger area elsewhere (i know there is no room at present) and the old enclosure planted up and used for maybe a small species of cats?? Servals

Trouble is the public probably expect to see lions at the zoo, but I personally love seeing them in much larger and not so barren enclosures (and no fake rock !!)
 
Last edited:
I've just received this message via FB from Colchester. I've replied and said that as a lot of concerned members here were wondering what happened, that I'd be passing the news on ... also thanked them for explaining and said I understood why they want to keep it quiet for now. Obviously, it's unlikely that any adopters would come across the news here in the forum without specifically using a search engine. Thought it was good of them to send a lengthy reply (I'd left a short message on Colchester's FB page):

Thank you for your message of support. I am afraid we did lose Leoni on Thursday evening due to a problem with a valve in her heart that lead to heart failure and her death. It is a terribly sad time at Colchester Zoo but messages such as yours are of great comfort to the keepers and staff here.

However, I am afraid that I have removed your comment from our facebook page, as we are still waiting for some of her adopter's to receive their letters explaining what has happened. As I am sure you can understand, we would not want them to find out that she has passed away by reading it on facebook and whilst we have contacted all of the ones that we could by telephone, there are still some that we could not get hold of.

I hope that you understand and do not think that we are being rude or ungrateful. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you once again for all your kindness and support and I hope that we will be welcoming you back to Colchester Zoo again soon.
Click to expand...
 
I feel really (surprisingly) upset now thinking I saw her on Wednesday when she was about to die. :( Silly really - it happens. She was such a lovely cat and one of the advantages of Colchester's fondness for large glass windows in many exhibits was that you could be separated by a centimetre of glass from such a magnificent animal. I feel really privileged to have been that close to her a few times when she was right up next to the window.

Karen .... I agree that Lion Rock never really felt big 'enough', especially when compared to the Amur Tiger enclosure. It must be said though that Subu and Leoni have never seemed very active whenever I've visited - unlike Igor and Anoushka who do seem to make full use of their whole enclosure. I suppose that must be the challenge of providing suitable enrichment to lions (or any big cat) whose exercise mainly comes from hunting (including stalking and searching for prey) in the wild.
 
Last edited:
Aww sad news! Thank you Gill for getting this confimed and sharing the news with us. She was such a 'good' looking lioness and certainly knew how to put Subu in his place as one or the other of them always seemed to have battle scars!
 
A bit more info from Colchester. Have to say .... am very impressed they're bothering to reply so quickly .... so many organisations never reply at all.

Thank you for your understanding reply and support for Subu. Once again we are sorry that we had to remove your facebook comment but we are happy that you understand our reason.

It is ok that you inform people on the Zoo chat forum explaining how we sadly lost our Lioness, thank you for letting us know that there is a dicussion about Leoni on there.

We will be looking into getting Subu another companion in the near future but this is a procedure we will not be rushing into as we want to make sure that we look into all reccomendations from the breeding programme which Subu is connected to.

Hope to welcome you to the Zoo again soon, thank you again for your continued support it is very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Interesting that they're talking about Subu still being part of a breeding programme.
 
He has been sterilised though? - If he's not they cant be expecting a 21 year old to breed. He was with Ashanti and Massing for 15 years or so so hes definately had something done.
 
Colchester Zoo are currently mourning the loss off Leoni the Lioness. I ahve emailed the zoo and am hoping to see what they say about Subu coping with the loss. Zamba the Rhino has been let out into the main paddock and is now mixing with the giraffe under the watchfull eye of cynthia! Poor Subu, he has lost 3 companions in his lifetime. RIP Leoni :(
 
Any questions or answers you would like me to ask on this matter or another matter, just ask. I shall email the zoo directly or visit.:)
 
Riziki said:
He has been sterilised though? - If he's not they cant be expecting a 21 year old to breed
Click to expand...

That's why I commented it was 'interesting' he should be referred to as being connected to a breeding programme. :) I don't know if he's been sterilised or not but have some vague recollection of reading that he's never bred ??
 
Subu has never bred since he arrived from Woburn Safari Park. He has been sterilised so dont know why Colchester Zoo wrote that is he part of a breeding program. He just needs to be found a new female companion.
 
However if he is not found a female companion it might not be the end of the world. Being such an old individual by the time an individual is found they may only be together a few days then they would be stuck in the same boat again.
What Subu needs at the moment is some huge TLC from his keepers! - And lets see what happens.
 
Reading between the lines it is not about getting Subu another mate, its possibly about seeing if the enclosure can be put to better use conservationally, which MIGHT mean the recommendation of euthanasia on welfare grounds (i.e. he's an old cat on his own who will inevitably start developing health problems due to his old age) so that Colchester can then acquire breeding lions of recommended blood lines for display / breeding.

Its not a nice thing to contemplate but it does happen and I've worked with cats its happened to, its the worse feeling in the zoo keeping world going into work knowing that your going to loose an animal that day
 
ZooLeopard said:
Pygmy Hippo is due to give birth soon in next 24 hours really. :)

Also new Male rhino is due to arrive tomorro :)
Click to expand...

Good news about these two.
has the new male giraffe arrived yet? If not when is he due as I thought it was this week just gone? :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top