Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2009 #2

  • Thread starter Thread starter Roz
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Some exciting news from the zoo...

On the 22nd of October, Pippa our female Meerkat gave birth to her first two pups bringing the total group up to six!


At first the pups were well hidden by mum and only discovered by chance when the Keepers were cleaning out the enclosure. They are growing well and have now started venturing outside closely followed by mum, if you are lucky you may well be able to see them exploring in their enclosure at the Valley Zone!


Meerkats are the most social of the mongooses, with excellent teamwork and cooperation they can live in colonies averaging 24 members but sometimes reaching up to 30. Slender-tailed, or Gray, Meerkats weigh about 0.9kg when fully grown and reach about 50cm long. They are mainly a tan colour but do have broken dark brown bands across their back and sides also black eye rings and tips to their tails.

Is Pippa the female meerkat from Banham Zoo that arrived this year?
 
Well thats good news for the Meercats and its nice to see that something happy has happned to Colchester after those dreadful deaths of Leoini and Katavi.:D
 
Ok I visited for a few hours today. Venus has given birth to a calf, unsure when this was though the top part of kingdom of the wild was open and I could just see it. Her and the calf were in the indoor section closest to the outdoor area. There were a few keepers watching so I just hope that it is OK.
The old Llama/Alpaca enclosure has had an undercover viewing shelter added and houses reindeer :confused: Not sure how this is south american!
The leopard enclosure now has the mesh roof on and is really looking good.
It was sad to see Subu alone however he seemed OK. I doubt they will get a new female whilst he is still alive. :(
 
Hi there Roz did you get any pics of the New Amur Leopard Enclosure?
And also I think it would be best to leave old Subu on his own for the rest of his days adding stress to pair him up again wouldnt do his old condition any good. He's got about 3/4 years at the absolute most - But we should enjoy the fact that he is still around even though he is alone.
 
Aww Pour Subu, he seemed really restless when we were there a couple of weeks ago - just pacing about in the inside bit giving huge roars. It was sad to see. How old is he? Shame he may not get another partner - as you say though, finding compatibility could prove problematic. :(
 
He is 21 so I think its best to leave him to be honest. Its a shame but we dont want to cause any more problems and then we will be stuck in the same boat soon after when Subu dies leaving a lioness on her own.
Hes a great age and im very impressed he is still with us - I would love to visit him soon.
 
Just a quick one, don't know if it's already been mentioned ....... went Thursday 19th, and a baby L'hoest monkey had been born on 3rd November.
 
GillP said:
Just a quick one, don't know if it's already been mentioned ....... went Thursday 19th, and a baby L'hoest monkey had been born on 3rd November.
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Now that is what one would call a great event!
Good news for the West African rainforests!
 
Riziki said:
He is 21 so I think its best to leave him to be honest. Its a shame but we dont want to cause any more problems and then we will be stuck in the same boat soon after when Subu dies leaving a lioness on her own.
Hes a great age and im very impressed he is still with us - I would love to visit him soon.
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Wow .... he's magnificent for his age! I didn't realise that he was that age! He's a lovely lion. Mind you, Leoni was lovely too - such a shame she is no longer with us. :(
 
I agree it is a huge shame.
And he is great for his age! He was born at Woburn Safari Park April 1989 or so and arrived at Colchester late 1989 with his two sisters Massing and Ashanti both of which have died at Colchester.
 
If Colchester Zoo did decide to try and obtain another lioness the females in Longleat's pride A are all around 12 or 13 now and could be possible candidates for a move.
 
Riziki said:
I agree it is a huge shame.
And he is great for his age! He was born at Woburn Safari Park April 1989 or so and arrived at Colchester late 1989 with his two sisters Massing and Ashanti both of which have died at Colchester.
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Oh thanks for this info - he's outlived them all then!! Let's hope he has many more years to come! How long do lions live on average?
 
In captivity around 15-20 so hes done very well. However in some cases Safari Park Lions live on the lower side of that because of the added part of being in a Pride and being in a Pride can lead to quite a few fights which can reduce their health.
One of Subu's relatives at Woburn called Minnie lived to be 22 in 2000 but her son Romeo only lived to be 15 and died in 2002. And the rest of the older Woburn Girls died between the age's of 15-17 between 2003-4.The present Woburn Male Shane is only 12 but he looks alot older then he is his Half Brother who is sadly not with us called Sly died early 2008 and he would only of been 13 I am unknown of what cause but I hope he was not put down due to fighting.
If we go into Zoo's Blackpool's Negus lived till he was 22 and his mate Zoe was in her mid 20's when she died. And then you have the old Suffolk Wildlife Park Lioness called Rula who lived till she was 27. And then Dartmoor's old Lioness Emma died when she was 20.
As you can see Generally Lions live longer in Zoo's as they are normally in pairs or small groups so stress is minimal and fights are not normally too serious however with an entire Pride involved they can be catastrophic. Most of the elderly Lions here died of age related diseases - Arthritus,Breating difficulties etc.
However in the case of Massing,Leoni and indeed quite a few others I have known diseases can strike very hard aswell as Heart-trouble at around 10+ one of the Woburn Girls Saphire died at the age of 11 or so because she had trouble with some sort of contraception device I think it was. I know it had something to do with that but I honestly cant remember the full details.

Hope this has been useful to you.
 
Many thanks for all the interesting info - Subu is certainly doing well then - I never realised their lifespan is so short. Here's hoping for many more years for him as he is so magnificent:) :o)
 
I am all in favour of a second pure-bred lion programme in the UK. It is about time that would happen ... now as all lion subspecies in Africa are endangered (and some like West Africans are almost equal to the status of Asiatics)!!!

I do not care much for generic lions (as a conservationist I agree with have a duty to maintain on welfare grounds, but population-wise there is no conservation rationale and all generics/zoo-mix should be vasecs/sterils). :eek:

I just wish Colchester can be at the forefront of a positive move in the pure-bred Africans. :cool:
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I am all in favour of a second pure-bred lion programme in the UK. It is about time that would happen ... now as all lion subspecies in Africa are endangered (and some like West Africans are almost equal to the status of Asiatics)!!!

I do not care much for generic lions (as a conservationist I agree with have a duty to maintain on welfare grounds, but population-wise there is no conservation rationale and all generics/zoo-mix should be vasecs/sterils). :eek:

I just wish Colchester can be at the forefront of a positive move in the pure-bred Africans. :cool:
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I agree with you Kifaru Bwana . When Whipsnade started their new Lion exhibit I am sure I read that they planned to exhibit some pure subspecies African lions , instead they got a group of Safari Park bred animals . Of course there is a fast increasing number of pure subspecies Africal lions in the UK ( those at West Midland Safari Park recently had another five cubs ) but they are all white !
 
Bele said:
Of course there is a fast increasing number of pure subspecies Africal lions in the UK ( those at West Midland Safari Park recently had another five cubs ) but they are all white !
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This is the same scenario as happened with Indian tigers in the UK in the 1970/80's at Bristol.
 
Pertinax said:
This is the same scenario as happened with Indian tigers in the UK in the 1970/80's at Bristol.
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What you describe happened in ... Rotterdam-Blijdorp too, now they are back on Asiatics.

Which is - a.o. - why I do advocate substantially moving away from generics/mutation gene individual lion scenarios. It is only 15-20 years down the line that we will be running on empty if we do not address conservation rationale.

What I do however recognise that it ain't that simple and complex to just import pure-bred African lions from the wild. CITES, mind-boggling bureacracy, nations' individual pride and politics are often more hindering blocks than actually in tune with conservation ethics.
 
I personally would like Colchester to move the lion (future lions) enclosure into a new area! I have never been a fan of Lion Rock and don't think its big enough or that exciting! compared to some other lion enclosures. Certainly not suitable for breeding lions IMHO!

Its always been quirky - with the original 'mixed' exhibit not working!!! only having 2 dens has meant in the past when introducing Leoni it meant that Subu spent alot of time pacing in the den and with that area being very open to the public it always seemed to 'not work' imo!

I know there is a lack of room at Colchester but somewhere down with the cheetah/hyena area would be a lot better with some natural shade and long grass or even and less public! Even Sasha's enclosure if anything happens to him!! (hopefully not for a long while)

I think the public expect zoos to have lions but I hope that when Subu sadly dies they will not just replace him with a non breeding pair in the same enclosure
 
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