Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2013

Some important news from the zoo- according to photographs posted on Facebook, Emily the white rhinoceros has had her new calf.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Went on a nice long visit today- got several pieces of news:

- Koi Niwa is now actually open but only has a handful of goldfish in the larger aquarium as the tank needs to cycle before the koi are added
- Misters have been added to the visitor area of Orangutan Forest and the upper terrarium (housing Sabah spiny stick insects) has been removed
- A black-spotted pufferfish has moved into the coral reef tank in Orangutan Forest
- There are several history boards around the zoo, showing where the elephants, rhinos, giraffes, orangutans, bears, lions, tigers, harbour seals and snow leopards used to live
- Wolves, spotted hyaenas, binturong and red pandas all extremely active today
- Red-bellied lemurs are indicated on the new arrivals board but I was unable to find any enclosure signage
- There has been a second crowned pigeon chick fledging
- A new baby cherry-crowned mangabey was born on the 8th March
- Fregate Island giant beetles are in one the vivaria in the Discovery Centre
- Golden mantellas are indicated to be going into Kingdom of the Wild according to the signage, although again there was no sign of any actual frogs
- A pair of large kunekune pigs have taken over the old Essex pig enclosure in Familiar Friends
- Glass windows appear to have been added to the sun bear indoor area
- The sun bear enclosure will also feature a new aviary housing the zoo's pair of rufous hornbills
- Red ruffed lemurs are being kept both in their old enclosure by the lemur islands and in Out of Africa
- The four Visayan warty pigs were out with the spotted deer today- on the plus side the pigs are wonderful additions (love their Mohicans) but on the negative side they seem rather aggressive towards the deer and also have rendered half the deer paddock into a ploughed field
- Great news! The female spotted hyaena is pregnant again!
- Saw common teal along the Roman River nature reserve and there also appears to be a mink monitoring raft in one of the ponds
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After a quick trip in between rain showers i found that
The Red-bellied lemurs are being housed behind the southern fried chicken restaurant opposite pygmy marmosets. There are now a few koi in the large tank with some small goldfish and the other one still just has goldfish in. There are now four kunekune pigs at Familiar Friends 2 large white with black dots one ginger and one black.
 
Visited on Sunday was lovely to see so many babies the white rhino calf was just adorable :D
Liked the new smoking areas although a little snug for 2 strangers at once!! Maybe that will put people off smoking in the zoo completely. (will put up a picture) Thought the 1 smoking area for the whole car parking area was a little cruel :rolleyes:

The new programme for the 50 year anniversary is good value at £3.50 - (available in online shop + postage) especially like the page dedicated to Rajang as he deserves the recognition! A few nice old pictures and found myself laughing out loud to the animals names article!! but looking forward to the book which they will also be stocking.

Enjoyed spotting some of the heritage signs has anyone compiled a list of all their locations as would like to see them all?

Lots of nice small cosmetic improvements around the zoo, new fencing etc and some nice wooden instruments and signs in the children's area (usually avoid but cutting through).

I thought the new Koi area was a nice addition and on a similar build style to the tortoise area would be nice to have some seating in there as would be nice tranquil area in the winter months.

New cafe with table service a very welcome addition if you are visiting alone with young children as self service can be an ordeal!!

Not long till the celebrations start for the 50th anniversary not made any plans to visit but want to see the exhibition (I assume not started yet as could not find it?) and really want to bid on a 9 foot giraffe for the garden :D
 
Sad news from their facebook page about the Hyena cubs

quote from facebook page
Thank you for your message. Kalabi did give birth to two cubs but unfortunately they did not survive on this occasion.

Still born young are quite common in Spotted Hyena due to their unusual anatomy and restricted birth canal. Kalabi is fine and has recovered well after the birth and hopefully we will have more success next time.
 
Went for a pleasant three hours today, and have the following to report:

- Koi carp have finally moved into Koi Niwa
- Red-bellied lemurs are on-show in the enclosure behind the Amur leopards, formerly housing surplus squirrel monkeys
- Saw both of the Geoffroy's cats today (until now, I thought they only had one)
- Oriental fire-bellied toads are on display in the Discovery Centre
- Was nice to watch some of the new babies- the pygmy hippo, geladas and Goeldi's monkeys were all up and about; didn't see the new baby white rhino however
- Golden mantellas have finally gone on-show in Kingdom of the Wild; managed to see at least 3 of them
- Victoria crowned pigeon chick is now almost the same size as its parents
- Sun bear outdoor enclosure has made little progress (I guess due to the recent weather) but the indoor area has had more added
- A new female fennec fox has arrived; both animals were very active later on in the day
- The giant snail terrarium and moony fish aquariums in Kingdom of the Wild have been knocked down to prepare for a new African marine fish display
- A brand new species, the bony-headed toad, has gone on-show in the terrarium at Orangutan Forest (didn't see any though)
- Finally, a baby pileated gibbon has been born but unfortunately was rejected by the female and is being hand-reared in part of the gibbon indoor area where it will hopefully be integrated with the two adults once it is older
 
Good news re: gibbon birth, after the one at Blackpool last month too, things appear to be on the up for the species in the UK.
Shame the sun bear saga goes on & on & on....
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Went for a pleasant three hours today, and have the following to report:

- Koi carp have finally moved into Koi Niwa
- Red-bellied lemurs are on-show in the enclosure behind the Amur leopards, formerly housing surplus squirrel monkeys
- Saw both of the Geoffroy's cats today (until now, I thought they only had one)
- Oriental fire-bellied toads are on display in the Discovery Centre
- Was nice to watch some of the new babies- the pygmy hippo, geladas and Goeldi's monkeys were all up and about; didn't see the new baby white rhino however
- Golden mantellas have finally gone on-show in Kingdom of the Wild; managed to see at least 3 of them
- Victoria crowned pigeon chick is now almost the same size as its parents
- Sun bear outdoor enclosure has made little progress (I guess due to the recent weather) but the indoor area has had more added
- A new female fennec fox has arrived; both animals were very active later on in the day
- The giant snail terrarium and moony fish aquariums in Kingdom of the Wild have been knocked down to prepare for a new African marine fish display
- A brand new species, the bony-headed toad, has gone on-show in the terrarium at Orangutan Forest (didn't see any though)
- Finally, a baby pileated gibbon has been born but unfortunately was rejected by the female and is being hand-reared in part of the gibbon indoor area where it will hopefully be integrated with the two adults once it is older
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Fantastic news about the Pileated Gibbon birth. If I remember correctly, the parents are wild-caught?
 
I'm very pleased to hear regarding the Pileated Gibbon birth. I went to the zoo on Tuesday. Little else to add from what Desert150 has said but I will say that Rajang and Tiga are still getting on fine with each other. Tiga did climb up quite high in the indoor area as he was reaching up to get the food up to the mesh roof. One thing which they said on the talk which I listened to was that they partially freeze some of the food making it harder for them to get at it.

BTW I got and had it signed a copy of the Story of Colchester Zoo I will read it later.
 
Goretex said:
I'm very pleased to hear regarding the Pileated Gibbon birth. I went to the zoo on Tuesday. Little else to add from what Desert150 has said but I will say that Rajang and Tiga are still getting on fine with each other. Tiga did climb up quite high in the indoor area as he was reaching up to get the food up to the mesh roof. One thing which they said on the talk which I listened to was that they partially freeze some of the food making it harder for them to get at it.

BTW I got and had it signed a copy of the Story of Colchester Zoo I will read it later.
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The one thing I would also like to see Colchester do is get the right combination for a breeding group of their orangs. I have no problem with Rajang being there, just not taking up space that could be better used. It is not a social thing as males a solitary anyway!
 
BTW I got and had it signed a copy of the Story of Colchester Zoo I will read it later.[/QUOTE]

I received it in the post from Amazon today , it looks interesting .
 
Little snippet of news from website;
-Our group of Aardvarks have welcomed yet another healthy offspring to the group on the 15th March 2013! The group continues to be the most successful breeding group in the UK and one of the most successful groups in Europe! Sarah Forsyth, one of our curators, said, ‘We believe the baby is female and she has grown a great deal already! She is starting to venture into the outside enclosure at night and as usual Oq is proving to be a great mother.’ The new arrival will be named by its dedicated keepers once the sex is confirmed.
 
Badgerman91 said:
Also was wondering what people's thoughts were of the new "Koi Niwa" development?
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I think it does look quite nice and understand why it was being built, but I think it just seems like a bit of an excessive enclosure for something that you could see for free in a pet shop or at Colchester Castle. I think a basic pond would have served the koi just as well and then opened up the building to keep more exotic species.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
I think it does look quite nice and understand why it was being built, but I think it just seems like a bit of an excessive enclosure for something that you could see for free in a pet shop or at Colchester Castle. I think a basic pond would have served the koi just as well and then opened up the building to keep more exotic species.
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Agree totally with you on this. I haven't seen it yet ( expect i'll only bother once), but i made a similar comment on the photo thread in the gallery.
 
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