Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2014

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Time for some good pieces of news for the New Year:

Cynthia the white rhino has been confirmed to be pregnant with her second calf (the first being Zamba) as a result of a natural mating with male Otto. She has already passed the five-month stage of her pregnancy.

Colchester Zoo News: White Rhino, Cynthia, confirmed pregnant

Also, several news pieces about young primates:

Akio, the pileated gibbon: Colchester Zoo News: Akio the Pileated Gibbon
Silvery marmosets: Colchester Zoo News: Silvery Marmoset Twins!
Kato, the red-backed bearded saki: Colchester Zoo News: Kato the Saki Monkey

Also, has anyone been to the zoo recently? As supposedly the sun bears were due to move into their new enclosure in late December in preparation for the official opening in Easter.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Also, has anyone been to the zoo recently? As supposedly the sun bears were due to move into their new enclosure in late December in preparation for the official opening in Easter.
Click to expand...

A Twitter post by the zoo yesterday stated that the bear enclosure

is open for visitors to have a sneak preview however the bears are still to move in...watch this space
Click to expand...
 
Just a few minor observations from visit yesterday:

The lion enclosure is being completely netted over(presumably to avoid any further accidents with display birds!)

The pair of red bellied lemur opposite the Colobus have moved to the walkthrough. The black & white ruffed lemur are now opposite Colobus. Apparently, the old ruffed lemur enclosure nearest the Gelada is awaiting development for the Colobus.

Warty pigs were let out early afternoon with the spotted deer, who seemed somewhat irritated by them. Earlier in the day the pigs were confined to their smaller yard behind.

I don't go in Familiar Friends very often, so don't know how long the Darwin's Rhea has been in the llama paddock.
 
do you have pics of the new lion look as i am interested to see it ! i may go there tomorrow so i presume the lions are inside then.
 
banham.tiger said:
do you have pics of the new lion look as i am interested to see it ! i may go there tomorrow so i presume the lions are inside then.
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The lions were inside and there were several workers in the outdoor area, so it may not take long to finish. Sorry, i don't have a picture.
 
Went today:

Bear enclosure looking nice, lots of rock and plants. Looks like the front bit is not complete yet.

Koi: Only one of the tanks had koi in, the other (bigger tank) had just lots of schubunkin goldfish types.

I was surprised not much was said about the wolves situation on the enclosure nor on the train. Apparently they wont be getting any new members for the pack in the next couple of years.

Probably old news but the zoo has brought a good bit of the land around the zoo.Maybe this will be developed eventually?

They also have some new reindeer but of show, i wonder where these are kept other side of car park maybe?

I always also think its a shame cant see the bull side of the elephant paddock properly, why why block it of?
 
A few pieces of information from my visit today:

- The golden mantellas have been completely removed from Kingdom of the Wild and replaced with a false tomato frog
- Darwin's rhea and llamas were in the back paddock, separated from the alpacas
- Sun bear enclosure continues to progress well- the 'green roof' on the lower viewing area has been planted up with bamboo and (I think) the glass has been added there too
- As an aside, has anyone else noticed some unusual behaviour in one of the smooth-coated otters- it stands on its hind legs, swivels its body around, holds one arm to the side and then makes a slow up-and-down movement quite frequently?
- The two cherry-crowned mangabeys by themselves are males- the females are being left alone to integrate before the males are reintroduced
- A lone juvenile male gelada is in the indoor patas monkey enclosure at Kingdom of the Wild waiting to be moved to a new collection
- The leaf-cutting ant colony has died off and they are now awaiting a replacement colony
- The cylindrical marine aquarium in Kingdom of the Wild has been partially blocked off- only the moony fish, lionfish, clown triggerfish and lattice soldierfish were visible
- The African spurred tortoise enclosure near the mangabeys has been vacated again and is being redeveloped for a new species
- The inside of the animal theatre has been stripped ready for being converted into the walkthrough lorikeet aviary- the rainbow lorikeets are already at the zoo, in the outdoor cages behind the animal theatre, on the path up towards the kune-kune pigs
 
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DesertRhino150 said:
- The two cherry-crowned mangabeys by themselves are males- the females are being left alone to integrate before the males are reintroduced
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Have they added new females from outside the group then? If so, do you know where from and/or how many there are in total currently?
 
3 Damara Zebra were transferred from Colchester to Manor House this week - were these the last ones at Colchester? :confused:
 
Pertinax said:
Have they added new females from outside the group then? If so, do you know where from and/or how many there are in total currently?
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From memory, the current group consists of the breeding male, 2 females & 2 juveniles, plus 2 new females which were seperated in one of the indoor cages, no idea where they came from.
Plus the 2 younger males behind the chimps.
 
Nisha said:
3 Damara Zebra were transferred from Colchester to Manor House this week - were these the last ones at Colchester? :confused:
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There certainly can't be many left , if any! I haven't actually counted them, but don't remember ever seeing more than 3 or 4.
 
pipaluk said:
From memory, the current group consists of the breeding male, 2 females & 2 juveniles, plus 2 new females which were seperated in one of the indoor cages, no idea where they came from.
Plus the 2 younger males behind the chimps.
Click to expand...

Thanks. After I posted the question I did remember reading they had acquired two(?) new females- which must have come from Europe. I don't know if they plan to put the young males back in the group or not though.
 
A reply to a post on Colchester Zoo's Facebook wall has given some information regarding the zebra situation:

The Damara zebra herd have been moved to Manor House with the aim of them becoming a breeding herd (which will require importing a new stallion as the two current males are not 'entire males'- their wording)- they were looking into expanding the Damara herd at Manor House and Colchester have known animals of the subspecies.

Even more exciting, the Damara herd at Colchester will be replaced with a breeding herd of maneless zebra, a managed subspecies in Europe that needed new holders. These will be the first and only ones of their kind in the UK, according to Zootierliste.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
they were looking into expanding the Damara herd at Manor House and Colchester have known animals of the subspecies.

Even more exciting, the Damara herd at Colchester will be replaced with a breeding herd of maneless zebra, a managed subspecies in Europe that needed new holders. These will be the first and only ones of their kind in the UK, according to Zootierliste.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know if the Damaras already at Manor House originated from Blackpool Zoo?

'Maneless' Zebras are somewhat bizarre but no doubt suitable for Colchester who like to be a bit different.
 
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