Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo News 2018

Very nice news! There was some work going on in their house when I went to Colchester in November so I’m sad I didn’t get to see more of them. This is a good excuse to go back!
 
trip today you can now walk back round the bull elephant paddock called elephant bush trail. saw the baby hippo with its mum they have removed all the soil as they believe thats what caused the death of last year's youngest as they found it to be eating the soil and this one had started to do the same so to be safe they have removed it. the colobus monkey and pats monkeys are now fully mixed together ready for when there new enclosure next to lions is ready for them to all live together. The hippos will be taking over that whole inside part and outdoor area and towards the back of the vultures to give them more outdoor space so a keeper told me.
 
4ways NAP said:
saw the baby hippo with its mum they have removed all the soil as they believe thats what caused the death of last year's youngest as they found it to be eating the soil and this one had started to do the same so to be safe they have removed it. The hippos will be taking over that whole inside part and outdoor area and towards the back of the vultures to give them more outdoor space so a keeper told me.
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That’s excellent, much needed. I really hope this little one will thrive.
 
4ways NAP said:
trip today you can now walk back round the bull elephant paddock called elephant bush trail. saw the baby hippo with its mum they have removed all the soil as they believe thats what caused the death of last year's youngest as they found it to be eating the soil and this one had started to do the same so to be safe they have removed it. the colobus monkey and pats monkeys are now fully mixed together ready for when there new enclosure next to lions is ready for them to all live together. The hippos will be taking over that whole inside part and outdoor area and towards the back of the vultures to give them more outdoor space so a keeper told me.
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Fantastic news that you can actually see Tembo! Do you access this from walking round the paddock or is access near the “sensation station”??
 
The news about the walkway around the elephants opening again is brilliant. I remember that being open when I was a kid, why did they shut this off to begin with does anybody know?
 
katiesloth said:
The news about the walkway around the elephants opening again is brilliant. I remember that being open when I was a kid, why did they shut this off to begin with does anybody know?
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I don't understand why they shut it for so long and have now re-opened it. Reason?
 
Pertinax said:
I don't understand why they shut it for so long and have now re-opened it. Reason?
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Just a theory but maybe they hoped by shutting Tembo and Zola away from the public and putting them semi-off show they might breed naturally and as it hasn’t happened they have opened it back up?
 
On a visit today;

-Baby Pygmy hippo was very active chasing around Venus, was actually wallowing in the drinking bowl!
-Giraffes were kept inside, on most of my recent visits they have haven’t been out in the paddock, ?too boggy for them
-Rather biazarely all 3 Aardvark were active today when I was at the enclosure at roughly 1100
-Elephant Bush Walk is a welcome addition, was lovely to see Tembo up and close!
-Building Work is in full swing on the new reptile house next to chimps and the climbing frame looks rather impressive for the new colobus/patas monkey enclosure and a much needed improvement on what both species had recently
-also noted that in the mixed otter and binturong enclosure that on the far side near the steep slope that additional height fencing is in the process of being added, maybe this is being added for a new species that can climb/jump? (No keepers around to ask)
 
Regarding the path around the elephants being opened again, Colchester Zoo tweeted me back this morning to my question as to why the path was originally closed and they said the below:

'Hi Katie, This was closed as the path way became part of our UmPhafa Train route however this is no longer running and so the path has been opened up as a walkway :)'
 
went today a week after my last visit and today i saw two cheetahs mixed together laying down in the back corner of the enclosure. anyone know when it arrived and if they are now planning to start a breeding program with them again ?
 
4ways NAP said:
...today i saw two cheetahs mixed together laying down in the back corner of the enclosure. anyone know when it arrived and if they are now planning to start a breeding program with them again ?
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Two male cheetahs recently arrived from Safari de Peaugres, France. These were probably the ones you saw. I doubt either male will yet have been mixed with Colchester's female.
 
MikeG said:
Two male cheetahs recently arrived from Safari de Peaugres, France. These were probably the ones you saw. I doubt either male will yet have been mixed with Colchester's female.
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Great news that they are starting the breeding programme again for cheetah at the zoo!

Does anyone know the age of the cheetahs at the zoo and also what subspecies of cheetah the zoo holds?
 
Colchester Council || View full representation

I found this on the Colchester Councils website (yes this is what I spend my Saturday nights doing) which seems to suggest that Tarmac, the company that operates the quarry, have submitted that the zoo is the preferred user of a quarry site which is undergoing “progressive restoration”. The attached map shows that the site is bigger than the whole current zoo! I believe I have read the legal/professional jargon correctly.
 
Badgerman91 said:
Colchester Council || View full representation

I found this on the Colchester Councils website (yes this is what I spend my Saturday nights doing) which seems to suggest that Tarmac, the company that operates the quarry, have submitted that the zoo is the preferred user of a quarry site which is undergoing “progressive restoration”. The attached map shows that the site is bigger than the whole current zoo! I believe I have read the legal/professional jargon correctly.
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It looks about five times the area of the current zoo's footprint! And a quarry opens up some very interesting possibilities.
 
If there is a realistic possibility of the zoo being able to develop this land, it may explain why the rate of change on the current zoo site has been relatively slow over the past few years.

There has always been a sense of their trying to squeeze new constructions into small and awakward spaces, with the inevitable compromises that this has entailed (the obvious exception being the development of the “African” area about 20 years ago,which was on ‘new’ land). Thus it will be interesting to see how a zoo that hasn’t always been renowned for the quality of its landscape architecture deals with such an opportunity. If this all comes to pass.....
 
Endless possibilities of what they could do with the land...look what YWP have done with a “blank canvas”! Let’s hope it all comes off!
 
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