Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo News 2018

Pertinax said:
Sad news about Rajang. As commented above, he was definately for Colchester what Guy and Chi Chi were for London. I remember his birth at Chester, their first surviving Orangutan one, and seeing him as a small baby in a little nursery house they had for him. I took a photo of him peeping through the glass but can't find it now.
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As Curator of Pertinax's Orangutan Photo Album, I've found that photo of baby Rajang and will post it in the Colchester gallery.
 
Very sad. So 2018 seems to have been bookended by the deaths of 2 charismatic great apes-Nico at Longleat and now Rajang at Colchester.

What’s the future for Orangs at Colchester?
 
Panthera1981 said:
Very sad. So 2018 seems to have been bookended by the deaths of 2 charismatic great apes-Nico at Longleat and now Rajang at Colchester.

What’s the future for Orangs at Colchester?
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Sadly is the end of an era for some of the great animals with so much character in UK zoos this year.

In the past it has been mentioned that when the zoo just has Tiga they will look to bring in one or two females to start a breeding group...

From the zoos website ;
“We currently have two male orangutans in the collection, however, Orangutans are part of an EEP (European Breeding Programme) and we do hope to breed in the future; when hopefully a breeding pair moves into the new enclosure.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Very sad. So 2018 seems to have been bookended by the deaths of 2 charismatic great apes-Nico at Longleat and now Rajang at Colchester.

What’s the future for Orangs at Colchester?
Click to expand...
And there was Baby Doll the gorilla at Howletts just a week or so ago, so not a great year for elderly great apes in the UK!
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Some sad news from Colchester - on 11th December Rajang, the 50 year-old orangutan, was put to sleep as he was found to be suffering from a degenerating neurological condition. In the near future Orangutan Forest will be renamed in his honour and the gardens by All Saints Church (located next to Orangutan Forest) will be dedicated to him with a timeline about his life.

More information is included on the link below:
Sleep tight Rajang - ZOO NEWS - Colchester Zoo
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Very sad news. He will be sorely missed. Even though I never visited him in person, I will miss his cheeky antics from the TV show ‘Zoo days’ where he was the star of the show!
 
Colchester have released a news piece reviewing the year of 2018. These are the high (and low) lights of 2018, with a few additions on my part:

New arrivals
- Two new male cheetahs, three new Eurasian wolves, a new pair of Amur leopards (replacing the pair that left earlier this year) and the return of bull rhino Otto from Woburn are all mentioned. Other new individuals arriving include a female blue crane and a female warthog.

New species
- Crowned lemurs arrive at the zoo. Also arriving in 2018, but without mention in the article, are four new reptile species (Gariau forest dragon, Solomon Islands skink, spiny turtle and West African mud turtle), two new catfish species and a number of invertebrates including red-kneed tarantula, purple flower beetle and two species of marine shrimps.

Births
- Mentioned are births of aardvark, bush dog, smooth-coated otter, Humboldt penguin, red panda, blue duiker and greater kudu. Other species for which births occurred this year include ring-tailed lemur, Victoria crowned pigeon, buffy-headed capuchin monkey, Eastern grey crowned crane, Kirk's dik-dik, rock hyrax and gelada.

Deaths
- Billie-Joe the chimpanzee, Flossy the white rhinoceros and Rajang the orangutan. Also lost this year, but not mentioned, are Yatesy the Eurasian griffon vulture, Cedric the greater kudu and the last of the black-backed jackals.

Developments
- New colobus/patas monkey mixed enclosure opens and pathway past the bull elephant paddock reopens. It also seems the lion enclosure extension opened in December.

The full article is included below:
Colchester Zoo reflects on 2018, an unforgettable year - ZOO NEWS - Colchester Zoo
 
Notes from a brief (& wet) visit this morning;
-All 3 Elephant cows were together in the larger paddock. Tembo was by himself.
-On the “Elephant bush walk” pathway there has been a tunnel structure put up made out of a couple shipping containers. Not entirely sure why though.
-Lion Rock has been completed which now includes a digital interactive Lion training screen
 
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Badgerman91 said:
Notes from a brief (& wet) visit this morning;
-All 3 Elephant cows were together in the larger paddock. Tembo was by himself.
-On the “Elephant bush walk” pathway there has been a tunnel structure put up made out of a couple shipping containers. Not entirely sure why though.
-Lion Rock has been completed which now includes a digital interactive Lion training screen
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Do you or anyone else have any pictures of the new Lion Rock extension please?

Many thanks
 
Tau said:
Do you or anyone else have any pictures of the new Lion Rock extension please?

Many thanks
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Apologises but I’m afraid I don’t! When I next visit I will be sure to take some and upload them to the Colchester image gallery
 
There's a metal gate in th photo on the left, that leads into their old enclosure.
 
Hi fellow Zoochatters and a very merry Christmas!

Does anyone know if Colchester zoo are planning to bring any elephants to the zoo or have any depart for other zoos within Europe!

In my opinion I think some of the Beaval elephants should move to Colchester to breed. Because they don't have a male after Limbo passed away. In return for some of the Beaval elephants of breeding age I think that Colchester should send thier elderly females to Beaval
 
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