Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo News 2020

There are a couple of bits of news on the Colchester website:

- Colchester have now announced the arrival of a single female wreathed hornbill named Pricilla, who arrived on the 7th July; she is two years old and still currently in juvenile colouring. The hope is for a male to join her by the end of this year. This is the first time the species has been held at Colchester Zoo
Vulnerable Hornbill species arrives at Colchester Zoo! | Colchester Zoo

- A new female Asian small-clawed otter (named Summer) arrived on the 3rd August; she joins male 'Ravi' after the death of the previous female 'Priya' in April 2020
New love for male otter Ravi! | Colchester Zoo
 
a number of new reptiles and amphibians are set to move into the kingdom of the the wild house. Including a type of Gecko, Skink and blue legged mantella. The pair of false tomato frog are now back on show. One of the planted areas next to the fish tank has been replanned and windows removed and had rails put in-front. Other planted enclosure is being redeveloped at the moment
 
DesertRhino150 said:
There are a couple of bits of news on the Colchester website:

- Colchester have now announced the arrival of a single female wreathed hornbill named Pricilla, who arrived on the 7th July; she is two years old and still currently in juvenile colouring. The hope is for a male to join her by the end of this year. This is the first time the species has been held at Colchester Zoo
Vulnerable Hornbill species arrives at Colchester Zoo! | Colchester Zoo

- A new female Asian small-clawed otter (named Summer) arrived on the 3rd August; she joins male 'Ravi' after the death of the previous female 'Priya' in April 2020
New love for male otter Ravi! | Colchester Zoo
Click to expand...
Any idea from which zoo the wreathed hornbill arrived?
What happened to the rhino hornbills?
 
I was just looking at the online map on Colchester Zoo's website and it has been updated - the former butterfly walkthrough (Butterfly Glade) next to the mangabeys has now been replaced with the new display for the Victoria crowned pigeons, called 'Feathers of the Forest'.

I just hope that some other species of bird may eventually end up joining the crowned pigeons in this new exhibit.
 
I have just noticed that Colchester Zoo have released a news article about the Amur leopard cubs, which were born a year ago today (9th September 2019).

The zoo have been photographing the cubs at various growth stages and shared these images with the Wildcats Conservation Alliance that are camera-trapping Amur leopards in the wild; this in turn is helping the biologists to accurately identify the ages of any young leopards recorded on the camera traps.

More information is in the link below:
Amur Leopard Twins turn 1! | Colchester Zoo
 
Visited Yesterday the Flamingo Flock is off show while work is carried out on their indoor overnight quarters

The Sun bear bottom viewing area is closed off with black curtains not sure why

The new raised walk way round the rhino paddock is about 4 weeks off being finished

The Cafe upstairs in the giraffe house is being developed so it is Covid Safe and an indoor seating area for the winter months.

Sadly the male Smooth Coated otter past away beginning part of lock down according to keeper.

The Crowned Pigeons are yet to move into their new enclosure

one window in the tiger house has been blocked off think its to help with stopping people crowding at the windows.
 
I went on a morning visit to Colchester Zoo today - my first trip there since March 9th! Made sure to be there for opening and, although it was slightly busier than would normally be expected at 9:30 on a Monday morning, I still felt safe walking around. The zoo have clearly worked hard to make the zoo as secure as possible - they have even created a walkway down the old Umphafa road train route from the red river hogs to the vulture aviary in order to avoid dead-ends. There wasn't much in the way of news from my trip, but these are things I either noticed or appreciated:
  • Something I haven't seen before or noticed elsewhere on the forum - there are now three Gariau forest dragons in the reptile building by the chimpanzees; it looks like two females as well as the male.
  • While it is still unoccupied, I did take a look at the 'Feathers of the Forest' display that is replacing the butterfly walkthrough. The path has been reorganised to make a larger single floor-space for the crowned pigeons; I am confident it will be a better display than the butterflies were.
  • Many of the animals were very active today - for the first time in probably a couple of years I saw a tamandua climbing around outdoors.
  • While I didn't see the new wreathed hornbill, fire skink or blue-legged mantellas, the yellow-headed day gecko was showing very well in its very large new enclosure in Kingdom of the Wild (I have to say, I’ve very much appreciated all the new reptile developments at Colchester over the past couple of years).
 
I have just seen why the Victoria crowned pigeons are yet to make the move to their new exhibit - on August 25th another chick hatched; the eighth to be born at Colchester.

Once the new chick has fledged the nest the four pigeons (adult female Violet and adult male Ozzy, the 2019 offspring and the newest chick) will be moved over to 'Feathers of the Forest'.

More information is included in the link below:
Victoria Crowned Pigeon chick hatches! | Colchester Zoo
 
A coppery titi monkey was born at Colchester Zoo on August 26th; this is the second successful birth of the species at the zoo. The last birth, to the same parents of this new baby, was in April 2019.

I think this may be the pair living in the older of the two South American walkthroughs, instead of the one by Worlds Apart.

More information can be found in the link below:
Coppery Titi Monkey is born! | Colchester Zoo
 
Could someone update me on the status of the African Elephant heard? For example are all three Cowes still residing in the same enclosure as Tembo Colchester's male breeding Bull? In addition are any Elephants planned to arrive or depart from Colchester? Additionally is there an update on the planned arrival of Mali the Bornian Orangutan and her daughter Tatu!

Kind regards The Hedgehog
 
I visited Colchester a week ago and was told the arrival of the Orangs is “imminent”

One thing I think about an otherwise excellent Zoo is the awful Lion enclosure....
Even the keepers I spoke to said it is loathed throughout the Zoo; are there any plans afoot?

The contrast to the Tiger Habitat is outrageous

Cheers,

HDB
 
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