Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2022

[Zoofan15]

That's very true as this Emily already has three calves. Although she has had rather large birth intervals in the past; eight years and then six years. Astrid breeding rather early was possibly an accident, as it's rather unusual for a zoo to breed their females this often, Astrid did get pregnant again rather quickly.

Astrid produced her first calf at seven years old, which is usual for a captive female given the opportunity to reproduce. Half of the females that have conceived in New Zealand zoos conceived at this age for example.

Similarly, a birth interval of two years is not uncommon for young or prime age females. From what I've seen, birth intervals naturally increase to around three to four years as cows age, with any lounge e.g. eight years potentially indicative of estrus suppression etc.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

I have just noticed that African Elephants and Patagonian Sealions have been added to the list of Keeper Shadowing Experiences, which is a big step up, though I can't tell if any have been removed, (although the Orangutans are still not back on there since Rajang's passing, might Mali and Tatau eventually be compatible for a Keeper Shadowing?). This news is a surprise for me as I asked a keeper a question regarding experiences (when I found out the other Elephant news), and they seemed quite confident that the elephants would just stay in Keeper For The Day like they are now, but obviously with significantly reduced contact (experiences will now include setting up enrichment for the Elephants as opposed to handfeeding them). Obviously this is still great news but I wonder what stirred the zoo to make this decision now and not having a Keeper Shadowing for either of these species previously.

 

[Zoofan15]

I have just noticed that African Elephants and Patagonian Sealions have been added to the list of Keeper Shadowing Experiences, which is a big step up, though I can't tell if any have been removed, (although the Orangutans are still not back on there since Rajang's passing, might Mali and Tatau eventually be compatible for a Keeper Shadowing?).

Several zoos don’t do behind the scenes encounters with their great apes due to the similarities between them and humans, which make them susceptible to the same infections - especially respiratory infections.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, it appears zoos have become even more stringent, which is understandable due to the risks involved; but greatly disappointing nonetheless.

My assumption would be the lack of inclusion of orangutans on Colchester’s keeper shadowing represents an adherence to this protocol rather than any other reason.

 

[Alwaysevergreen]

I have just noticed that African Elephants and Patagonian Sealions have been added to the list of Keeper Shadowing Experiences, which is a big step up, though I can't tell if any have been removed, (although the Orangutans are still not back on there since Rajang's passing, might Mali and Tatau eventually be compatible for a Keeper Shadowing?). This news is a surprise for me as I asked a keeper a question regarding experiences (when I found out the other Elephant news), and they seemed quite confident that the elephants would just stay in Keeper For The Day like they are now, but obviously with significantly reduced contact (experiences will now include setting up enrichment for the Elephants as opposed to handfeeding them). Obviously this is still great news but I wonder what stirred the zoo to make this decision now and not having a Keeper Shadowing for either of these species previously.

I was there last week, and the Elephant keeper told us, that the keeper Shadow is like a mini 30 minute experience, which will be similar to what is shown during the keeper for a day, but not as thorough and will again be making enrichment either inside or outside and placing in exhibit.

The Sea Lion shadow, would be getting to see a private training session the keeper does in the private training area they have. In this you stand behind a yellow line and there is no contact with the Sea Lion.

It's basically what's involved in scheme A and C in the Keeper for a day but just one species. It costs £85 per person, whilst the KFAD is £210 including 5 species, so is obviously better value, unless on a budget.

I think there are about 14 species on the Keeper Shadowing to chose from and a couple which aren't included in the KFAD Schemes including Rainforest, Aardvark, Giant Tortoise, & Rhino. Whilst Cheetahs, Otters, Sun Bears, Gelada's, Pygmy Hippo, Red River Hogs & Komodo Dragons are on the KFAD but not available on Shadowing.

 

[Zoofan15]

I think there are about 14 species on the Keeper Shadowing to chose from and a couple which aren't included in the KFAD Schemes including Rainforest, Aardvark, Giant Tortoise, & Rhino. Whilst Cheetahs, Otters, Sun Bears, Gelada's, Pygmy Hippo, Red River Hogs & Komodo Dragons are on the KFAD but not available on Shadowing.

According to their website, they offer the following:

Keeper Shadowing:

Aardvark
African elephant
Amur tiger
Armadillo
Giant tortoise
Giraffe
Hyena
Lemur
Mandrill
Meerkat
Penguin
Rainforest
Sea lion
White rhinoceros

Keeper for a Day:

Scheme A – Elephants, Cheetahs, Mandrills, Hyenas, and Komodo dragons.

Scheme B – Meerkats, Gelada baboons, Otters, Lemurs and Sun bears.

Scheme C – Sealions, Amur tigers, Giraffe, Pygmy Hippos, and Red river hogs.

 

[Lafone]

Had a lovely day out at Colchester today and managed to find the things I’d missed on my previous visit - enjoyed the sea lions. Orangs area seems a bit of a small space and it feels like almost more room for visitors almost than the apes (of course it isn’t but it feels a bit like it) but they were very active.

It was a cool but sunny day so tonnes of animal activity. And people too.

Lemur walkthrough was shut and the train wasn’t stopping there but the lemurs were out and about and could be seen from the upper viewing area.

The primates stole the show again for me today even getting an extended playtime view of the L’Hoest Monkeys (including infant) which I haven’t seen in other places. The walkthroughs with the variety of marmosets and tamarin sitting happily in front of you with no wire etc are awesome and I made a few trips.

Sloths were in bed and so nearly
all the visitors I was in with decided the coppery titi monkeys were a sloth - apparently sloths are faster than you think!

Found the bush dog enclosure but they were all in bed so one out of two there.

I do think the hyena enclosure seems a bit small on second viewing - I realise I am far from an expert but just making comparisons, as a layperson, a lot of hyena (and similar size animals of the non cat sort) enclosures I’ve seen are a bit larger and more varied. Hopefully that’s an area of future opportunity.

Got good views of the whole chimp troop for the first time which was great. Mostly inside but they were out later. And then as I was meandering gently towards the exit they fed the geladas so it took me much longer to leave than expected. An interesting group to watch.

 

[TNT]

I was also at the zoo today!

I do think the hyena enclosure seems a bit small on second viewing - I realise I am far from an expert but just making comparisons, as a layperson, a lot of hyena (and similar size animals of the non cat sort) enclosures I’ve seen are a bit larger and more varied. Hopefully that’s an area of future opportunity.

It's by no means a bad exhibit, but is certainly looking little snug these days... Although, they have decent off show facilities from my understanding?

 

[Lafone]

I was also at the zoo today!



It's by no means a bad exhibit, but is certainly looking little snug these days... Although, they have decent off show facilities from my understanding?

Yes looks like good space around the back for their off show area. Snug is a good word - it’s not bad looking it has good public viewing and they all look pretty chilled. Other places have a bit more space though and I guess it stands out more as lots of the enclosures are great spaces. Mind you it’s a treat to see hyenas - fascinating animals.

Hope you also had a lovely day!

 

[TNT]

Yes looks like good space around the back for their off show area. Snug is a good word - it’s not bad looking it has good public viewing and they all look pretty chilled. Other places have a bit more space though and I guess it stands out more as lots of the enclosures are great spaces. Mind you it’s a treat to see hyenas - fascinating animals.

Hope you also had a lovely day!

I must say, they're the best showing hyenas I've seen!

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

Several zoos don’t do behind the scenes encounters with their great apes due to the similarities between them and humans, which make them susceptible to the same infections - especially respiratory infections.

Since the outbreak of Covid-19, it appears zoos have become even more stringent, which is understandable due to the risks involved; but greatly disappointing nonetheless.

My assumption would be the lack of inclusion of orangutans on Colchester’s keeper shadowing represents an adherence to this protocol rather than any other reason.

That makes sense and I am sure the similarity between us and the apes is part of it, but surely it is undoubtable when you consider Orangutans disappeared from Keeper Shadowing so soon after the death of Rajang (who was hand-raised).
Anyway thanks for the clarification but I am fully aware of the animal experiences available at Colchester Zoo, and what they entail, but it is nice to see them improving nonetheless.

R.E the Hyenas: I do agree that the enclosure seems a bit snug now, the enclosure was likely built more than 20 years ago, not to mention when these might have been the only Hyenas in the UK, but the new viewing area has not done the enclosure as a whole as many favours as it could have done, and the way I thought it would turn out the animals would have ended up with more space. However from personal experience I don't think the Hyenas or many of the Edge of Africa species have an abundance of offshow space, just that to separate individuals, maybe google maps could give a sense of this?
While we're on the topic I was also thinking about ways that the Orangutan enclosure could be '"fixed" earlier and I have a bit of an idea.

 

[Gigit]

[QUOTE="Rajang-GOAT, post: 1418235, member: 18271
While we're on the topic I was also thinking about ways that the Orangutan enclosure could be '"fixed" earlier and I have a bit of an idea.[/QUOTE]

I look forward to hearing it! On the subject of shadowing the orangs, covid must play a part but, even without that, Mali and Tatty's arrival would have had an effect. It's taken time for them to get used to being at Colchester and they'd never done anything like 'meeting' the public at Paignton. Fingers crossed the day will come when orang experiences are on offer again.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

Lucky Number Seven | Colchester Zoo (colchester-zoo.com)
"We have some BIG news for 2023 and it’s not just our 60th Birthday!

Not only will 2023 be packed full of special events and historical reflections to celebrate our 60th birthday, we will also be ready and waiting for the pitter-patter of four very large, yet adorable, feet upon our African plain exhibit!"
Colchester Zoo have confirmed the pregnancy of their 7th Southern White Rhino calf (news that I mentioned above in this thread), to female Astrid, and male Otto, this will be Astrid's' second and Otto's' fifth. This news article on their website covers the announcement in more detail. The zoo also hinted at this on their Instagram.

 

[DesertRhino150]

I went for a visit to Colchester this morning and, while there isn't much news in terms of animals (I did see one of the new bush dog pups come outside briefly), there are a lot of developments going on in the zoo at the moment.

Developments I could see included:
1. Part of Worlds Apart is now closed (the area beyond the iguana exhibits); from what I could see through the glass door, the bridge over the pacu and ray pond is being removed.
2. The indoor area for the squirrel monkeys in Heart of the Amazon is being expanded out. The visitor viewing area (including the side viewing into the silver dollar aquarium) is now being combined with the current indoor space.
3. The wooden boards have been removed from the right-hand enclosure of the old bear dens, and a fence has been erected around it; the signs may be old (they talk about the space housing surplus capuchin monkeys, which I think was the case before it was boarded up) but one sign does suggest it is being redeveloped.
4. Perhaps the biggest development, although currently screened behind a fence and some bamboo, is at the site of the old falconry mews - the entire building has now been completely demolished and left quite a sizeable plot of open space.
5. The development by the Amur leopards continues, with the indoor viewing area and the old tamarin enclosure both being altered.
6. Obviously, the Penguin Shores area remains closed and is presumably still being developed.

Hoping beyond hope that at least one of these developments may end up housing some new animals.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

I went for a visit to Colchester this morning and, while there isn't much news in terms of animals (I did see one of the new bush dog pups come outside briefly), there are a lot of developments going on in the zoo at the moment.

Developments I could see included:
1. Part of Worlds Apart is now closed (the area beyond the iguana exhibits); from what I could see through the glass door, the bridge over the pacu and ray pond is being removed.
2. The indoor area for the squirrel monkeys in Heart of the Amazon is being expanded out. The visitor viewing area (including the side viewing into the silver dollar aquarium) is now being combined with the current indoor space.
3. The wooden boards have been removed from the right-hand enclosure of the old bear dens, and a fence has been erected around it; the signs may be old (they talk about the space housing surplus capuchin monkeys, which I think was the case before it was boarded up) but one sign does suggest it is being redeveloped.
4. Perhaps the biggest development, although currently screened behind a fence and some bamboo, is at the site of the old falconry mews - the entire building has now been completely demolished and left quite a sizeable plot of open space.
5. The development by the Amur leopards continues, with the indoor viewing area and the old tamarin enclosure both being altered.
6. Obviously, the Penguin Shores area remains closed and is presumably still being developed.

Hoping beyond hope that at least one of these developments may end up housing some new animals.

I noticed the new developments 3 and 4 on my previous visit on the 10th September and mentioned them in my post from the visit, I thought that hopefully one of the two could provide the Barbary Macaques with a new, purpose built complex, did you notice if there was any developments with the old area of the actual falconry displays, I know a few years back it was going to be turned into a Go Ape sort of area but those plans seem to have stopped or at least been postponed for now, last I checked it was still a picnic area, mostly still intact as it was in use five or so years ago. Developments 1 and 2 were not present on my last visit, maybe Penguin Shores will take up an area of Worlds Apart or even have access to the current Pacu and ray pond. On developments 5 and 6, last I checked the viewing area of Penguin Shores was completely unchanged, last Halloween, and it seems there is now a completely new building almost as part of the Amur Leopard viewing developments (Crispin's smaller and more densely planted enclosure), as I mentioned on my post from my last visit.

 

[DesertRhino150]

On 9th September, a new baby Guianan bearded saki was born at Colchester Zoo. So far, it is yet to be sexed or named.

The mother, named Kachiri, arrived at Colchester in June 2017 and has so far had three offspring with male Karlos, who arrived in 2010. Their previous baby, named Kalu, was born on 2nd September 2020.

More information can be found in the link below:
September Saki Baby | Colchester Zoo

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

On 9th September, a new baby Guianan bearded saki was born at Colchester Zoo. So far, it is yet to be sexed or named.

The mother, named Kachiri, arrived at Colchester in June 2017 and has so far had three offspring with male Karlos, who arrived in 2010. Their previous baby, named Kalu, was born on 2nd September 2020.

More information can be found in the link below:
September Saki Baby | Colchester Zoo

I assume it is in Inca Trail, because on my last visit I noticed 2 males in the Heart of the Amazon enclosure, and 2 individuals (unidentified gender) in Inca Trail, although the article states it is at Inca Trail. I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but I assume the 2 groups of Squirrel Monkeys have been merged, or one has left, because the Sakis now take up 2 enclosures that previously one of would have held the second squirrel monkey group.

 

[DesertRhino150]

Colchester Zoo have announced the arrival of four domestic ferrets, which are living in the Familiar Friends area. I'm not sure if they are on permanent display - the announcement only mentions them being walked at selected times of the day.

Information comes from the Colchester Zoo Facebook page.

 

[LuMo]

Does anyone know where the hunting dogs have gone? Enclosure appeared empty for a while and noticed yesterday the information signs had been taken down.

 

[Rajang21]

Does anyone know where the hunting dogs have gone? Enclosure appeared empty for a while and noticed yesterday the information signs had been taken down.

I don’t think hunting dogs have been held for some time; I believe the last individuals passed away a year ago at least.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

Does anyone know where the hunting dogs have gone? Enclosure appeared empty for a while and noticed yesterday the information signs had been taken down.

I mentioned in this(?) thread a while back from a keeper that the last ones died a few months(?) ago and are not planned to be replaced.