Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2025

I visited today for the first time since February. The weather started off quite grey but by the afternoon the sun was shining and the sky was blue. There are a few things of note to go through from what was a good day overall.
  • First of all, I was very impressed with the capuchin enclosure 'Capuchin Climb' redevelopment and the work on the surrounding area to significantly smarten it up (and make it less of a maze in the area between the entrance and the soft play). For the animals, it effectively comprised of combining the capuchin (previously sun bear and orangutan) enclosure with the outdoor and indoor facilities of the adjacent off show primate enclosure, and a major refresh of these areas. The old pool and wooden hut have been removed from the outdoor enclosure, and new climbing logs/tree trunks have been put in, as well as some nice new planting of bamboo and other bushes. From a visitor perspective, looking through the enclosure towards the back is much more straightforward, and the enclosure and main viewing area let a lot more light in, while the indoor viewing area provides some excellent interactive signage to engage younger visitors. The work on the garden areas next to this opens out the space much more, and I imagine this section near the entrance starkly contrasts how it would've looked only a year or two ago. I took a series of photos of which some may well end up in the gallery.
  • This was my first time seeing the impressive new male Western chimpanzee Napoleon, who is being rotated between the two halves of the indoor area throughout each day with the females (Tara, Kora and Talia), while they also have access outdoors, which I saw them use more today than I have ever previously. When both groups were inside, Napo was trying to look through the glass (that has some stripes of black tape on it currently) towards the females, and their behaviour did cause some activity from him at times. As I understand the main plan is for him to breed with dominant female Tara (who is apparently also pure) as was the reason for the EEP recommendation for him to move to the zoo. Temporary signage acknowledging his arrival and asking visitors to try to be quiet and keep their distance to help him settle in went up during my visit.
  • Progression on the platform overlooking Mangabey Mangrove (accessed opposite the lower leopard viewing area) has been good since my last visit, with a new shelter now in place.
  • I had my first view of this years adorable Warthog hoglets at Edge of Africa along with the rest of the group, with the two year old brothers playfighting together and putting on quite the display.
  • I saw a couple of Red Kites in the sky throughout the day, nothing out of the ordinary for the zoo in my experience.
  • The Amur leopard cubs born in November are growing fast but still draw crowds of people to their main viewing area when they are out.
  • At Worlds Apart all 4 species of monkey (Golden-headed lion tamarin, Goeldi's, White-lipped tamarin, Coppery titi) were out and visible in the sun, putting on the best display I have had in memory for these residents of the exhibit. Every individual of these species were in their outdoor enclosures (including the White-lipped twins that are less than a month old), with one Southern Tamandua also out and scaling the netting on the roof of the walkthrough.
  • Bornean orangutan female Mali was looking pretty large from the angle I had of her, maybe she's put on some weight? I also noticed that some fence separating two of the smaller indoor sections had been taken out, effectively merging them into one.
  • Maneless zebra mare Anna was being quite loud in the absence of a stallion, capturing the attention of nearby visitors.
  • Wallaby walkabout (walkthrough for male red-necked wallabies) seems quite empty with only a very small number of individuals left.
  • There has been some quite noticeable renovations in the Colenso Village walkthrough fairly recently, though it's not easy to tell what exactly has changed when I don't visit the exhibit often. I took some photos but won't post them unless anyone is desperate to see the changes to fence/shelter.
  • Some people (including me) have been interested in the future of Penguin Shores, the smaller and older Humboldt penguin exhibit that had it's residents temporarily move to Inca Trail when it closed for redevelopment before Covid. The plan is for it to be redeveloped into a penguin enclosure once more, however it will likely house a new group of individuals as the previous two groups are now merged (29 strong). It was always the plan for this redevelopment to happen but it was delayed/halted by Covid, however now it is more of a priority again so should happen in the next two years if everything goes well.
 
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I went for a visit of my own to Colchester this morning, primarily to see the new Capuchin Climb exhibit. It really is a huge improvement on what was there previously, and is now an excellent first impression for the zoo.

A few other things of note that I saw today:
  • In the little sandy area adjacent to the main penguin pool on the Inca Trail, one of the Humboldt penguins has dug out a little hollow under an overhang and is now sitting on at least one egg (that I could see).
  • Now that the capuchins have moved into their new enclosure, the Out of Africa section is back to just housing Barbary macaques. I counted at least four individuals (two in the capuchin space and two in the enclosure that the macaques have been confined to the entire time). This is a bit odd, as throughout the capuchin redevelopment, I was sure that only three Barbary macaques remained. It seems they may have had the rest of the group off-show somewhere, and have divided the troop into two.
  • I don't know why, but the female ostriches were confined to their indoor stalls this morning. Almost all the other animals were out and mixed together.
 
On Sunday 13th April, female Patagonian sea lion 'Atlanta' died. She had been under veterinary observation, but a definitive diagnosis of her condition was unable to be identified. Despite the best efforts to keep her comfortable, she did not respond to any treatment and took a turn for the worse over the weekend.

Atlanta had lived at Colchester Zoo since November 2003 and was in her mid-20s, so had spent most of her life at Colchester.
 
Colchester Zoo have also released their February monthly overview this morning. These are the things of note recorded in the animal collection:
  • On 12th February, a female prehensile-tailed skink was transferred to Zooparc de Beauval.
  • Also on 12th February, male bush dog Kourou arrived from Zooparc de Peaugres. He was off-show until the five other bush dogs left, and mixing with the remaining female commenced afterwards.
  • On 13th February, a new male golden-headed lion tamarin named Edward arrived from Karlsruhe Zoo. He is the one living in the Rainforest Walkthrough with the titi monkeys. A female will arrive in due course to join him.
  • The fifteen Denison's barb went on-show in River's Edge during this month.
  • Lots of the already-mentioned improvements to the zoo were mentioned here, such as the new capuchin enclosure, the visitor viewing at the mangabeys and lemurs, substrate and drainage changes at Walking Giants, the adaptations made to the Amur tiger enclosure and addition of a new shelter area in the African livestock walkthrough.
  • One update linked to a new animal is mentioned; the new nestbox in the sloth enclosure in the Worlds Apart walkthrough is apparently for a new sloth due to arrive in March.
 
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At the weekend the three male Warthog hoglets born to Moja and Hermione on the 14th March were announced as being named Turbo, Jet, and Rebel.

Sad news about the death of Patagonian sealion Atlanta. Hopefully the remaining females Milan, Sydney, Winnipeg and their keepers can recover from this. The girls will all be about 23/24 years old now and are all a good age, so it's nice that the four of them have been maintained in relatively good health for nearly three years since the death of the fifth group member, Paris.
 
Today, Colchester Zoo have also posted the monthly report for March; this is the news relevant to the animal collection:
  • The departure of the five bush dogs and two chimpanzees to Belfast is mentioned, along with the subsequent death of Tombe the chimp.
  • The male bush dog Kourou who arrived from France on 12th February was successfully mixed with the remaining female on 6th March.
  • Another twenty-six Denison's barbs arrived on 6th March, and are off-show while undergoing quarantine.
  • Female aardvark Oni moved to Chester Zoo on 21st March, leaving just Oq and her offspring Roo.
  • On 12th March, a new female Linne's two-toed sloth named Midnight arrived from Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park. She is currently off-show, but will move into Worlds Apart in the near-future.
  • As well as the two white-lipped tamarins and three warthogs born in March, the zoo also successfully bred the strawberry poison-dart frogs in the Sensation Station for the first time, with three froglets successfully developing.
  • The zoo improvements mentioned were the progression of Capuchin Climb, the renovation of the African livestock walkthrough and addition of new infrared basking areas in both the rhinoceros iguana and green iguana enclosures.
 
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The Philippine spotted deer calf born to breeding pair Bongat and Autumn on the 6th December 2024 has been sexed as female and named Gee. However I believe that mum and the new calf are currently separated off show from dad Bongat and older brother Flynn born last January, and my first visit of the year is the only time I have seen Autumn and Gee so far.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Also, Chimpanzee Lookout has been closed for the past three days. On Monday, it was said to be closed for a veterinary procedure, but the closure has continued since then. All the chimpanzees are off-show at this time.
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As I understand, the veterinary procedure in question was dominant female Tara being taken off contraception. During this time however, the new male Napoleon who arrived on the 2nd April (from Bioparc Fuengirola) has seemingly been fully integrated with the 3 females, and is also now allowed into the outdoor enclosure.
Great work from the team involved to get Napo settled in an introduced to the rest of the troop within three weeks of his arrival, and to carry out both of these important processes while the exhibit was only closed for half a week.
 
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Rajang-GOAT said:
As I understand, the veterinary procedure in question was dominant female Tara being taken off contraception. During this time however, the new male Napoleon who arrived on the 2nd April (from Bioparc Fuengirola) has seemingly been fully integrated with the 3 females, and is also now allowed into the outdoor enclosure.
Great work from the team involved to get Napo settled in an introduced to the rest of the troop within three weeks of his arrival, and to carry out both of these important processes while the exhibit was only closed for half a week.
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I just don't get it why a pure-bred chimp is brought in to breed with hybrid females? What is the real story behind his move into the collection?
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I just don't get it why a pure-bred chimp is brought in to breed with hybrid females? What is the real story behind his move into the collection?
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Look up to my (admittedly long winded) post above from my recent visit, Tara is known to be a pure bred female, hence why the recommendation was made. I'm not sure how long the zoo have been aware of this (I think we're looking at a number of years) but it sounds like it was discovered/confirmed at some point by genetic/blood testing.
 
Rajang-GOAT said:
Look up to my (admittedly long winded) post above from my recent visit, Tara is known to be a pure bred female, hence why the recommendation was made. I'm not sure how long the zoo have been aware of this (I think we're looking at a number of years) but it sounds like it was discovered/confirmed at some point by genetic/blood testing.
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I re-read your review and found the note pertaining to female Tara. This now all makes some sense (like the transfer out of both hybrid males Tombe and Tumba to Belfast Zoo to make way for the new male (I am glad they learned from similar change overs that having a new pure-bred male into an established power dynamic of non subspecific/hybrid males (in which cases the civil strife led to the purebred male taken out or worse yet killed by the resident troupe...).
 
Rajang-GOAT said:
Look up to my (admittedly long winded) post above from my recent visit, Tara is known to be a pure bred female, hence why the recommendation was made. I'm not sure how long the zoo have been aware of this (I think we're looking at a number of years) but it sounds like it was discovered/confirmed at some point by genetic/blood testing.
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Kifaru Bwana said:
I re-read your review and found the note pertaining to female Tara. This now all makes some sense (like the transfer out of both hybrid males Tombe and Tumba to Belfast Zoo to make way for the new male (I am glad they learned from similar change overs that having a new pure-bred male into an established power dynamic of non subspecific/hybrid males (in which cases the civil strife led to the purebred male taken out or worse yet killed by the resident troupe...).
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It was definitely a good move to transfer out the two male chimpanzees before brining in the new male (Napoleon). Introducing intact mother-raised adult males is extremely challenging, especially when one half of those being introducing are living within an established troop they feel a duty to protect.

Tara turns 40 years old in October, so is by no means a young animal. Females her age and older have successfully bred, so fingers crossed there’s time for her to have at least one offspring from this pairing.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Today, Colchester Zoo have also posted the monthly report for March; this is the news relevant to the animal collection:
  • On 12th March, a new female Linne's two-toed sloth named Midnight arrived from Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park. She is currently off-show, but will move into Worlds Apart in the near-future.
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The zoo has now announced that Midnight the sloth has gone on-show in Worlds Apart. She is mixed with the resident male Tucurui. The other pair of sloths, Calypso and Carmen, are living in Rainforest Walkthrough. It is hoped that the arrival of Midnight will eventually lead to offspring.
 
Zoofan15 said:
It was definitely a good move to transfer out the two male chimpanzees before brining in the new male (Napoleon). Introducing intact mother-raised adult males is extremely challenging, especially when one half of those being introducing are living within an established troop they feel a duty to protect.

Tara turns 40 years old in October, so is by no means a young animal. Females her age and older have successfully bred, so fingers crossed there’s time for her to have at least one offspring from this pairing.
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Sorry a rather ignorant and probably avoidable reply here, are any of the current females at Colchester the offspring of Tombe? Or are they sisters/aunties/cousins? I’ve always found it difficult to follow the Colchester family pattern for some reason haha
 
sasha242 said:
Sorry a rather ignorant and probably avoidable reply here, are any of the current females at Colchester the offspring of Tombe? Or are they sisters/aunties/cousins? I’ve always found it difficult to follow the Colchester family pattern for some reason haha
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Tombe is the half-brother of Tekitia. There’s a family tree in the gallery courtesy of @GillP:

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As per comments above, the principle reason for the changeover was to allow Tara (a purebred female) the opportunity to breed with a purebred male.
 

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sasha242 said:
Sorry a rather ignorant and probably avoidable reply here, are any of the current females at Colchester the offspring of Tombe? Or are they sisters/aunties/cousins? I’ve always found it difficult to follow the Colchester family pattern for some reason haha
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Here is the current group and some of the previous members from recent years. A star (*) will indicate the individual was born at the zoo.
Current:
1:0 Napoleon (27 years of age) Gordo x Lola -> arrived this month from Bioparc Fuengirola where I believe he was also born, however he was also at Bioparc Valencia prior to 2015.
*0:1 Tara (8/10/1985) George x Billy-Joe
*0:1 Kora (26/11/1999) Bobby x Billy-Joe
*0:1 Talia (14/3/2009) Pippin x Tekita
- The zoo has always previously said Pippin fathered Talia but I believe are now unsure whether it was actually Tombe, and have referenced him to be the father of Talia in news articles this year.

Individuals since the exhibit was redeveloped as Chimpanzee Lookout:
*1:0 Tumba (5/12/2004) Pippin x Tekita -> moved to Belfast Zoo 4/3/2025
*1:0 Tombe (2/8/1996-28/3/2025) Bobby x Mandy -> moved to Belfast Zoo 4/3/2025
*0:1 Tekita (1/2/1996-1/12/2020) Bobby x Tara
1:0 Pippin (23/3/1986-9/9/2019) Bimbo x Coco ->born at Twycross Zoo and arrived in 1992
0:1 Billy-Joe (early/mid 1970s-1/3/2018) -> arrived from a research centre in the late 1970s

Other chimps who died in the early 2000s or prior:
1:0 Bobby (1974-2002) Oscar x Coco -> also born at Twycross
0:1 Mandy (1966?-2001)
1:0 George

So Kora has the same dad as Tombe, and Talia is also definitely related one way or another
 
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