Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo news 2025

Rajang-GOAT said:
The White-lipped tamarins in Worlds Apart seem to have been moved from their enclosure near the exit to the first primate enclosure you encounter where the Goeldi's pair were first kept after their arrival.
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I believe that this was, on my last visit, still the enclosure for the second pair of golden-headed lion tamarins. Not sure what this means for the lion tamarins, although I must note that they are probably the shiest members of their species I have ever encountered.
Since they arrived I have never seen them outside at all (in fact, every time I have been to the zoo they have been in the exact same place - sitting on top of their indoor nest box, only visible by looking through the access chute between their indoor and outdoor enclosure).
 
I went for a visit to Colchester Zoo this morning. This is what I noticed:
  • There seems to have been more signage added to the capuchin enclosure, which is of very good quality - new things I noticed included signs about the ways the zoo's capuchins are fed and the different types of enrichment provided; there is also a sign warning about sharing videos on social media involving pet primates.
  • As mentioned earlier, the white-lipped tamarins are now in the former golden-headed lion tamarin enclosure. The golden-headed lion tamarins have in turn swapped with them, and are now sharing with the sloths.
  • There has been a pitcher plant added to the bony-headed toad tank, but it is not signed.
  • The domestic brown rats in the domestic pig house have been moved off-display.
  • The male lion-tailed macaque was mating with one of the new females today.
  • The red panda enclosure has been renovated, with the climbing frame completely replaced.
  • A lot of the animals were more active than normal today - got better-than-normal views of the rock hyraxes and spider monkeys in particular.
 
Went for a visit to Colchester Zoo this morning - almost nothing has changed since my last visit in mid-October. The only things I did notice are that the new silver dollars have been moved on-show in the tank at Heart of the Amazon (there seemed to be two new age groups - a smaller shoal of new adults and a much bigger number of smaller fish). The ocellate river stingray that lived in this tank is no longer present, and its sign was taped over. I do not know if it has moved to the pond in Worlds Apart (when I saw the big adult, I stopped looking) or whether it has gone off-show.
 
The monthly report for September was published today. This is the animal news from that report:
  • The mother (Midas) and male chick (Luther) king vultures moved off-show on 21st September so that maintenance could be carried out on their enclosure. Once the maintenance is done, Midas will move back on-show with her mate, Martin, while Luther will move to another collection.
  • The redevelopment of the red panda enclosure is mentioned - it is said that once this has been completed, a new male will be brought in to join Liwei.
  • There has been a complex switch-around with the golden-headed lion tamarins - the female from the first enclosure in Worlds Apart (Blondie) moved in with the male from the Rainforest Walkthrough (Edward) in the sloth side of the Worlds Apart walkthrough on 24th September to become a breeding pair. On the same day, another female (Dani) arrived from London Zoo to be mixed with the existing male (Harvey) in the Rainforest Walkthrough - they will be a non-breeding pair. The subsequent move of the white-lipped tamarins to the former lion tamarin enclosure in Worlds Apart is also mentioned - the offspring of this species has been sexed and is a male.
  • Work continued on the elephant indoor area, and there were also changes done to the rhino indoor area (changing how the gates were operated) and new climbing equipment was done for the mangabeys and mandrills.
  • Unfortunately, female great grey owl Aphrodite died on 1st December from an infection. The plan is to import a new female to join the male (Pann) in due course.
  • Interestingly, the Familiar Friends team leader went on a harvest mouse course at Wildwood - I'm personally rather hoping that could mean they take the place of the former domestic rats in the pig indoor area.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
The monthly report for September was published today. This is the animal news from that report:
  • The mother (Midas) and male chick (Luther) king vultures moved off-show on 21st September so that maintenance could be carried out on their enclosure. Once the maintenance is done, Midas will move back on-show with her mate, Martin, while Luther will move to another collection.
  • The redevelopment of the red panda enclosure is mentioned - it is said that once this has been completed, a new male will be brought in to join Liwei.
  • There has been a complex switch-around with the golden-headed lion tamarins - the female from the first enclosure in Worlds Apart (Blondie) moved in with the male from the Rainforest Walkthrough (Edward) in the sloth side of the Worlds Apart walkthrough on 24th September to become a breeding pair. On the same day, another female (Dani) arrived from London Zoo to be mixed with the existing male (Harvey) in the Rainforest Walkthrough - they will be a non-breeding pair. The subsequent move of the white-lipped tamarins to the former lion tamarin enclosure in Worlds Apart is also mentioned - the offspring of this species has been sexed and is a male.
  • Work continued on the elephant indoor area, and there were also changes done to the rhino indoor area (changing how the gates were operated) and new climbing equipment was done for the mangabeys and mandrills.
  • Unfortunately, female great grey owl Aphrodite died on 1st December from an infection. The plan is to import a new female to join the male (Pann) in due course.
  • Interestingly, the Familiar Friends team leader went on a harvest mouse course at Wildwood - I'm personally rather hoping that could mean they take the place of the former domestic rats in the pig indoor area.
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The rats are gone?? Their enclosure was my absolute favourite in the zoo, I loved the kitchen/pantry/shed theming and the rats always looked so happy there. If they are gone forever I will be very sad.
 
AbiSquid said:
The rats are gone?? Their enclosure was my absolute favourite in the zoo, I loved the kitchen/pantry/shed theming and the rats always looked so happy there. If they are gone forever I will be very sad.
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It does seem that the rats may be gone altogether, as they have been removed from the animal list on the zoo's website. I can't imagine that would have been the case if they were just off-show temporarily.
 
There was a notice up today stating that they are now mixing the male and female Cheetah in the hopes that they will breed. This means the Cheetah enclosure by the Komodo Dragons is currently empty.

Also worth noting there are a few maintenance jobs going on at the moment meaning the walk way leading from the Lemurs to the Geladas is currently closed, as was the Tiger tunnel.
 
Colchester Zoo released their October monthly review this afternoon. This is the animal news that is included:
  • Female cheetah 'Anika' moved back to the Edge of Africa on 13th October, and will be mixed with male 'Azizi' in the future for potential breeding.
  • A rainbow lorikeet chick hatched on 13th October, and is doing well.
  • The male ocellate river stingray 'Stuart' in the Heart of the Amazon tank was moved out of the collection on 15th October.
  • Also on 15th October, five West African land snails arrived from Call of the Wild Zoo to increase the population at Colchester.
  • On 21st October, the group of five Orpington chickens were moved out of quarantine to the Southern Wild enclosure, shared with the llamas and alpacas.
  • Female smooth-coated otters Dara and Sai Lam, who have been kept off-show for a while, were moved to Buckfast Butterflies and Dartmoor Otter Sanctuary on 23rd October.
  • New species: Three male mini lop rabbits arrived on 24th October. They are currently in quarantine, and once that has completed they will be used as an encounter animal and not kept on-show.
  • The last domestic rat was euthanised due to age-related ill health. The plan is for a new group of rats to arrive in the coming months.
  • Mentions of completing the updates to the red panda enclosure, ongoing adjustments to the king vulture aviary and work on replacing windows and beams for the chimpanzees, working on the roof and flooring of the lorikeet walkthrough, adjusting the meerkat den and working on guttering and the new storage area by the elephants.
 
Colchester Zoo have now posted a news item on their website about the approval of the plans for the new lion enclosure. Work has now begun to discharge a number of pre-commencement conditions that were issued with the formal permission so that construction can start as soon as possible.

Also confirmation that, as well as the lions, aardvarks and fennec foxes named in the plans, the meerkats will also be getting an enclosure with the new development.

A brief video about the plans can be seen here:
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Colchester Zoo have now posted a news item on their website about the approval of the plans for the new lion enclosure. Work has now begun to discharge a number of pre-commencement conditions that were issued with the formal permission so that construction can start as soon as possible.

Also confirmation that, as well as the lions, aardvarks and fennec foxes named in the plans, the meerkats will also be getting an enclosure with the new development.

A brief video about the plans can be seen here:
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that’s great news that they’re now able to build on this site, will be nice to have more of the African animals together in one area
 
One additional important bit of news that I had missed from the original reading of the article is that the plan is for the new lion development to be completed and opening sometime in 2027.
 
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