Dartmoor Zoo Dartmoor Zoo News

Annoucement via Facebook today that they are "preparing for Zebra" (Don't know what sub-species)

That is quite a benchmark species for them to acquire- presumably it will be Plains zebra of some type.

Can anyone list on here what(if any) other new species have been aquired here since the change of ownershp a few years back.
 
Apart from the Lechwe and the cheetah, its mostly smaller bird species, meerkats and rodents. In a way, I applaud them for improving the conditions for animals they inherited (a good example being the monkeys), however for some species, such as the macaws, it would have seemed more logical for them to go to somewhere they could have been intergrated into a group in a large flight aviary.
 
Three new zebra arrived last December.
Iberian wolves still not on show.
Sugar gliders arrived.
African pygmy dormice and a new turtle arrived.

Ben the male brown bear unfortunately passed away in October due to a spinal problem.

And three new baby meerkats to dad Timon and mum Xena. 1.2.0

Dartmoor Zoo
 
Three new zebra arrived last December.
Iberian wolves still not on show.
Sugar gliders arrived.
African pygmy dormice and a new turtle arrived.

Ben the male brown bear unfortunately passed away in October due to a spinal problem.

And three new baby meerkats to dad Timon and mum Xena. 1.2.0

Dartmoor Zoo
Does anyone know where the Sugar Gliders came from? Colchester's disappeared during 2012 i think.
 
I visited Dartmoor yesterday. After my last visit 2 years ago, I felt quite optimistic about the place but little seems to have changed in the meantime.

There are fewer animals - for instance, I remember half a dozen ostrich in the huge paddock in front of the restaurant, plus assorted deer, llamas... Yesterday there was a solitary ostrich, although we were told there was one other and some lechwe in part of the paddock that isn't viewable.

The three male Iberian wolves were active. I understand they are looking for a new home for Josie, the lioness.

There were a lot of volunteers about. We were approached by two eager to tell us about the animals we were looking at at that time, and felt it would be rude to interrupt and say 'yes, we know'. There must be a happy medium between that approach and the other extreme where zoo staff do their best to avoid giving you information.

My highlight was the absolutely stunning male Himalayan Monal. What a shame he is housed in the gloomy cage near the Jaguar and Red Foxes. We saw several people walk past without realising he was there. Why not put him in a prominent place where the sun has the chance to illuminate those wonderful, shimmering colours?

I do wonder what will happen when their ageing cats and bears die off. They must have a long way to go before their plans for elephants and giraffe bear fruit. There's nothing there at the moment that I would rush back to see again.
 
Gigit said:
There were a lot of volunteers about. We were approached by two eager to tell us about the animals we were looking at at that time, and felt it would be rude to interrupt and say 'yes, we know'.
unless you're rushed for time or just don't want to be disturbed, a good thing to do in such a case would be to start talking to them about animals too. I don't mean in a smarmy "I know more than you" way of course, but just so they know that you're not the regular type of visitor. Zoo staff and volunteers love visitors who actually know something and are interested - they are the sort of people they do the job for. It can really make both of you feel good for the rest of the day.
 
unless you're rushed for time or just don't want to be disturbed, a good thing to do in such a case would be to start talking to them about animals too. I don't mean in a smarmy "I know more than you" way of course, but just so they know that you're not the regular type of visitor. Zoo staff and volunteers love visitors who actually know something and are interested - they are the sort of people they do the job for. It can really make both of you feel good for the rest of the day.

Yes, I would have done normally but these volunteers looked very new and were reading from cards. I've had mixed reactions when trying to discuss animals with zoo staff and sometimes have been blatantly fobbed off - but maybe that's just me ;) It does make you reluctant to ask again though.
 
The parks final Jaguar, Sovereign was PTS yesterday due to feline leukemia
 
I wonder what the plans will be with that enclosure, hopefully still jaguars, the whole cat section may be due for a revamp soon what with just one lone middle aged lioness, and middle aged tigers.

The enclosures are good, maybe its time to get some breeders in now they are more empty?
 
I wonder what the plans will be with that enclosure, hopefully still jaguars

Personally I always felt a bit nervous (safety wise) at the far (non-house) end of the enclosure -maybe I'm paranoid but it always seemed "jumpable" by a Jaguar. I had similar misgivings when they used to keep Tigers in the enclosure down from "Tiger Mountain" (I think it holds Cheetah now).
 
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