Dublin Zoo Dublin Zoo news thread

Finally, I've found further details on what happened to old white rhino bull Sam (as someone mentioned a few months ago that he had passed away). In autumn 2018, he had severe painful skin issues, at the end of 2018 he got respiratory problems too. So he was put to sleep aged 42 on 3rd Jan 2019. RIP, Sam!
 
Babyrousa said:
I was at the zoo last Thursday and the wolves were visible. I could also see one Amur tiger in its indoor area from the visitor path, and another Amur was in the enclosure next to the lions that used to house the Sumatran tigers.
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Thank you. Are they going to do anything with that exhibit or is it going to remain as an additional exhibit for the lions and as you said now the tigers ?
 
Dublin Zoo's Vision - 2021-2031:

Dublin Zoo have released their strategic plan for the next 10 years to mark its bicentenary that will be occurring in 2031. The plans are generally vague but here are some notable points pulled from the document:
  • the zoo plans on adding more fish, invertebrates, an area dedicated to Irish species and an Australian section: “We will widen the scope of our animal collection to include taxonomic groups such as fish and invertebrates while proposing the addition of an Australian ecoregion and an area for the conservation of native Irish species.”
  • the establishment of a National Centre for Species Survival, converting Society House into its main headquarters. An increased involvement with protecting and conserving Irish wildlife as well.
  • the creation of more indoor spaces to combat low visitation numbers in the off-peak season due to weather: “Our 10-year vision emphasises the creation of attractive indoor spaces for animals and visitors, thereby increasing dwell time and turning the Zoo into an all-weather, all-season attraction.”
Article: Dublin Zoo launches ambitious 10-year strategic plan - Dublin Zoo
Document: https://www.dublinzoo.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Dublin-Zoo_Strategic-Vision-Doc_Spread_View.pdf#
 
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I was reading about the transfer of the elephants to Cincinnati for their new exhibit. What happens then in Dublin and will they get a new bull to replace Upali?
 
@Sarus Crane I find the transfer of half of the Dublin Elephant herd strange. The EEP for Asian Elephants is trying to keep cohesive matriarchel Elephants herds. I understand the transfer of the young Bulls Sanjay and Kabir. Young Bulls naturally leave their biological herd. The relocation of Yasmin and Anak is in my opinion a ludicrous decision. Not only are the mentioned Cowes integral to the cohesiveness of the Herd. Dublin Zoo has one of the best examples of a natural Asian Elephant Herd. The fact they are risking the Herds stability is tragic. I hope the members of the Herd at Cincinnati don't kill or injer the Dublin Elephants. In response to your question I presume Dublin will obtain a Breeding Bull. Asian Elephants are critically endangered so breeding is paramount.
 
The Hedgehog said:
@Sarus Crane I find the transfer of half of the Dublin Elephant herd strange. The EEP for Asian Elephants is trying to keep cohesive matriarchel Elephants herds. I understand the transfer of the young Bulls Sanjay and Kabir. Young Bulls naturally leave their biological herd. The relocation of Yasmin and Anak is in my opinion a ludicrous decision. Not only are the mentioned Cowes integral to the cohesiveness of the Herd. Dublin Zoo has one of the best examples of a natural Asian Elephant Herd. The fact they are risking the Herds stability is tragic. I hope the members of the Herd at Cincinnati don't kill or injer the Dublin Elephants. In response to your question I presume Dublin will obtain a Breeding Bull. Asian Elephants are critically endangered so breeding is paramount.
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They simply don't have the space for several breeding females, a breeding bull plus calves, and with five breeding females Dublin will still have a good amount of all realted females.
 
Mr.Ivory said:
They simply don't have the space for several breeding females, a breeding bull plus calves, and with five breeding females Dublin will still have a good amount of all realted females.
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Which bull do you think will come to Dublin?
 
The Hedgehog said:
@Sarus Crane I find the transfer of half of the Dublin Elephant herd strange. The EEP for Asian Elephants is trying to keep cohesive matriarchel Elephants herds. I understand the transfer of the young Bulls Sanjay and Kabir. Young Bulls naturally leave their biological herd. The relocation of Yasmin and Anak is in my opinion a ludicrous decision. Not only are the mentioned Cowes integral to the cohesiveness of the Herd. Dublin Zoo has one of the best examples of a natural Asian Elephant Herd. The fact they are risking the Herds stability is tragic. I hope the members of the Herd at Cincinnati don't kill or injer the Dublin Elephants. In response to your question I presume Dublin will obtain a Breeding Bull. Asian Elephants are critically endangered so breeding is paramount.
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Like @Mr.Ivory said space is the biggest issue here. 7 breeding cows, calves and a bull is definitely not something Dublin or many other zoos have the room for. Moving Yasmin and Anak was the most logical decision as they are mother and daughter and are probably more closely bonded with one another than with the other cows.This is not a first for the girls as they were both transferred to Dublin many years ago along with Yasmin's sister Bernhardine from Rotterdam because of space issues as well. Bernhardine, Yasmin, and Anak were seperated from their mom/grandma Irma and half-sister Bangka who both still live at Rotterdam today along with Bangka's kids. As matriarchal herds continue to grow bigger I wouldn't be surprised if a number of European zoos start sending sub-groups out to different zoos in the future.

To answer your question @Sarus Crane I also agree with what @Mr.Ivory said and would guess Aung Bo. This is for several reasons. First of all, Dublin is pretty close to Chester (only about 4 hours away) so transport shouldn't be that difficult for Aung Bo and the staff. Secondly, I'm sure Chester does not want to run into the issue of inbreeding again like what happened with Sundara (her first calf Hari, who eventually ended up passing away from EEHV, was sired by her dad Upali) and what they thought had happened with Sithami as well (it was later proven that her daughter Sundara was sired by Upali rather than Sithami's sire Chang). Sithami conceived around the same age her granddaughter Indali is right now so Chester will probably want to send Aung Bo away and get him replaced asap. Lastly, Aung Bo is relatively genetically valuable especially on his mom's side since she only had one other calf (his half-sister Marlar who only has one calf herself). His dad is the well-represented Naing Thein but Aung Bo is definitely more valuable than some of his half-siblings.

Sorry a lot of this has nothing to do with Dublin, but long story short I think Aung Bo would be a good fit for Dublin's herd once Yasmin, Anak, Kabir, and Sanjay head to Cincinnati.
 
I heard a radio interview with the new director and he has visited over 300 zoos and was I pleased to hear he keeps several pet animals at home such as dogs birds reptiles. he is a lemur specialist and mentioned aye ayes as a species he would hope to work with in Dublin. He plans to exhibit native species and mentioned hares and choughs. He is also aware that the zoo needs more diversity and hopes to add fish, amphibians and insects as well as smaller mammals. I was heartened by his comments as Dublin zoo currently holds little appeal for me.
 
dublinlion said:
I heard a radio interview with the new director and he has visited over 300 zoos and was I pleased to hear he keeps several pet animals at home such as dogs birds reptiles. he is a lemur specialist and mentioned aye ayes as a species he would hope to work with in Dublin. He plans to exhibit native species and mentioned hares and choughs. He is also aware that the zoo needs more diversity and hopes to add fish, amphibians and insects as well as smaller mammals. I was heartened by his comments as Dublin zoo currently holds little appeal for me.
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Glad to hear this. What radio station? Might give it a listen myself
 
The 2020 annual report for the Zoological Society of Ireland is now available to read here.

https://www.dublinzoo.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Dublin-Zoo-Annual-Report-2020_sml.pdf

One thing of note from the report is that the zoo has successfully bred the Annam leaf turtle for the first time: "In June the Annam leaf turtle (Mauremys annamensis) produced five eggs, which were placed in an incubator, and in August Dublin Zoo had its first-ever hatchling of this Critically Endangered species."
 
Went up to the zoo today to see the progress on the new snow leopard and red panda enclosures that will (hopefully) open next year. I saw that there was netting covering what is supposedly the snow leopard's, which I'm a bit disappointed with since I always thought it was nice the leopards had an open-topped enclosure, though I understand why they have the netting, as these cats can jump 6 metres above ground. I also got to speak with two keepers to ask about what will happen with the current enclosures for both species. They said that the old snow leopard enclosure may become home to dholes (!!!), though they weren't sure on the red pandas' old enclosure.

I'll be posting some photos into the gallery later on.
 
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