Dublin Zoo Dublin zoo news

Dublin Zoo recently celebrated the birth of a female Eastern Bongo to parents Sam and Kimba- good news for Dublin.:)
 
Spring news

These might not be all "hot news", but here is a summary from the new issue of Zoo Matters. (Spring 2012)

Eastern Pygmy Marmoset triplets were born on January 30th. Unfortunately, one of them died on February 23rd. (The mother accidentally dropped him)
The other two are doing well.

Sulawesi Crested Macaque was born on February 15th.

Four male African Hunting Dogs were sent to Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, England on January 26th. There is only one female and two males in Dublin now, the zoo is "hopeful the female will have pups". (Is it a cryptic way of telling us, that she might be pregnant? :) )

Two female Asian Lions will arrive from Mullhouse Zoo in France. Male will be brought sometime this year. (The article doesn´t specify from where.)

The magazines says that the Asian Forest will be completed by Easter. That´s only a week away and I don´t believe it´s possible, the building site is far from complete. (I might be wrong, but it doesn´t look ready at all.)
Here is a description of how the exhibit will look like:
Visitors will be able to travel through the arid woodland and scrub of India, home to a breeding group of Asian lions. Next, they can discover the Sumatran tigers in the lush, dense tropical rainforest of Sumatra and continue through the magnificent viewing area to observe the breeding troop of Sulawesi crested macaques.

The biggest news, of course, is the new Bongo Calf, mentioned here already. Here is some info about the Dublin Zoo´s Bongo family:
Malindi - came from Howletts Wild Animal Park in 2000. (now 13 years old)
Kimba - born to Malindi in 2004, had to be hand-reared.
Sam - came from Rotterdam in 2006 (now 7 years old)
Kimba and Sam are the parents of the new female calf, born on January 8th 2012. Kimba proved to be an extremely good mother.
 
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These might not be all "hot news", but here is a summary from the new issue of Zoo Matters. (Spring 2012)

Eastern Pygmy Marmoset triplets were born on January 30th. Unfortunately, one of them died on February 23rd. (The mother accidentally dropped him)
The other two are doing well.

Sulawesi Crested Macaque was born on February 15th.

Four male African Hunting Dogs were sent to Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent, England on January 26th. There is only one female and two males in Dublin now, the zoo is "hopeful the female will have pups". (Is it a cryptic way of telling us, that she might be pregnant? :) )

Two female Asian Lions will arrive from Mullhouse Zoo in France. Male will be brought sometime this year. (The article doesn´t specify from where.)

The magazines says that the Asian Forest will be completed by Easter. That´s only a week away and I don´t believe it´s possible, the building site is far from complete. (I might be wrong, but it doesn´t look ready at all.)
Here is a description of how the exhibit will look like:


The biggest news, of course, is the new Bongo Calf, mentioned here already. Here is some info about the Dublin Zoo´s Bongo family:
Malindi - came from Howletts Wild Animal Park in 2000. (now 13 years old)
Kimba - born to Malindi in 2004, had to be hand-reared.
Sam - came from Rotterdam in 2006 (now 7 years old)
Kimba and Sam are the parents of the new female calf, born on January 8th 2012. Kimba proved to be an extremely good mother.

Any indication when the female lions will arrive? It seems that Dublin will become the ninth Asian lion holder, I have listed below the current holdings:

Bristol - 2.2 (1.1 cubs born 2010, expected to leave this or next year)- Male is probably now to old to breed.

Chessington - 1.1, only bred one female cub from the current pair which didn't survive long.

Chester - 1.2, two females arrived in September 2011 from Rotterdam Zoo. Male is Iblis (Ex Planckendael)

Cotswold - 1.1 male is infertile and the pair are to old to breed. Cotswold held 1.2 for a few years, Gir (Ex Dudley) died in October 2011

Dudley - 1.2 things are said to be looking good, male is Itar (Ex Planckendael) and females are ex Edinburgh (Half sisters)

Dublin - 0.2 (not yet arrived) will arrive from Mulhouse, male will be sourced later in the year.

Edinburgh - 1.1 male is Royal ex Helsinki, female will be 14 soon. No sign of breeding, Gita (Ex Chester) moved to Santilliana in 2011.

London - 1.4 male is Lucifer ex Cotswold, adult female is London bred (Abi) three cubs (two litters, 1.1 in 2009, male moved to Lodz in 2010, 0.2 born 2011).

Paignton - 1.1 had a cub in 2011 died 30 days later, things may happen there.

Before anybody says, the male cub at Bristol could move to Dublin, that move can't happen as there cousins. I only expect maybe Dudley and possibly Paignton and Chester to breed this year. I will not saying anything on here about Chester.
 
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Any indication when the female lions will arrive?

Not a clue. They´re being very secretive about it, the most specific answer you can get is "in spring" or "by Easter".
Well, it´s Easter now.. I´m checking their website and news, but there´s no date yet and the exhibit is far from ready. I would expect some kind of opening ceremony for such a major project, but nothing like that is mentioned in their event programme, website or Facebook page.
(On the other hand, the Asian Forest exhibit is already on the map they give to visitors at the entrance gate :) )
 
Any news as to when the male elephant will be arriving? I'm assuming the bull housing is completed by now?
I know a month has been set but a date I don't know, I would say but I was told by a good friend of mine so until Dublin release the news there self I will not reveal it. But what I will say is that it's in the next few months.
 
Any news as to when the male elephant will be arriving? I'm assuming the bull housing is completed by now?

It´s not. The walls are standing, but there´s no roof yet.
 
Rhino swap has taken place with South Lakes today. See South Lakes 2012 thread for further info
 
Two female Asian lion cubs are now in new Asian forests exhibit at Dublin zoo.
they are 19 months old and came from mullhouse in france. they will be joined in six months by a six year old male.
 
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Some interesting news on the Planckendael thread as to the Asian Elephants. The young male 'Budi' will be moved to Antwerp in June. He will stay there for a while before being moved to Denver Zoo in the USA. This may give an indication that the new Bull at Dublin maybe arriving soon. ;)
 
Some interesting news on the Planckendael thread as to the Asian Elephants. The young male 'Budi' will be moved to Antwerp in June. He will stay there for a while before being moved to Denver Zoo in the USA. This may give an indication that the new Bull at Dublin maybe arriving soon. ;)
It could mean that the bull is due to move soon,but from what I have heard the house will not be ready for another,couple of months and I also don't believe its been confirmed yet which Bull is going to Dublin!
 
At the keeper talk, the Dublin elephant keepers tell the public that the new bull will be Upali from Chester and that he will be moved in a few weeks. The bull house looks finished.
 
At the keeper talk, the Dublin elephant keepers tell the public that the new bull will be Upali from Chester and that he will be moved in a few weeks. The bull house looks finished.
Now that is interesting news,as far as I'm aware Chester haven't said that Upali is leaving!
 
At the keeper talk, the Dublin elephant keepers tell the public that the new bull will be Upali from Chester and that he will be moved in a few weeks. The bull house looks finished.

I'd heard this from a Dublin zoo visitor too.
 
Do the flying foxes fly?

Sorry, this is not news, just a question. I didn´t want to create separate thread for it.

Question - Do the Rodrigues Fruit Bats in Dublin Zoo ever fly? I watched them many times and never saw them flying, only climbing the branches, moving hand over hand along the ceiling or crawling on the ground.
Why is that? Do they simply don´t feel the need to fly, when the food is so close to them? Or is it because the exhibit is filled with branches and they don´t have enough space to fly?
 
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