What a beautiful zoo! I've just visited and was very impressed. I did several circuits on a very busy Saturday and popped back for a couple of hours on Monday morning, when it was quiet. I saw all the animals on show but won't comment on them all. However, I may be able to answer questions.
The
Asian Forests look good, with ample viewing areas although people were missing the lions who blended into the fence at the back of their enclosure. Seeing the
Snow Leopard was a treat. The
Macaque,
Siamang, Spider Monkey and
Lemur enclosures/islands are all attractive and provide climbing opportunities.
Orangutans (primary purpose of visit!) - it is almost impossible to see into or photograph their indoor den because of reflections on the glass
On Saturday, the youngest female, Mujur, was playing on the grille in the ceiling and the older females, Leonie and Riona, were sitting by the glass attracting a lot of attention (and knocking). Sibu, the male, was in his own den under a sack. They all went outside for their feeding session. I will upload some photos I took of the outdoor enclosure while Mr Gigit was talking to the keeper who said that Mujur was adopted by one of the females when her mother, Maggie, died. Does anyone know who the adopter is? Why don't they have a board giving information about the individuals?
On Monday morning, we had a quiet 15 minutes with them in their house and were treated to a (short) long call from Sibu.
Being used to Paignton's orangutan islands, I wasn't overly impressed by Dublin's. I wonder if there are any plans for updating and extending it into the old gorilla area?
There were
Grey Wolves in the enclosure signed '
Arctic Fox'which gave rise to a lot of confusion!
I liked the
African Savanna, home to
, zebra,
ostrich,
oryx and
white rhino. It reminded me of Burger's zoo.
It's a long time since I've seen a
Hippo so I was very interested in Henry, Heidi and their youngster (Atiya?).
Gorillas (secondary purpose of visit!) - what a beautiful area. On our first circuit of the zoo, the gorillas were outside. Harry and Alf were beside the glass of the covered viewing area. Presumably, if they were as annoyed as I was by people constantly banging on the glass they would have moved away. However, it does seem to be the only place where they can shelter from the rain. Maybe Harry's habit of covering his left ear with his hand comes in useful here!
Later, they were indoors - a well-enriched area. The two infants, 15 month old Kituba and 9 month old Kambiri, were playing on netting hanging from the grilled ceiling, under the watchful eyes of their mothers, Lena & Mayani. Coming from Paignton, I'd forgotten how delightful it is to watch young apes with their endless
joie de vivre, and the beneficial effect they have on the group. The gorilla house is one place with a good information board but, surprisingly, Kambiri hasn't yet been added to it.
The
chimps have a good looking island next to the gorillas. The viewing area to their house is rather small and claustrophobic. The interior of the house looked very suitable from the brief glimpse I had of it.
Elephants - far too busy to linger there, though it was fun to see two youngsters playing as we pushed our way through the crowd.
Two very enjoyable visits. More signs giving information about individual animals, please! I'll upload some photos later.
there ar now six gorillas in Dubllin zoo
