Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoo News 2021

Just simple maths and as a bird lover I can not see all the excitement bring back old species the zoo did exactly the same in the late 70's & 80's and look how that turned out.
Don't you think like myself the collection should bring in new species that they have not held in the past to stir interest in the local public thus bringing more people through the gates.
 
As a bird lover I'd have thought you would be more excited about a new bird species. This is the first time I've seen a cassowary living at Dudley and I'm sure it's the same for many others. There are very few species, of public interest that Dudley could've brought in to replace the kangaroos and personally I believe cassowarys are probably the best choice. A species large enough and unique enough to spark public interest and also a species of conservation concern. It will certainly be a highlight of my first trip when the zoo reopens if he decides to show his face.
 
I got November 23rd by mistake I will own up to mistakes as I have a image from November 23rd of the enclosure with what looks like a Cassowary in it and thought it was this in the gallery
Giraffejack10 I understand were you are coming from if you haven't seen one before but when you have seen them before at the collection it really doesn't excite me sorry
 
AdrianW1963 said:
I got November 23rd by mistake I will own up to mistakes as I have a image from November 23rd of the enclosure with what looks like a Cassowary in it and thought it was this in the gallery
Giraffejack10 I understand were you are coming from if you haven't seen one before but when you have seen them before at the collection it really doesn't excite me sorry
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I understand that you might not be excited by them but it seems like you're saying that once you've one individual of a species you've seen them all. The majority of the zoos visitors are not zoo fanatics and might have never seen an exotic animal before let alone something as rare and fascinating as a cassowary so the zoo are trying to please the majority of their visitors, not a small number of zoo fanatics who are no longer interested in species they've seen before. Out of curiosity, what species would you have preferred the zoo to replace the kangaroos?
 
Visited today with @cliffxdavis for the first time in over 12 months. Wasn't a bad visit at all despite all indoor areas being closed. Got to see the new Cassowary in his enclosure, looks very nice indeed and is well suited to hold more birds in the future. Also got a look at the Common Palm Civet (totally forgot they had it! :eek:) in with the Binturongs, even if it was just a sleeping ball of fur...

New developments are well underway with the Orang enclosure. All the old fencing is down and they were dismantling the old house and cage today so building should start pretty quickly.
In Lemur Wood there are plans afoot to build a heated platform not far from the Collared Lemur house but plans have had to be halted due to lemurs messing with the poles apparently...
New Spurred Tortoise house and paddock opposite the Flamingos ( who are now sharing with Red-breasted Geese) which I've never seen before, any idea how long it has been up for?
The B&W Ruffed Lemurs won't be moving down to the enclosure by the Chimps for the foreseeable future as it's currently home to a solitary Sulawesi Macaque (separated from the main group) who is awaiting female companionship in the near future, not sure what the plan is for the lemurs now though.
And finally there are two groups of Geladas, one in the hillside paddock by the funfair and one in their old enclosure next to the Spider Monkeys.

Think that's it for new developments. I had thoroughly enjoyable visit, social distancing was pretty good throughout but the one-way system was annoying at times though, and did restrict access to certain exhibits.
 
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Brum said:
Visited today with @cliffxdavis for the first time in over 12 months. Wasn't a bad visit at all despite all indoor areas being closed. Got to see the new Cassowary in his enclosure, looks very nice indeed and is well suited to hold more birds in the future. Also got a look at the Common Palm Civet (totally forgot they had it! :eek:) in with the Binturongs, even if it was just a sleeping ball of fur...

New developments are well underway with the Orang enclosure. All the old fencing is down and they were dismantling the old house and cage today so building should start pretty quickly.
In Lemur Wood there are plans afoot to build a heated platform not far from the Crowned Lemur house but plans have had to be halted due to lemurs messing with the poles apparently...
New Spurred Tortoise house and paddock opposite the Flamingos ( who are now sharing with Red-breasted Geese) which I've never seen before, any idea how long it has been up for?
The B&W Ruffed Lemurs won't be moving down to the enclosure by the Chimps for the foreseeable future as it's currently home to a solitary Sulawesi Macaque (separated from the main group) who is awaiting female companionship in the near future, not sure what the plan is for the lemurs now though.
And finally there are two groups of Geladas, one in the hillside paddock by the funfair and one in their old enclosure next to the Spider Monkeys.

Think that's it for new developments. I had thoroughly enjoyable visit, social distancing was pretty good throughout but the one-way system was annoying at times though, and did restrict access to certain exhibits.
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I'm pretty sure they don't have Crowned Lemur inside Lemur Wood, you must be thinking of Collared lemur....
 
Many thanks for the updates @Brum. Glad to hear work on the orang enclosure is progressing at a good pace.

Interesting about the geladas. They must've had to split the breeding group for whatever reason.
I think the new tortoise enclosure was built around Feb/March 2020.

I've just a few questions:
  • Were the bush dogs in their usual place by the tigers?
  • Were there any changes to the old ibis aviary next to the otters?
  • Were there any changes behind the old discovery centre by the capuchins?
 
Benosaurus said:
I've just a few questions:
  • Were the bush dogs in their usual place by the tigers?
  • Were there any changes to the old ibis aviary next to the otters?
  • Were there any changes behind the old discovery centre by the capuchins?
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Bush Dogs were in their usual enclosure.

The aviaries by the new Cassowary enclosure? Nope. nothing much. Those aviaries are definitely looking worse for wear now though, doubt they'll have long left.

You can't get down there now, it's fenced off due to social distancing measures (or lack thereof as it's too narrow) so I couldn't say. Looks like there may be some work going on down there, but don't know what, sorry. :)
 
Three of the eldest juveniles from the gelada breeding group have moved, as @Brum reported, into the large hillside enclosure next door to the spider monkey enclosure.

They are three males called Billie (aged 6), Ambo (aged 6) and Gimbi (aged 4).

Keepers observed them forming their own bachelor group within the family group, therefore it was a natural move for them.

Source: Zoo social media.


So now there are 2 groups of geladas at Dudley again:

- The breeding group; currently 10 individuals (4.6).
- The bachelor group; currently 3 individuals.
 
I'm visiting Dudley tomorrow and it's my first visit to a zoo since they reopened on Monday. I was just wondering if anyone could give me any tips to make the most of my visit while under the restrictions as I might not be able to visit again for a couple months. I've also seen the pictures of the new macaque enclosure in the gallery so could someone tell me if it's as good in person as it looks in the photos? Thanks in advance.
 
I've just got back from a very long day at Dudley zoo and it was amazing just as I anticipated.
There are a few things to note but some of these may have been mentioned so forgive me if I'm just repeating things. I also have lots of photos, some of which I will upload to the gallery. I'm aware that the quality isn't great but I did the best I could.

. They appear to have done lots of maintenance on fencing all over the site. This is particularly noticeable around the penguin enclosure.

. A few minor changes in the one way route. You now exit either via the gift shop or the walkway next to it, as opposed to near the chimpanzee enclosure. Don't worry though, the chimpanzees, black lemurs and camels are still incorporated into the route.

. There is a new Sulawesi crested macaque enclosure near the chimpanzee house. I believe that this has been mentioned as there are pictures in the gallery but I don't think that the zoo have officially announced it. Overall it is a good quality exhibit with decent viewing. Does anyone know how many are actually in there because I only saw one? It is looking a bit bland at the moment but when the planting comes through I'm sure it will look much better.

. Lots of new and more modern signage has been put up across the site which I'm sure will please many of you. There is, however, still lots of signage labelled as 'Dudley Zoological Gardens' but I'm sure they'll get round to replacing it.

. They have progressed quite nicely on the demolition of the wild dog enclosure and I can't wait to see the orangs out and exploring, hopefully towards the end of this year.

. The cassowary enclosure has some fantastic theming and is a must see for any Jurassic park fan. The cassowary was in a smaller enclosure to the right of the viewing area. I'm not sure if he has access to the main enclosure yet. There is lots of tropical and prehistoric-looking planting but similar to the macaque enclosure, it looks quite bland as the plants haven't really grown in yet but the zoo have obviously gone above and beyond to make it an interesting enclosure for both the visitors and the animals.

. The barrier in the giraffe house appears to have been replaced but I couldn't get a good look as indoor attractions are currently closed.

. I couldn't see a guanaco in the bear ravine paddock. I'm aware that it's old so does anyone know what happened to it?

. One of the Chilean flamingos (the one tagged 16) was limping on its left leg. After a conversation with a keeper, they said that they realised yesterday and it's going to be checked over by the vet. They are very delicate animals so it was quite an upsetting sight but it's always good to know that the keepers are keeping an eye on it.

. The planting in the waterfowl enclosure has been trimmed down which I'm sure will make a certain zoochatter very happy.



I will be uploading plenty of photos to the gallery later so if there is anything in particular that you want to see then let me know and I'll see if I have any photos.
 
GiraffeJack10 said:
I've just got back from a very long day at Dudley zoo and it was amazing just as I anticipated.
There are a few things to note but some of these may have been mentioned so forgive me if I'm just repeating things. I also have lots of photos, some of which I will upload to the gallery. I'm aware that the quality isn't great but I did the best I could.

. They appear to have done lots of maintenance on fencing all over the site. This is particularly noticeable around the penguin enclosure.

. A few minor changes in the one way route. You now exit either via the gift shop or the walkway next to it, as opposed to near the chimpanzee enclosure. Don't worry though, the chimpanzees, black lemurs and camels are still incorporated into the route.

. There is a new Sulawesi crested macaque enclosure near the chimpanzee house. I believe that this has been mentioned as there are pictures in the gallery but I don't think that the zoo have officially announced it. Overall it is a good quality exhibit with decent viewing. Does anyone know how many are actually in there because I only saw one? It is looking a bit bland at the moment but when the planting comes through I'm sure it will look much better.

. Lots of new and more modern signage has been put up across the site which I'm sure will please many of you. There is, however, still lots of signage labelled as 'Dudley Zoological Gardens' but I'm sure they'll get round to replacing it.

. They have progressed quite nicely on the demolition of the wild dog enclosure and I can't wait to see the orangs out and exploring, hopefully towards the end of this year.

. The cassowary enclosure has some fantastic theming and is a must see for any Jurassic park fan. The cassowary was in a smaller enclosure to the right of the viewing area. I'm not sure if he has access to the main enclosure yet. There is lots of tropical and prehistoric-looking planting but similar to the macaque enclosure, it looks quite bland as the plants haven't really grown in yet but the zoo have obviously gone above and beyond to make it an interesting enclosure for both the visitors and the animals.

. The barrier in the giraffe house appears to have been replaced but I couldn't get a good look as indoor attractions are currently closed.

. I couldn't see a guanaco in the bear ravine paddock. I'm aware that it's old so does anyone know what happened to it?

. One of the Chilean flamingos (the one tagged 16) was limping on its left leg. After a conversation with a keeper, they said that they realised yesterday and it's going to be checked over by the vet. They are very delicate animals so it was quite an upsetting sight but it's always good to know that the keepers are keeping an eye on it.

. The planting in the waterfowl enclosure has been trimmed down which I'm sure will make a certain zoochatter very happy.



I will be uploading plenty of photos to the gallery later so if there is anything in particular that you want to see then let me know and I'll see if I have any photos.
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Thanks for the update and photos - great to see :)
 
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