Glad you finally got to see him, Brum.
Thanks, only took about 3 years...
Worth it though, he is a magnificent animal!Dudley Zoological Gardens Dudley Zoological Gardens in 2013
- Thread starter Angel
- Start date
Thanks, only took about 3 years...
Worth it though, he is a magnificent animal!The babies have been microchipped and sexed - 1 male and 3 females.
Visit 31st May
Visited today - zoo was really busy, both with visitors and ongoing improvement works. The zoo entrance and gift shop are both covered with scaffolding and cladding at the moment - I gather that the main focus for the next 3 months is improving roadways and drainage. It was good to see so many people visiting, although I did have to suppress the urge to scream when I heard a Bennett's wallaby described as a baby grey kangaroo and a Carpathian lynx described as a baby leopard.
There have been a few re-locations - the rheas that were opposite the Barbary sheep are now in bear ravine opposite the children's farm so that their old enclosure can be revamped for the Stanley cranes. The spider monkeys are in the small primate house where the howler monkeys used to be whilst the howler monkeys have moved up to the other end where the mongoose lemur used to be. There was no sign of the Emporer tamarins or pygmy marmosets in the small primate house and no signage for them either but I couldn't find anyone to ask whether this is a temporary or permanent thing
The animals were out enjoying the sunshine - Tschuna (Amur tiger) was posing beautifully, all 5 tapirs were out and about, lemurs were very active and even the African hunting dogs were asleep by the perimeter fence instead of being asleep in the shelter Sprout (baby orang) was swinging and somersaulting through the indoor enclosure. Inca (Asiatic bear) was also active - not that I actually saw her move, but she was asleep in a different place each time I went past her enclosure. The spurred tortoises were outside and even one of the porcupines was trundling round.
Only the male snow leopard was outdoors but a passing keeper said that the female was indoors. One of the lynx was in full view when I arrived but promptly ran away and hid as soon as it heard the hoardes of people arriving behind me. No sign of the Geoffroy's cat
or the red squirrels. Didn't see the male lion either but the grass in the enclosure was so long you could have hidden a couple of rhino in there without much difficulty.
Saw 3 of the baby capybara plus plenty of young Barbary sheep. There also looked to be 4 or 5 very young reindeer but don't know whether these were born this year or last. Didn't see the baby Howler monkey - the female went inside just as I got to the primate house and sat in the passage between the indoor and outdoor enclosures. Last year's baby did some fantastic gymnastics which was a good consolation.
Visited today - zoo was really busy, both with visitors and ongoing improvement works. The zoo entrance and gift shop are both covered with scaffolding and cladding at the moment - I gather that the main focus for the next 3 months is improving roadways and drainage. It was good to see so many people visiting, although I did have to suppress the urge to scream when I heard a Bennett's wallaby described as a baby grey kangaroo and a Carpathian lynx described as a baby leopard.
There have been a few re-locations - the rheas that were opposite the Barbary sheep are now in bear ravine opposite the children's farm so that their old enclosure can be revamped for the Stanley cranes. The spider monkeys are in the small primate house where the howler monkeys used to be whilst the howler monkeys have moved up to the other end where the mongoose lemur used to be. There was no sign of the Emporer tamarins or pygmy marmosets in the small primate house and no signage for them either but I couldn't find anyone to ask whether this is a temporary or permanent thing
The animals were out enjoying the sunshine - Tschuna (Amur tiger) was posing beautifully, all 5 tapirs were out and about, lemurs were very active and even the African hunting dogs were asleep by the perimeter fence instead of being asleep in the shelter
Sprout (baby orang) was swinging and somersaulting through the indoor enclosure. Inca (Asiatic bear) was also active - not that I actually saw her move, but she was asleep in a different place each time I went past her enclosure. The spurred tortoises were outside and even one of the porcupines was trundling round.Only the male snow leopard was outdoors but a passing keeper said that the female was indoors. One of the lynx was in full view when I arrived but promptly ran away and hid as soon as it heard the hoardes of people arriving behind me. No sign of the Geoffroy's cat
or the red squirrels. Didn't see the male lion either but the grass in the enclosure was so long you could have hidden a couple of rhino in there without much difficulty.Saw 3 of the baby capybara plus plenty of young Barbary sheep. There also looked to be 4 or 5 very young reindeer but don't know whether these were born this year or last. Didn't see the baby Howler monkey - the female went inside just as I got to the primate house and sat in the passage between the indoor and outdoor enclosures. Last year's baby did some fantastic gymnastics which was a good consolation.
I was also there today, and like you was pleased by the amount of punters, there was already a large queue when I went in at 10.30.
I heard a tapir being called an anteater! Lovely to see all the anteaters, err I mean tapirs outside. Did you notice they have boarded up the tapirs window in their hut so we cant peak at them. I cant wait for the viewing platform in this enclosure.
Didn't see one lynx or that dastardly Bart.
Did you notice all the work being carried out at the back of the giraffe house?. I'm wondering if they will extend their area to this side too, it's an idea I always thought they should do, although it could be something not related to the giraffes living space at all.
A couple of other things to mention, the new reindeer house with viewing area is nearly ready, and the young (I counted 4 or 5) are from this year.
Also a new house is being constructed in the grassy hill below the chairlift, I'm guessing some sort of sheep will move into there.
I heard a tapir being called an anteater! Lovely to see all the anteaters, err I mean tapirs outside. Did you notice they have boarded up the tapirs window in their hut so we cant peak at them. I cant wait for the viewing platform in this enclosure.
Didn't see one lynx or that dastardly Bart.
Did you notice all the work being carried out at the back of the giraffe house?. I'm wondering if they will extend their area to this side too, it's an idea I always thought they should do, although it could be something not related to the giraffes living space at all.
A couple of other things to mention, the new reindeer house with viewing area is nearly ready, and the young (I counted 4 or 5) are from this year.
Also a new house is being constructed in the grassy hill below the chairlift, I'm guessing some sort of sheep will move into there.
Visited today - zoo was really busy, both with visitors and ongoing improvement works. The zoo entrance and gift shop are both covered with scaffolding and cladding at the moment - I gather that the main focus for the next 3 months is improving roadways and drainage. It was good to see so many people visiting, although I did have to suppress the urge to scream when I heard a Bennett's wallaby described as a baby grey kangaroo and a Carpathian lynx described as a baby leopard.
There have been a few re-locations - the rheas that were opposite the Barbary sheep are now in bear ravine opposite the children's farm so that their old enclosure can be revamped for the Stanley cranes. The spider monkeys are in the small primate house where the howler monkeys used to be whilst the howler monkeys have moved up to the other end where the mongoose lemur used to be. There was no sign of the Emporer tamarins or pygmy marmosets in the small primate house and no signage for them either but I couldn't find anyone to ask whether this is a temporary or permanent thing
The animals were out enjoying the sunshine - Tschuna (Amur tiger) was posing beautifully, all 5 tapirs were out and about, lemurs were very active and even the African hunting dogs were asleep by the perimeter fence instead of being asleep in the shelter
Only the male snow leopard was outdoors but a passing keeper said that the female was indoors. One of the lynx was in full view when I arrived but promptly ran away and hid as soon as it heard the hoardes of people arriving behind me. No sign of the Geoffroy's cat
Saw 3 of the baby capybara plus plenty of young Barbary sheep. There also looked to be 4 or 5 very young reindeer but don't know whether these were born this year or last. Didn't see the baby Howler monkey - the female went inside just as I got to the primate house and sat in the passage between the indoor and outdoor enclosures. Last year's baby did some fantastic gymnastics which was a good consolation.
Seems a lot of sensible relocations within the zoo perimeters. Nice to learn the howlers and spiders are now in the same Primate House. Would not hurt / be nice to make this area into a South American theme.
Would the mongoose lemurs be going into the Lemur Woods by any chance?
Snow leopards already in breeding condition or still too young?
What are the long term plans for giraffe? Will they re-enter at some point with pure-bred Rothschild's giraffe as there are plenty of youngish candidate females within the UK / BIAZA regional available! Would be nice if someone could find out what is planned for at the back of their house (please elaborate what space you actually meaning ...????)!??
Would the mongoose lemurs be going into the Lemur Woods by any chance?
Snow leopards already in breeding condition or still too young?
What are the long term plans for giraffe? Will they re-enter at some point with pure-bred Rothschild's giraffe as there are plenty of youngish candidate females within the UK / BIAZA regional available! Would be nice if someone could find out what is planned for at the back of their house (please elaborate what space you actually meaning ...????)!??
A cub was born a few weeks ago, but I have heard nothing since so it may not have survived.
TLD, I assume it was the first breeding attempt as they were quite young animals when I saw them last year?
On a potential demise of the cub: quite frequently in primiparous females the first litter is lost. They have by any length now a compatible breeding pair!
Correct; as to your second point, your observation that at this stage knowing the pairing is compatible is the important thing is certainly correct. There was another first breeding of Snow Leopard a month or so ago at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis where the cub passed away a day or two after birth; here too it is good to know the pairing is compatible
It's good to know there are now several compatible pairing in the UK, even if, Marwell aside there hasn't been much success.Correct; as to your second point, your observation that at this stage knowing the pairing is compatible is the important thing is certainly correct. There was another first breeding of Snow Leopard a month or so ago at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis where the cub passed away a day or two after birth; here too it is good to know the pairing is compatible
It seems the compatiblity is far more important than enclosure design with most cat species.
Linton's pair must have been together about 5 years now without any success, even though they seem to get on well, perhaps they have capability issues.
I did notice the tapir's window was boarded up and saw the house on the hill below the chairlift - I think there used to be an old, small house there before but can't be 100% sure. Sheep or possibly llama / alpaca / guanaco would be my guess.
I saw all the work at the back of the giraffe house but wasn't sure whether it was groundworks for construction or just part of the drainage improvement going on. Kifaru Bwana - the land we are talking about is straight ahead of you at the bottom of the slope by the giraffe house - I think it used to be blocked off by a fence. It is directly behind the grey kangaroo enclosure but on a much lower level.
I did manage to see both the lynx. The male was lying right at the very back of the enclosure quite high up in amongst all the leaves - where he's quite well camouflaged. The female spent most of the day indoors and was only visible when she sat or stood up.
Twycross bred them a year or two ago, so Marwell is not the only collection which has had success of late. A shame that WMZ hasn't gotten theirs bred in the 5 years since cowpox claimed the lives of their last litter.
Thanks, dont know how i forgot Twycross! I visited both zoos whilst they had the cubs, but didn't see any of them!
I made my first visit to Dudley last Saturday and the female snow leopard was shut inside then too.
Both Bart and the Lynx were nowhere to be seen on my first few visits to their enclosures, however mid-afternoon both the male & female lynx were very active.
I was also lucky enough to spend around 20 minutes watching Bart walking around his enclosure. He came out shortly before feeding time which was very late in the day (around 4.30\5.00 I think). I managed to get some photos, so I will post them in the gallery.
Both Bart and the Lynx were nowhere to be seen on my first few visits to their enclosures, however mid-afternoon both the male & female lynx were very active.
I was also lucky enough to spend around 20 minutes watching Bart walking around his enclosure. He came out shortly before feeding time which was very late in the day (around 4.30\5.00 I think). I managed to get some photos, so I will post them in the gallery.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Its for a new group that will include females!
That makes more sense, I think it will make a decent display if they get a nice sized group. And also use up excess empty space which is something Dudley isn't lacking.
There is an electric fence splitting half the area, so I'd assume there will be something else on the other side too.
Snow Leopard birth
Dudley Zoo has announced the birth of a snow leopard cub on it's website this morning. The cub, born on May 2nd, is the first to be born at the zoo for 12 years. Link to the article is here:
Meet our snow leopard cub! | Dudley Zoological Gardens
I'm absolutely delighted by the news as the snow leopards are probably my favourites at the Zoo - will be aiming to visit in the next couple of weeks.
Dudley Zoo has announced the birth of a snow leopard cub on it's website this morning. The cub, born on May 2nd, is the first to be born at the zoo for 12 years. Link to the article is here:
Meet our snow leopard cub! | Dudley Zoological Gardens
I'm absolutely delighted by the news as the snow leopards are probably my favourites at the Zoo - will be aiming to visit in the next couple of weeks.