Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo news 2012 #2

Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
I believe the male Sumatran tiger is Tibor not Chandra. ;)- Chandra is his sister, the female is Baginda. I believe the polecats are now near the Brilliant Bird exhibit.
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Ooops! I had Chandra on my mind after reading about her becoming a mum above!!

I wish Edinburgh had signage that told you the animals name, age etc. rather than just species info.
 
Davef68 said:
Ooops! I had Chandra on my mind after reading about her becoming a mum above!!

I wish Edinburgh had signage that told you the animals name, age etc. rather than just species info.
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There website is very good, infact one of the best I've seen. If you want any specific information please PM I'm pretty up to date regarding the Chimps, Big cats as well as Hippos, Zebras, etc. :)
 
Mr T said:
Is Yang Guang ready to ovulate too since he has been in his pool aswell? I appreciate that the keepers have been warned that Tian Tian may bathe as her body is preparing to ovulate but surely given the hot weather that is a more obvious reason for her bathing, especially given the fact that Yang Guang has also been making use of his pool.
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Lol I did think that myself..but she went into the pool a few days before him.. and it wasnt that warm in Scotland at the time... It was nice and sunny but the heat has only picked up in the last few days.. or it has where i stay.

I did notice him doing the panda handstands the other day on webcam which is a sign that she is coming into season and he is trying to show off how big he is by scent marking as far up as he possibly can.

Its exciting to wait and watch... It has boosted the visitor numbers by a huge amount.. i am getting all my zoo visits out before the summer holidays start because during them i am not going near... it will be way to busy...lol
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
There website is very good, infact one of the best I've seen. If you want any specific information please PM I'm pretty up to date regarding the Chimps, Big cats as well as Hippos, Zebras, etc. :)
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Thanks - I'm getting to the point where I can recognise quite a few of the chimps, thanks to chats with the staff.

I don't have a msart phone, but some of those QR codes that take you to the website would be useful (They may already be there!1)
 
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Maguari said:
I suspect 'off-show' time will be kept to a minimum (particularly as people will have pre-booked panda tickets!).
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Apparantly timeslots for next Tuesday and Wednesday [the dates she should be in season] have been cancelled and visitors that have tickets for these days are being offered a full refund or rebooking for a later date. The last time I looked at the comments there was no negative feedback regarding this, I think people understand the reasoning behind the decision and I think a lot of people are just happy to do what has to be done to potentially [if all goes well] see baby pandas in a few months time :p
 
Javan Rhino said:
Apparantly timeslots for next Tuesday and Wednesday [the dates she should be in season] have been cancelled and visitors that have tickets for these days are being offered a full refund or rebooking for a later date. The last time I looked at the comments there was no negative feedback regarding this, I think people understand the reasoning behind the decision and I think a lot of people are just happy to do what has to be done to potentially [if all goes well] see baby pandas in a few months time :p
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That's good - wasn't sure just how close to Easter it was going to be - would have been an interesting dilemma if she came into season Easter Sunday/Monday (though I'm not sure the answer would necessarily have been different).
 
They have not been cancelled yet but maybe at short notice. I had mines booked for the 4th so got an email from the zoo explaining this.
 
Members Meeting

Attended the meeting last night so thought i would write a few things that were mentioned. It was all focused on the Pandas and their breeding.

Ian Valentine presented the talk. To start with he explained that this is the furthest north any giant pandas have lived... and also its the first time a breeding pair have been sent to a zoo. Both pandas have breed naturally and Yang Guang has also been used for AI before as well. Tian Tian produced two cubs the first time.. and reared one cub sucessfully... the other had to be handreared. That most pandas in captivity do a cycle of two cubs then one then two...so it is hopeful this year that if she does breed it will just be one cub.

Because they are older than most pandas it is thought that it will take up to 9months before they are completely settled. On the flight over Tian Tian was the nervous and Yang Guang just munched bamboo constantly and they thought that she would be the problem whereas its been the complete opposite. She has just settled in quickly and her weight has been steady throughout tho his has been up and down due to having little spells of colic.

They think that panda colic is due to stress... and that with him there its an accumulation of different stress factors that can bring it on. One thing they have found out about pandas is that they hate wind. He especially hates wind and his first bout of colic came afte the extremely wind at the begining of January in scotland. The pandas now have access to outside 24hrs a day(he said that they like to spend the night on their climbing frame watching the city..lol)...apart from when its windy...they have even had to put wooden parts at his door because he even hate the noise of the wind making his door rattle. They have not managed to identify when they feel he is getting stressed and can stop it. They thing in total he has had it about three times but the last time was very very slight and they stopped it being a problem early.

He is now piling on the pound and munching through about 64kg of bamboo a day and he weights aout 121kgs... she is eating about half this. She mostly likes the leaves and is not that fussy about what kind of bamboo she gets. He just likes a specific 2 or 3 kinds of bamboo and will only eat the stalk of the bamboo... hence when if you look in his enclosure on the webcam it looks like a forest of bamboo... because he is eating more and he only eats the stalk and leaves the leaves..lol.

He went into detail and explained that the day length corrolates to the breeding cyle of the pandas.. and that as soon as the day started to lengthen she would come into season and that is what has happened. The lights inside are now automated to be the same as the light outside. They were concerned that the daylength for the female panda was controlled by the keepers coming in and out... by changing it it allows them to have a more natural setting. Having access to outside 24hrs a day has also helped.

She is has been showing signs of coming into season... such as if they touch her back gently she will lower her legs... getting ready for the male to mount her... she is also urinating in every bit of water... including her water bowl!!

They are planning to try natural mating the first day of her season (season last three days)... and then if it doesnt work... they wil try AI but only if Alison and the Vet Stuart feel the pandas are fit enough for it. That decision is totally up to them. If they do breed successfully... then it will not be till June at the earliest will they know if she is pregnant... and probably later than that.

I have probably missed out alot of things... it was really and interesting talk.. open and informative. Hope its not to much panda information because the papers are flooded with it.
 
Lesley4444 said:
I have probably missed out alot of things... it was really and interesting talk.. open and informative. Hope its not to much panda information because the papers are flooded with it.
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Agree with GL above, absolutely not too much information and thanks for posting. The newspapers don't carry this sort of detail.

Do you know how many cubs/breeding years the female has had in total?

In the old 'ChiChi' days it was believed they had two seasons per year- in Spring and Autumn, but still with the very short windows for mating. Presumably that idea has now been superseded.
 
They only have one season a year.. and it is dictated by the length of daylight. Tian Tian had cubs in 2009... then 2010 she still was with the cubs..then they didnt let her breed in 2011 as they knew she was coming to Edinburgh some time so she is all geared up this year to have cubs :)

I like the bamboo everywhere too..lol... another thing he mentioned was at the moment her eating has went down and his has went up... so she isnt eating as much as she normally would and he is eating more
 
Davef68 said:
Not the best place for his enclosure then, with the wind in central Scotland being predominantly westerly!
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That part of the zoo isn't particularly exposed, behind the pandas (to the west) is a stand of mature trees and then an estate of large houses. They're also low down on the hill, rather than being up where the more exposed paddocks are.
 
Oh no! I hope the souslik are still around, I was looking forward to seeing them soon. I moved up to Scotland last autumn, so on all my visits so far they have been hibernating and I have never seen them anywhere else, whereas meerkats, entertaining as they are, I have seen plenty of.
 
Sousliks (or at least one of them) was out and about week past Saturday (First time I had managed to see one) and I have photos to prove it!! :-)

I would also have thought the Meerkats would still be in quarantine?
 
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