Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo News 2013

I saw the lemur baby on Sunday too-it really is tiny. It was reported here already I thought or I would've mentioned it. Saw a yellow capuchin youngster too. I hope the crowned lemurs breed too, they are so beautiful-are they a breeding pair?
 
A friend of mine was at the zoo yesterday and tole me the Cassowarys had laid an egg but had got cracked overnight not due to the birds but badgers they have a burrow in the enclosure !!!!
 
1.0 King penguin has arrived from Germany to join the bachelor group and 2.0 smew have also arrived and they are in with the rockhopper penguins.
 
1.0 King penguin has arrived from Germany to join the bachelor group and 2.0 smew have also arrived and they are in with the rockhopper penguins.

They've put smew in penguins rock? Seems a strange choice! Beautiful birds though, shall look out for them.
 
They've put smew in penguins rock? Seems a strange choice! Beautiful birds though, shall look out for them.

I think it's more likely they are up in the older rockhopper enclosure up the hill. It used to be a seaduck enclosure in between penguins being in there.
 
I think it's more likely they are up in the older rockhopper enclosure up the hill. It used to be a seaduck enclosure in between penguins being in there.

Yes! That did occur to me after, I just looked quickly and as I knew the rockhoppers were all back in the main penguin rock enclosure assumed the smew must be there to have been seen with rockhoppers. But that enclosure would make more sense. Did you see them Kiang? Can you confirm where they are for us?
 
Yes! That did occur to me after, I just looked quickly and as I knew the rockhoppers were all back in the main penguin rock enclosure assumed the smew must be there to have been seen with rockhoppers. But that enclosure would make more sense. Did you see them Kiang? Can you confirm where they are for us?

I can't confirm where exactly they are, this was lifted word for word from the blog, so i am assuming it is the enclosure up the hill.
 
Time for a new thread for the 2nd half of the year.
Starting with some small news lifted of the blog.

Also at Edinburgh Zoo this week the bird section has been busy. A new unrelated male rhea arrived alongside two smew (sea ducks), a male meller’s duck arrived to join our female and two green-winged dove squabs are visible in the nest in Brilliant Birds. A Barbary macaque was also born in the monkey house.
 
Excellent news there; be good if they were successful but I won't hold my breath.
 
A friend at the zoo today said he spoke to a bird keeper and he said the male is not quite getting the incubation right as they use laser temperature tool on the eggs when he moves and they are not quite hot enough and thinks it be next year for chicks.
 
Yeah, I seem to recall hearing something similar last year.
 
If this is a case, would the keepers not consider removing some of the eggs and incubating them themselves?
 
I would opt for that scenario and once close to hatching put them back under the male. Tricky business though removing the eggs first.
 
Nest shows giant panda Tian Tian could be pregnant

Edinburgh Evening News - 24th June, 2013

Edinburgh's female giant panda Tian Tian has raised hopes she could be pregnant by showing signs of nesting - but keepers moved to calm the excitement by insisting it’s simply too early to tell.

While they are desperate to hear the pitter patter of panda paws, it will be at least a month before her pregnancy can be confirmed.

Zoo chiefs say the nine-year-old has started showing signs of nesting – preparing a home for her potential newcomer.

But Chris West, chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said Tian Tian was still at stage one of her hormonal indicators.

He said: “It is still too early to tell at this stage and any suggestion that the female panda is pregnant is pure hopeful speculation.

“We may not know for a good few weeks yet.

“We are only eight weeks post-artificial insemination at the moment and we have not detected a second rise in 
progesterone in Tian Tian yet.

“This second hormone rise will then either indicate pseudo pregnancy or a real pregnancy, and if real, then confirms we are 40 to 50 days from a potential birth.

“Pandas also show nesting behaviour whether they are pregnant or not. As previously stated, we will not have any more information until the end of July or early August time.”

Tian Tian was artificially inseminated by a team of experts in April after attempts to mate her with Yang Guang were unsuccessful.

They used sperm from Yang Guang and thawed sperm from a panda called Bao Bao, who died in Berlin zoo aged 34 last year.

Last month we revealed the pandas have led to a £5 million surge in income for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

The zoo’s charitable owners reported its overall income soared to nearly £15m last year, and the number of visitors leapt by 51 per cent following the arrival of Tian Tian and Yang Guang in late December 2011.

A cub would be the first ever born in Britain and be worth millions to the Capital attraction with extra tourist revenue and ticket sales. It could boost visitor numbers by another 50 per cent, comfortably taking it above the one million mark, Mr West has admitted. He said all staff at the zoo, and those from further afield were hopeful she will be pregnant.

“We are of course working closely with our Chinese colleagues and those in American panda zoos with cubs, and we will look to use a combination of ultrasound imaging and hormone assays to make the confirmation, whilst working around Tian Tian’s needs and behaviour at all times. We do not work in isolation, but share expertise as a collective.

“As soon as we know either way we will let everyone know the outcome, until then we wait in suspense alongside everyone else. A cub would be amazing for the overall conservation effort and for visitors.”
 
Back
Top