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Strathmorezoo said:
Wonder if he was a pacer at his previous zoo? Maybe extra scatter feeds may help and placing a few tree logs and rocks along his pacing route as well. The new female will certainly get his attention
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That’s sad, I haven’t been but I’ve seen photos and I saw the ground does look a bit worn by the fence and it was not like that before, when the panda was there he often sat on the outside platform eating bamboo and seemed quite happy, are they still platforms in the enclosure?

I personally feel that EZ don’t seem to have much enrichment in the animal enclosures that other zoos might do, even if it’s just a basic toy such as a ball or a tire or something like that. The current leadership team seem reluctant to include these in enclosures, DF was asked about it at one of the AGMs and his argument was that it’s about a “natural” approach, but I can’t seem the harm in a little bit of an enrichment and it might give them something to play with and enhance animal welfare, afterall it’s never going to be entirely natural as it’s a zoo.
 
To disclaim the first time I saw the sloth bear he did have some firehose enrichment that kept him busy for about 5 minutes before going to bed. The second time I saw him when I returned later in the day he was pacing heavily. There is still a big two tier platform in the enclosure.
 
GeeZee said:
That’s sad, I haven’t been but I’ve seen photos and I saw the ground does look a bit worn by the fence and it was not like that before, when the panda was there he often sat on the outside platform eating bamboo and seemed quite happy, are they still platforms in the enclosure?

I personally feel that EZ don’t seem to have much enrichment in the animal enclosures that other zoos might do, even if it’s just a basic toy such as a ball or a tire or something like that. The current leadership team seem reluctant to include these in enclosures, DF was asked about it at one of the AGMs and his argument was that it’s about a “natural” approach, but I can’t seem the harm in a little bit of an enrichment and it might give them something to play with and enhance animal welfare, afterall it’s never going to be entirely natural as it’s a zoo.
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Some years ago, I was sat next to DF at an ABWAK conference at Dudley zoo and whilst chatting to him, he was enthusiastic about all forms of enrichment. Sounds like he has changed his opinion somewhat.
 
Strathmorezoo said:
Some years ago, I was sat next to DF at an ABWAK conference at Dudley zoo and whilst chatting to him, he was enthusiastic about all forms of enrichment. Sounds like he has changed his opinion somewhat.
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Really? That’s interesting, I wonder why?

I’ve spoken to Darren who is head of living collections a number of times, personally I think he would have made a much better CEO, he always came across as very down to earth and passionate, plus he’s been with RZSS for nearly 40 years.
 
GeeZee said:
I personally feel that EZ don’t seem to have much enrichment in the animal enclosures that other zoos might do, even if it’s just a basic toy such as a ball or a tire or something like that.
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The zoo have many enrichment items posted on their Amazon wish list, perhaps it is more to do with being a charity and having budget constraints, rather than being against enrichment items themselves?

Animal enrichment gifts | RZSS
 
Does anyone know what species is kept on the left of the barn owl in the off-show cages that can be seen as you leave Living Links? I noticed that it had black wings but nothing else.
 
Quincey said:
The zoo have many enrichment items posted on their Amazon wish list, perhaps it is more to do with being a charity and having budget constraints, rather than being against enrichment items themselves?

Animal enrichment gifts | RZSS
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They’ve had that list for a long time, I’m not so sure, I think it’s more a conscious decision by the executives - particularly in the case of larger animals such as the sun bears & the pandas when they were there.

For example I remember the first few years the pandas were there they had swings & regularly received balls to play with in their enclosures etc (which often featured online too as a bit of extra publicity) but in their later years they had hardly any enrichment at all & this was queried (as I mentioned) at one of the AGMs a couple years ago.
 
Visited the zoo today Looks like the Camels may have arrived at the old Zebra enclosure still closed off but sign up when I visited today saying “this area remains closed off while our new arrivals take some time to settle in”. The horses are still in their current enclosure beside the giraffes but I imagine when the camels are settled the horses will also move in. The Old panda enclosure where they kept the bintarong still closed aswell as the old warty pigs enclosure and a few other enclosures closed will be interesting what projects they have coming up/replacements after the new koala enclosure finishes next year
 
The
Pingu22 said:
Visited the zoo today Looks like the Camels may have arrived at the old Zebra enclosure still closed off but sign up when I visited today saying “this area remains closed off while our new arrivals take some time to settle in”. The horses are still in their current enclosure beside the giraffes but I imagine when the camels are settled the horses will also move in. The Old panda enclosure where they kept the bintarong still closed aswell as the old warty pigs enclosure and a few other enclosures closed will be interesting what projects they have coming up/replacements after the new koala enclosure finishes next year
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The old panda enclosure is not closed off. There are barriers for some repairs on the decking but you can go around the barriers as it's only a small part being fixed but the binturong has access outside and you can go down there
 
Rupert89 said:
The


The old panda enclosure is not closed off. There are barriers for some repairs on the decking but you can go around the barriers as it's only a small part being fixed but the binturong has access outside and you can go down there
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Ah ok I seen the barrier and seen the bintarong is no longer on the Edinburgh zoo map etc and looked like that enclosure was closed/empty so just assumed it was getting moved to a new enclosure or something
 
 
Quincey said:
The zoo have applied for permission for the demolition of the existing koala house and the removal of existing hardscaping and adjacent trees on-site to clear site for new proposal:

25/02091/WARR | Application is for the demolition of the existing koala house situated within Edinburgh zoo and the removal of existing hardscaping and adjacent trees on-site to clear site for new proposal. | The Gatehouse Edinburgh Zoo 134 Corstorphine Road Murrayfield Edinburgh EH12 6TS
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Permission has now been granted for the demolition of the koala house.
 
Visited EZ briefly, first time I’ve been since the pandas have left although I was in Edinburgh more for the festivals so I didn’t get much time in the zoo today.

Visit was mainly to see the new sloth bear which was nice to see, they’ve done a lot with that area and I’m quite impressed, it’s a little bittersweet as I still remember it as the panda enclosure but I do think it’s actually been improved quite a lot, they have a new indoor area with easy viewing and a nest for the sloth bear to sleep in (presumably he can choose between this one and the “off show” area which was originally Yang Guangs inside area - which is now closed off) the new indoor area has much clearer glass than the ones used previously although it was a shame that the old indoor area was closed off but perhaps this is only a temporary measure while they wait to get another new bear.

I also note that the public toilets in the car park are now both “unisex” this isn’t really the issue but now they are just single toilets (before they were several) it did cause a bit of queuing, although this was the summer / peak time so maybe in the winter it’s not as much as a problem.
 
Strathmorezoo said:
placing a few tree logs and rocks along his pacing route as well.
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Thing is - this does nothing the help the root cause of the problem. You're just preventing or making it difficult for the animal to exhibit this stress related behaviour, further increasing their stress.
 
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TNT said:
Thing is - this does nothing the help the root cause of the problem. You're just preventing or making it difficult for the animal to exhibit this stress related behaviour, further increasing their stress.
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I think that scatter feed including hiding the scatter feed among any new logs etc would help the animal get used to them being in his pacing routine . When i mean logs and rocks, i mean of a size that can be moved Doing nothing isn't really an option. Plus, obviously, enrichment throughout the enclosure too ,to stimulate the animal . Also, hanging food along the pacing route.
 
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Strathmorezoo said:
I think that scatter feed including hiding the scatter feed among any new logs etc would help the animal get used to them being in his pacing routine . When i mean logs and rocks, i mean of a size that can be moved Doing nothing isn't really an option. Plus, obviously, enrichment throughout the enclosure too ,to stimulate the animal . Also, hanging food along the pacing route.
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What I would say in regards to the sloths bear pacing again take what is said with a pinch of salt but when I was there last week during the sloth talk the keeper mentioned he’s a young bear and they are territorial species and in the wild they would pace and scent mark what is seen as their territory and prowl it daily especially when they see other animals in it or a scent of any threats to their area he done it at his previous zoo aswell apparently and is full of energy with him being such a young bear. They said they are bringing an older bear in as a companion to teach him some behaviours and after a year or two they’ll bring in a female to hopefully breed with this current sloth bear
 
I know nothing about the Edinburgh bear specifically and I have to admit, I've somewhat skimmed the thread, but what @Pingu22 says is entirely accurate and sloth bears are fairly renowned in captivity for pacing - it's not indicative necessarily of stress, and has previously made it rather hard in other zoos to actually detect stress due to it being normal behaviour.

I've seen the Berlin, Leipzig, and when they were younger Whipsnade bears all act in the same way, spending long stretches of time between feeding and sleeping pacing a perimeter route and scent marking. The behaviour generally disappears when more than one is held, so if he is mixed with a female (for breeding or otherwise) it will be interesting to see what happens. Making the pacing route more interesting is definitely an option though - Berlin added rocks and some gaps in the bamboo to allow their bears to view visitors easier, for example.

Again I've not visited but from the reports on here combined with keeper testimony it all sounds pretty standard to me, especially for a young bear still getting used to having his own territory for the first time.
 
He seemed fairly content when I saw him, he was trying to do a bit of digging, as I say - I was quite impressed overall with the enclosure and the surrounding area, the zoo has done a good job with making it better to view the bear (I note there’s also new glass bits in the fence at the top which weren’t there before), as well as giving him a bit of privacy too.

Hopefully next time I visit won’t be too long in the future & I’ll be able to spend a bit more time there, but it is a shame how this setup wasn’t there when the pandas were there because it would have stopped people crowding in one area as there’s now essentially more viewpoints.
 
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