Hamerton Zoo Park Hamerton News 2023
- Thread starter JurassicMax
- Start date
Lafone
Well-Known Member
How lovely!
Yes, where the eastern aardwolves used to be. If what I've heard is true, the jackals are perhaps the least exciting species in the latest round of arrivals...but I'm sure all will be revealed soon!
Prochilodus246
Well-Known Member
Another trip to Hamerton it seems 
Now that's just teasing... jackals are pretty exciting to me though! Even though I have seen the species before at Hamerton, its fantastic to see that they have a future at the zoo.
Jackals in a viewable enclosure is great news
The jackals are not in the old Aardwolf pen, they are in an enclosure between the new binturong one and the lynx, opposite the otters
Bit of a long-shot, but if anyone is planning on visiting Hamerton from the East Midlands and has a spare seat in the car...?
On August 21st, the zoo announced they moved their rufous bettongs into one of the possum exhibits.
Hamerton Zoo - Have you spotted some of our Ruffus...
Thanks for the update. I had my first visit here recently with a friend who is a regular and he said he has not spotted the Ruffus yet.
Moorhunhe
Well-Known Member
Went to Hamerton yesterday.
Last time we been was April when our passes expired. Didn't really want to renew, as we were waiting for some new things to come along that they had already announced were coming.
With the news of the Black Backed Jackals and the Bat Eared Foxes I really wanted to go, and we decided to get new passes too.
Now just waiting for the new Meerkat enclosure to be done.
We also got talking to a couple, and I was recognized as a Zoochatter, lol.
In the past 4 months, a few things had been shifted around.
The very first enclosure when you come in now has the Golden Possums (previously had the Binturong, little Civets and Collared Lemurs in it).
It's nice they are there now, so people can actually get to see these. One of them was on the shelf curled up, and later in the day we noticed 2 more in the box (not sure how many there are in there, as there are 2 other enclosures that say have them).
The young Collared Lemur was full of beans.
I hadn't seen it in months (saw it when it was about 1-2 monhts old, and then never again until now).
Everyone then went to the right when coming in, so I went to the left to get out of the crowd.
Headed to the Coati, and spotted "something" inbetween the Skunk and Coati, it was behind trees so I couldn't really see, and when I saw a bit of it's face, I thought it could be the Cacomistle?
I then looked at the sign for it, and couldn't really be, as what I saw was too dark, but then suddenly, the Cacomistle actually appeared!
18 Visits in the past year and we finally saw this one! It kept coming in and out for quite a while.
Then I noticed what I saw first, was one of the little Civets, as it started moving around. So they seem to now be inbetween the Skunk and Coati.
I then quickly walked to the Pudu, but didn't see the baby all day.
Did see a Roadrunner, which was cool, had never seen those before.
They seem to have done an extra enclosure for the Squirrel Gliders (accross from where the ones are next to the Golden Possums).
We saw a little fluffball, which was the Rufous Bettong, it only poked it's head out just enough to see it's ears, but we didn't actually see the animal in full for the entire day.
Finally also saw one of the Wombats very clear. We've only ever seen them asleep, this one was a bit further back and eating.
Went through the aviary, and saw the Brushtailed Possum! Which we had never managed to see before either.
The 3 Black White Ruffed Lemurs, where did they go to? (we only saw 2 in the enclosure near the entrance)
The 2 Collared Lemurs that were at the beginning, are now in this enclosure.
The Raccoons were just getting some snacks, and they all came out, which was great, as we actually only ever saw them out and about twice before in all our visits.
When they came out of one of the barrels, it was like clowns coming out of a clown car, lol, there were 6 in one.
Absolutely love the white one.
Boyfriend went to the Cheetah, I wanted to go and found the Jackals and Foxes, but they closed off the entire road between the Corsac Foxes and the Maned Wolf viewing area.
Heard later that the Bat Eared Foxes were still too sensitive to the noise and footfall, not settled in yet, so they closed off that entire pathway. Which makes sense.
But a shame you now also can't try and spot the Lynx, as he very rarely seems to enjoy the rest of his enclosure? We always see him lying on the same shelf.
So went to the left then instead, no Lynx to be seen in that part of his enclosure, next to it are the Jackals. Both lying very up front, so very visible. They are so pretty to look at.
One of the Otters got hold of a hairclip later in the day, and was determined not to give it up and was holding on tight to it, so the keeper was trying ways to get it away from them, eventually it did drop it.
No Binturongs to be seen in their new enclosure.
I didn't see the Rusty Spotted Cat, but boyfriend did, when he passed there 10 minutes after me, which is a very rare occurance too.
Last time we been was April when our passes expired. Didn't really want to renew, as we were waiting for some new things to come along that they had already announced were coming.
With the news of the Black Backed Jackals and the Bat Eared Foxes I really wanted to go, and we decided to get new passes too.
Now just waiting for the new Meerkat enclosure to be done.
We also got talking to a couple, and I was recognized as a Zoochatter, lol.
In the past 4 months, a few things had been shifted around.
The very first enclosure when you come in now has the Golden Possums (previously had the Binturong, little Civets and Collared Lemurs in it).
It's nice they are there now, so people can actually get to see these. One of them was on the shelf curled up, and later in the day we noticed 2 more in the box (not sure how many there are in there, as there are 2 other enclosures that say have them).
The young Collared Lemur was full of beans.
I hadn't seen it in months (saw it when it was about 1-2 monhts old, and then never again until now).
Everyone then went to the right when coming in, so I went to the left to get out of the crowd.
Headed to the Coati, and spotted "something" inbetween the Skunk and Coati, it was behind trees so I couldn't really see, and when I saw a bit of it's face, I thought it could be the Cacomistle?
I then looked at the sign for it, and couldn't really be, as what I saw was too dark, but then suddenly, the Cacomistle actually appeared!
18 Visits in the past year and we finally saw this one! It kept coming in and out for quite a while.
Then I noticed what I saw first, was one of the little Civets, as it started moving around. So they seem to now be inbetween the Skunk and Coati.
I then quickly walked to the Pudu, but didn't see the baby all day.
Did see a Roadrunner, which was cool, had never seen those before.
They seem to have done an extra enclosure for the Squirrel Gliders (accross from where the ones are next to the Golden Possums).
We saw a little fluffball, which was the Rufous Bettong, it only poked it's head out just enough to see it's ears, but we didn't actually see the animal in full for the entire day.
Finally also saw one of the Wombats very clear. We've only ever seen them asleep, this one was a bit further back and eating.
Went through the aviary, and saw the Brushtailed Possum! Which we had never managed to see before either.
The 3 Black White Ruffed Lemurs, where did they go to? (we only saw 2 in the enclosure near the entrance)
The 2 Collared Lemurs that were at the beginning, are now in this enclosure.
The Raccoons were just getting some snacks, and they all came out, which was great, as we actually only ever saw them out and about twice before in all our visits.
When they came out of one of the barrels, it was like clowns coming out of a clown car, lol, there were 6 in one.
Absolutely love the white one.
Boyfriend went to the Cheetah, I wanted to go and found the Jackals and Foxes, but they closed off the entire road between the Corsac Foxes and the Maned Wolf viewing area.
Heard later that the Bat Eared Foxes were still too sensitive to the noise and footfall, not settled in yet, so they closed off that entire pathway. Which makes sense.
But a shame you now also can't try and spot the Lynx, as he very rarely seems to enjoy the rest of his enclosure? We always see him lying on the same shelf.
So went to the left then instead, no Lynx to be seen in that part of his enclosure, next to it are the Jackals. Both lying very up front, so very visible. They are so pretty to look at.
One of the Otters got hold of a hairclip later in the day, and was determined not to give it up and was holding on tight to it, so the keeper was trying ways to get it away from them, eventually it did drop it.
No Binturongs to be seen in their new enclosure.
I didn't see the Rusty Spotted Cat, but boyfriend did, when he passed there 10 minutes after me, which is a very rare occurance too.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
Had a lovely day at Hamerton, not too busy despite the Bank Holiday. Weather was excellent and brought the bears into the pond and the male tiger out into his enclosure.
The enclosure between the tigers and bears looks to be complete.
Enjoyed the new black backed jackal pair a lot. They were both happy to be near both viewing areas in the enclosure and active all day. It was pretty hard to see the old jackals near the tigers so this was a bit of a treat. Good fit in between the lynx and new binturong enclosure.
The golden possum moving next to the entrance has left the former jaguarundi and then possum enclosure near the tigers empty again.
The single civet residing unsigned in between the cacomistle / skunk and coatis appears to be a temporary move.
Was great to see the Sarus Crane signed as sitting on two eggs. The female got up and turned the eggs around before settling down again - was cool to see them. Apparently expected to hatch in the first week of September and a first for the zoo. Snapped a picture of the signage.
Enjoyed the now 8 young brush turkeys in the nursery area, picture of their hatch dates attached. The barking owls are no longer signed as sitting on eggs. Only saw two of them in the enclosure so not sure if the parents / youngsters have been split up. White turaco and argus pheasant eggs were in the incubators.
As mentioned above and on the zoo website, the path past the corsac foxes and lynx and then back from the servals is blocked off to allow the new foxes to settle in and the train was departing from near the cheetah enclosure.
The binturong that share with the otters was out first thing which was nice to see.
Despite the golden possums moving in near the entrance, only saw the top of one. Other possums were elusive as expected! Got good views of the red handed tamarin youngsters who were both playing off their parents on the floor of the enclosure. Couldn't find the black and white ruffled lemurs who used to be in the enclosure next to the guenon so assume they have moved off show or moved on.
Very enjoyable day all round.
The enclosure between the tigers and bears looks to be complete.
Enjoyed the new black backed jackal pair a lot. They were both happy to be near both viewing areas in the enclosure and active all day. It was pretty hard to see the old jackals near the tigers so this was a bit of a treat. Good fit in between the lynx and new binturong enclosure.
The golden possum moving next to the entrance has left the former jaguarundi and then possum enclosure near the tigers empty again.
The single civet residing unsigned in between the cacomistle / skunk and coatis appears to be a temporary move.
Was great to see the Sarus Crane signed as sitting on two eggs. The female got up and turned the eggs around before settling down again - was cool to see them. Apparently expected to hatch in the first week of September and a first for the zoo. Snapped a picture of the signage.
Enjoyed the now 8 young brush turkeys in the nursery area, picture of their hatch dates attached. The barking owls are no longer signed as sitting on eggs. Only saw two of them in the enclosure so not sure if the parents / youngsters have been split up. White turaco and argus pheasant eggs were in the incubators.
As mentioned above and on the zoo website, the path past the corsac foxes and lynx and then back from the servals is blocked off to allow the new foxes to settle in and the train was departing from near the cheetah enclosure.
The binturong that share with the otters was out first thing which was nice to see.
Despite the golden possums moving in near the entrance, only saw the top of one. Other possums were elusive as expected! Got good views of the red handed tamarin youngsters who were both playing off their parents on the floor of the enclosure. Couldn't find the black and white ruffled lemurs who used to be in the enclosure next to the guenon so assume they have moved off show or moved on.
Very enjoyable day all round.
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Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
Not actually the case regarding the Golden Possums that were in the exhibit by the tigers, they have moved to another collection. The ones near the entrance, are not the group that were in that area.
Also, the pathway is not closed off for the Bat Eared Fox, as they have access to the bit by the Macaws as well as the area by the house, and have been given outside access, although are still shy, but they have been seen and are technically on show.
There was still a little bit of work to be done up by the Bears for the new Dingo exhibit on Saturday, around what looks to be their housing area, shouldn't be long though by the looks of things.
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
I understand if you cannot give too much away, but do you know what collection there is or if there are any plans of putting them on-display?
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
I can't really say to be honest. All I will say, is that it's not in the UK.
3,0 moved to Wilhelma, Stuttgart which now house common possums and the golden ones.
Moorhunhe
Well-Known Member
Kalaw
Well-Known Member
Excellent news. I am planning a first time visit to Hamerton by the end of the year, and just as I am doing so this is announced!
Hopefully myself and other members have good luck seeing them!