Chester Zoo Members Day News Snippets

"To lose one orangutan may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose both looks like carelessness" ;)
I've just had a look at the Twycross 'Orangutans' thread to confirm that a Zoochatter from Dvur Kralova says Dona was sent to Chester to pair up with Kevin from Berlin, rather than Sibu.

The problem there though was that no-one knew anything about Kevin. I think someone asked a keeper (might've been Bongorob) and the keeper didn't know about Kevin either.

The plan from the beginning with Sibu was to house him and try to bring in a compatible female before sending the pair of them away. Using this plan, the apparently sudden decrease from 2.4 to 1.3 seems to indicate that this happened.

However the Sibu death story popped up on here a few days ago and no-one has got any indication whether this is true or not (do we have a definitive source of the information for his "death"? I can't remember the post, even though i probably posted on it).

If Sibu did die, then perhaps the zoo sent Donna back as she was no longer required as his partner...
 
"To lose one orangutan may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose both looks like carelessness" ;)
I've just had a look at the Twycross 'Orangutans' thread to confirm that a Zoochatter from Dvur Kralova says Dona was sent to Chester to pair up with Kevin from Berlin, rather than Sibu.

Correct, I read that too....

Its always possible they found she was compatible with Sibu while waiting for Kevin to arrive-he's not there yet obviously, though I suspect knowing Sibu's past form that its unlikey. I am still suspicious in this instance whether Sibu + a female have really 'left the zoo'.

we need the REAL story here.!!!
 
I've just posted a question about Dona on the Dvur Kralova thread in case they know anything.
 
Female RBoP is in a partitioned-off section at the back of the RBoP aviary. Males not yet showing much interest, but again fingers crossed

Good idea for a thread!
Do you know where the female bird of paradise came from?
Any news or hints regarding the mystery ungulate?
 
Good idea for a thread!
Do you know where the female bird of paradise came from?
Any news or hints regarding the mystery ungulate?

One bird of paradise was coming from Al Wabra, and a second female from a collection I cannot remember. No idea about the ungulate, but an African antelope species is going into the paddock where the wallabuies were. I asked which one and was told several have been suggested, but they are either too large or too small.
 
Correct, I read that too....

Its always possible they found she was compatible with Sibu while waiting for Kevin to arrive-he's not there yet obviously, though I suspect knowing Sibu's past form that its unlikey. I am still suspicious in this instance whether Sibu + a female have really 'left the zoo'.

we need the REAL story here.!!!

Or Option Number 3.

Kevin arrived and died in quick succession and Sibu and Dona went of to another collection :p

No one was around in the morning to ask but I shall keep an eye out for someone to ask in future visits.
 
Its definately another job for secret agent Gigit but in this case she lives near the wrong zoo..

I don't think Kevin has been and gone- I certainly hope not as I believe he is genetically unrepresented which is why they are taking him on- there being no other Bornean orangs at Berlin.

Its interesting that none of the Bornean females at Chester are currently pregnant, I do find that mildly surprising. :(
 
Kevin would not have had time to do 6 months quarantine, so I doubt that he has come and gone.
 
Thanks for the updates Maisie & Rob

Interesting about the Pudu joining the Spider Monkeys

Yes that is intreresting news when they first arrived at the zoo they were probably kept in one of the old paddock enclosures that used to be on the site of what is now the Spider Monkeys outdoor enclosure,talk about moving full circle,not heard of that mix of species in any other zoo but cannot see why it won`t work.
 
Kevin would not have had time to do 6 months quarantine, so I doubt that he has come and gone.

What I meant by come and gone was; arrived and then died. It was a reference to Tuan's post..

I'm sure he hasn't arrived yet. Do any Chester members see the other Bornean male 'Tuan' or is he generally offshow(or in hiding)?
 
I'm sure he hasn't arrived yet. Do any Chester members see the other Bornean male 'Tuan' or is he generally offshow(or in hiding)?

Tuan is probably the second most-on show Bornean behind Leia (well from my experience). Barely ever see Sarikei and only seen Martha a few times in the new enclosure.

It's been said before, but you can really see the difference between the Sumatrans and Borneans when it comes to activity levels
 
Good idea for a thread!
Do you know where the female bird of paradise came from?
Any news or hints regarding the mystery ungulate?

The female's name is Chicago, so I guess that's where she (at least originally) came from. The 3rd male's name is Chester. I already knew Jackson and Gold Medal, so took the chance to find out the 3rd male's name.

Ungulates aren't my field, so I didn't get to find out anything about that. I'm still hoping the unicorn guess was correct :D
 
Hi, could anybody provide me with any details about the "severe inflamation" that killed orangutan Dona on 8th of May in Chester?
 
4 weeks ago

... all I was told was that no Borneans are pregnant

Rather inaccurate info - unless Iznee was a complete surprise :) - Pertinax was right to be 'mildly surprised'
 
4 weeks ago



Rather inaccurate info - unless Iznee was a complete surprise :) - Pertinax was right to be 'mildly surprised'

I was reading the information Chester put out on (I think it was?) the February Sumatran birth- which was also unexpected- and noticed they said 'because Orangutan babies are so small it is difficult to tell if the mother is pregnant'. I can understand it more in that case as the mother(Emma or was it Subis) has an older baby which would still have been suckling, so milk production would have given no clue while the birth interval was possibly closer than normal too.

I'm surprised they didn't realise Sarikei was pregnant though, especially after a new male was introduced to the Bornean group recently and they must have seen at least some matings. So they would have had some suspicion I imagine, even if they weren't certain.
 
I'm surprised they didn't realise Sarikei was pregnant though, especially after a new male was introduced to the Bornean group recently and they must have seen at least some matings. So they would have had some suspicion I imagine, even if they weren't certain.

Sarikei is a bit "chunkier" than Leia though, so any signs of pregnancy may have been harder to see on her than on Leia until the later stages.
 
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