Paignton Zoo Paignton News 2020

Yes. Very true.
I wonder how much it costs to rent these Lego sculptures?
I wonder how many visitors will return to the zoo after visiting and seeing it in its current state?
The management need some recognition for how they’ve had to work under TB reg’s, and how they seem to be improving their communication with visitors - I just hope its not come too late!
 
Embu said:
Fantastic news however how will this affect the remaining orangutans? I'm guessing they are quite a social species and I know males are moved as they mature, would there be a change in dynamics with the remaining females?
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Fantastic? As a PZ regular, it's the news I've been dreading :( AFAIK, they'll only be held at Colchester until they can move elsewhere. Tiga is Mali's nephew (she's his father Batu's sister) so they won't be breeding with him. As far as PZ's other orangs are concerned, they haven't been mixed since Tatty's birth so the remaining 'group' of male Wousan, females Gambira and Chinta, and Chinta's 6 year old daughter, Natalia, will carry on as normal. Good luck to Colchester on coping with a highly intelligent Mali, always one step ahead of the keepers, and a very adventurous 6 year old after years of just keeping largely sedentary males.
 
Gigit said:
Fantastic? As a PZ regular, it's the news I've been dreading :( AFAIK, they'll only be held at Colchester until they can move elsewhere. Tiga is Mali's nephew (she's his father Batu's sister) so they won't be breeding with him. As far as PZ's other orangs are concerned, they haven't been mixed since Tatty's birth so the remaining 'group' of male Wousan, females Gambira and Chinta, and Chinta's 6 year old daughter, Natalia, will carry on as normal. Good luck to Colchester on coping with a highly intelligent Mali, always one step ahead of the keepers, and a very adventurous 6 year old after years of just keeping largely sedentary males.
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Apologies I wasn't aware that they were related. Suppose it will be good from a visitor perspective. Although are orangs, unlike gorillas, usually solitary in the wild?
 
Gigit do you know if the Endangered Species Breeding Programme,will allocate a couple of Orangutans to Paington to replace Mali and her juvenile daughter Tatu?
 
Embu said:
Apologies I wasn't aware that they were related. Suppose it will be good from a visitor perspective. Although are orangs, unlike gorillas, usually solitary in the wild?
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Yes, they usually are. Youngsters stay with their mothers until they're 8 or so. The remaining orangs at Paignton are kept together but there is some friction among them. Maybe they'll split them up once Mali & Tatty have left as they'll have more room then. I'm sure it's good news for Colchester who haven't had a female for about 13 (?) years, but from a personal point of view I shall miss them so much :(
 
The Hedgehog said:
Gigit do you know if the Endangered Species Breeding Programme,will allocate a couple of Orangutans to Paington to replace Mali and her juvenile daughter Tatu?
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I'm afraid I don't know their plans but would suspect that Mali & Tatty won't be replaced as they seem to be surplus to requirements. They have a male and three potential breeding females although Natalia at 6 years old is still too young, and Gambira has failed to become pregnant despite the attentions of two males now (Demo and Wousan).
 
I met Gigit and her husband at the zoo today and we discussed this move, unaware that this announcement had been made, as it has been an open secret for months now.
As zoo visitors will miss Mali and Tatau, but it is a step forward for Mali, who is a good mother and should have another baby eventually, and for Tatau who needs to learn how to care for an infant. As Gigit has said, it will allow the keepers to manage the orangs remaining at Paignton more flexibly. Another benefit is that it will free up space to allow the two orang islands to be renovated (one at a time) as they are now very dilapidated after this winter's bad weather and the destructive effects of keeping orangs on both islands every day.
 
So Gigit is a lady. Ever since I first viewed Zoochat as a guest,I always presumed that Gigit was a bloke. I don't know why but I guess I thought that Gigit is a masculine name,and Gigit's posts never appear feminine.
 
Embu said:
Fantastic news however how will this affect the remaining orangutans? I'm guessing they are quite a social species and I know males are moved as they mature, would there be a change in dynamics with the remaining females?
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Orangutans are the least social of all the Apes. Any grouping with more than one adult female is likely to be largely artificial with them mainly tolerating each other rather than showing true social behaviour or bonding. Adult males largely solitary too. Both orangutan and male gorilla groups are tools of captive management.
 
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Pertinax said:
Orangutans are the least social of all the Apes. Any grouping with more than one adult female is likely to be largely artificial with them mainly tolerating each other rather than showing true social behaviour or bonding. Adult males largely solitary too. Both orangutan and male gorilla groups are tools of captive management.
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Not necessarily. In the wild home ranges of female orangutans often overlap and they do form small bands from time to time, but also are solitary from time to time. So female groupings are not truly artificial, but also not permament, so a zoo situation with multiple females is not necessarily artificial. It has been described in the literature as solitary fission-fusion. Many zoo groupings are however indeed artificial by having multiple females + male together all the time. Some zoos with better separation possibilities like Apenheul, do experiment with this by letting the animals choose with whom they want to spend the day. This is easier in Apenheul as they have 4 indoor enclosures, each with their own outdoor enclosures. Paignton could use a similar approach now.
 
="lintworm, post: 1192356, member: 1188] So female groupings are not truly artificial, but also not permament, so a zoo situation with multiple females is not necessarily artificial.
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I believe any zoo Orangutan groups that house unrelated females together- on a semi-permanent basis- in the relatively confined spaces that zoo enclosures allow, are a very different concept from any such temporary groupings in the wild. Most importantly the animals do not choose as to whether they associate with each other. As such I believe that counts as 'artificial'. Often it appears to work perfectly well without fighting or anything, but in my book it still isn't replicating anything natural.
 
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gentle lemur said:
I met Gigit and her husband at the zoo today and we discussed this move, unaware that this announcement had been made, as it has been an open secret for months now.
As zoo visitors will miss Mali and Tatau, but it is a step forward for Mali, who is a good mother and should have another baby eventually, and for Tatau who needs to learn how to care for an infant. As Gigit has said, it will allow the keepers to manage the orangs remaining at Paignton more flexibly. Another benefit is that it will free up space to allow the two orang islands to be renovated (one at a time) as they are now very dilapidated after this winter's bad weather and the destructive effects of keeping orangs on both islands every day.
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There are some really good points here, specifically the need to renovate the islands with, presumably, new telegraph poles? It might also enable another opportunity to mix gibbons using the small house (currently empty after Naomi) at the end of the islands?
 
Does anyone know if other Great Apes can catch Coronavirus? I’m wondering if Paignton Zoo & other collections know if this may/may not be an issue?
 
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