Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo News 2013

Gigit said:
Rhinos: they are usually separated but one is often out on the grass. I get the impression that they do prefer to be inside once their house has been reopened after cleaning.

Maned Wolves: Yes, Maya died earlier this year. She was 13 years old, the same age as Smalis.

Cheetah: The cheetah on show is male 'Kasai'. Female 'Tosca' died at the end of last year. I believe they are hoping to get a new female.
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Well I've only be going monthly since last October and plan to continue doing it from now on. The Rhinos do indeed seem to like being in their house, there can almost always be seen in there in the afternoon.

Shame about Maya. As mentioned I adopted them and was never told about it. I'd thought the Zoo would tell adoptees such news? Unless my letter was lost. Last time I checked (July) only me and somebody else had adopted the Maned Wolves. There was five (or six) of us adopting them previously. I thought they were both 11, born in Jan 2002 in different Zoos. They've also had two? litters in the past I believe?

I only grew suspicous as the Maned wolves name sign had been taken down for a few months and only reappeared with Smolis, no mention of Maya. Also a group of keepers went in there a few months ago and only Smolis was out running about. No mention on facebook either. I suppose it's because the Maned Wolves aren't as popular/well known by most visitors? (if they are out it's always 'oh look! A fox!')

I thought there was two Cheetahs, I've only seen the one but I was sure on my first few monthly visits last year there was two on the name board. There was still no name board there on my last visit either.

One thing I've noticed is Paignton Zoo can be slow to update signs. The Tigers for example have mentioned Banda will soon be leaving for another Zoo for several years now - they've just put up a newly designed sign still saying this.
 
Drago said:
I thought they were both 11, born in Jan 2002 in different Zoos. They've also had two? litters in the past I believe?

I thought there was two Cheetahs, I've only seen the one but I was sure on my first few monthly visits last year there was two on the name board. There was still no name board there on my last visit either.

One thing I've noticed is Paignton Zoo can be slow to update signs. The Tigers for example have mentioned Banda will soon be leaving for another Zoo for several years now - they've just put up a newly designed sign still saying this.
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You're right about the ages of the Maned Wolves. I'm not sure how many litters they had - there was definitely one in 2009 with 3 pups.

I asked a keeper about Banda recently, because of that sign. Apparently she was going to Jerusalem but warfare put paid to that.

As a matter of personal interest, have you spotted any other misleading or missing signs?
 
All I can think of off the top of my head is

Several months to update Maned Wolf name card.
Cheetah has had no name card up for months.
Tigers sign not been updated for years.
Lions until recently no mention of Mwamba being off show.
Bongo's only name some of the herd.
Adoption board which looks fine (near Emu's) saying out of order?
Giraffes card was only updated when Tonda left, Otillie was not previously on there.
Elephants - Still some mention of Gay/asian elephants despite her passing a few years ago.

Whilst not the actual Zoo the website could do with some updating in places. Both Cheetahs still mentioned, adoptees wrong, Maned Wolf is refered to as an actual Wolf (it's not).

I'm personally not to bothered about it. And don't want to make the Zoo look bad. Just thought it'll be better to change/update signs asap, to prevent confusion/disappointment amongst visitors. Loads of people would look for Mwamba before the sings were changed to mention he was off show, fo example.
 
Drago said:
All I can think of off the top of my head is

Several months to update Maned Wolf name card.
Cheetah has had no name card up for months.
Tigers sign not been updated for years.
Lions until recently no mention of Mwamba being off show.
Bongo's only name some of the herd.
Adoption board which looks fine (near Emu's) saying out of order?
Giraffes card was only updated when Tonda left, Otillie was not previously on there.
Elephants - Still some mention of Gay/asian elephants despite her passing a few years ago.

Whilst not the actual Zoo the website could do with some updating in places. Both Cheetahs still mentioned, adoptees wrong, Maned Wolf is refered to as an actual Wolf (it's not).

I'm personally not to bothered about it. And don't want to make the Zoo look bad. Just thought it'll be better to change/update signs asap, to prevent confusion/disappointment amongst visitors. Loads of people would look for Mwamba before the sings were changed to mention he was off show, fo example.
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It probably has not helped that one of the most influential and hard working members of the Education Dept was, unfortunately, made redundant in the past year. It is a massive job to keep it all updated. I believe signage should be carefully thought out, have a strong 'corporate' theme/consistency, but also should target and counter common assumptions made by the public i.e. Why does that monkey look so sad? or Why are the Pied Tamarins so hard to spot?
 
I do like signs to be accurate and I notice when they're not. Of course, it's not just Paignton that makes the odd mistake. Maybe signs that could have changes slotted in somehow are the answer, avoiding the expense of making entirely new ones.

I was a bit puzzled when I saw the 'Out of Order' Adoption Board!

(Response to message #103)
 
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Lions

From the zoo's website:

"Neil Bemment is juggling lions at Paignton Zoo.

One of the many jobs of a zoo curator is to make sure all the animals in the collection are in exactly the right place. And at the moment Neil has six lions to accommodate.

Neil is Paignton Zoo’s Curator of Mammals and Director of Operations: “Paignton Zoo is involved in numerous international breeding programmes. Asiatic lions are classed as Endangered – there are fewer than 400 surviving in the wild. Every cub born into the breeding programme could be one step closer to survival.”

The Zoo is planning a major change in the lion paddock. Male Mwamba is leaving and most of the cubs born last year have been allocated to other collections.

Mwamba was born in 2004 and arrived from Twycross in August 2006. Indu was born at Paignton Zoo in 2003. They had some unsuccessful litters before their spectacular triumph in May 2012, when four cubs were born and raised.

“Mwamba is still needed to contribute to the breeding programme whereas Indu is not, or at least, not for the time being. So he is going to Dudley Zoo.”

The cubs have also been assigned new homes and will probably move later this year or early in 2014. Male Jari is moving to Plankendael Zoo, in Belgium, his brother Sabal to Krakow Zoo, Poland and female Zarina to Frankfurt Zoo in Germany, although this last move is not finalised.

Neil: “This will leave us with Indu and the other female cub Maliya and possibly Zarina for a while. They may be needed for breeding in due course, at which point we would bring in a new male. If Indu was not to breed again then we would implant her with a contraceptive or send her to another zoo for exhibition only.

“We are sorry to be losing Mwamba as he was quite a character, but pleased that he is going on hopefully to sire more cubs. It’s also great news that those cubs he produced here will also be moving on to make their contribution to this highly important breeding programme.”
 
The top part of the paddock behind the restaurant has been divided off. I couldn't see if it had any occupants but it contains the long-standing house and there is a small pond, like the one the Wattled Cranes have next door.

The Red Panda area has been cordoned off so presumably they've had babies again.
 
Baby Orangutan has a name at last.... Tatau - after a place in Sarawak, Indonesia :)
 
Nisha said:
Baby Orangutan has a name at last.... Tatau - after a place in Sarawak, Indonesia :)
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That's what happens when you let summer zoo visitors pick a name - even before they've set eyes on the animal. I wonder why they chose a place name over the inevitable translations of goddess, star, beautiful etc? As I mentioned before, there was no indication of correct pronunciation on the collecting boxes.

(I must stop moaning about names given to animals ;))
 
Allen's Swamp Monkeys

I hear that another female has joined Swoozie in the Swamp Monkey enclosure. I wonder where she's come from?
 
Hatchings

From the zoo's website:

Bird keepers at Paignton Zoo have seen a burst of late-season hatchings.

It’s thought to be thanks to the weather.

Curator of Birds Jo Gregson said: “It’s because we had a cold spring followed by a good summer. Many species have bred later this year.”

The current crop of chicks includes toco toucans, red-legged seriemas, southern screamers and black crowned cranes.

The toco toucan (Ramphastos toco) can be difficult to breed; Paignton is the only UK zoo to have bred the species this year. Native to South America, toco toucans are the most recognizable of the toucan species, with black plumage, white throats and bright orange bills. Toco toucans are the largest toucans and have the biggest beak in relation to body size of any bird.

The red-legged seriema comes from the grasslands of Brazil and is known for its characteristic loud call.

The black crowned crane (Balearica pavonina) comes from West Africa. It lives in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara and is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN.
 
Gigit said:
I hear that another female has joined Swoozie in the Swamp Monkey enclosure. I wonder where she's come from?
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Paignton got a 13 and 14years old Pair of Swamp Monkeys from Karlsuhe Zoo at the end of August.They were the last ones in Germany and never bred-so the studbook keeper made the decision to send them to another zoo.
 
Interesting; question is whether this means Paignton has three Swamp Monkeys now, or whether one of the Karlsuhe animals has already died.

The species is still on borrowed time both in the UK and Europe :(
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Interesting; question is whether this means Paignton has three Swamp Monkeys now, or whether one of the Karlsuhe animals has already died.

The species is still on borrowed time both in the UK and Europe :(
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I can't tell you, but maybe all three are alive and two of them were off Show( so maybe the new pair isn't yet together with the single female ? ) or in a back area of the exhibit.I've never been to Paignton, so I don't know the Situation how the Swamp monkeys are kept there, if they have allday acess do an back Cage or not.
 
Bib Fortuna said:
I can't tell you, but maybe all three are alive and two of them were off Show( so maybe the new pair isn't yet together with the single female ? )
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Gigit will tell you for sure but I don't think a Monkey could be in the simple small indoor house without it being seen. Apparently the new female is on show either with, or adjacent, to the existing one. (there are just two indoor compartments).

Possibly the male is in their Hospital if it hasn't died. Maybe they are being split up? An exchange with the Twycross male perhaps? I would think it very unlikely the pair from Germany would breed together any more successfully in a new home than previously, but both might do so with new partners. These sorts of measures are needed for them to have any future in Europe now.
 
I've just been to the zoo and resident female, Swoozie, was outside, with access to one half of the house. The new female was locked in the other half of the house. I haven't seen a new male yet - he's certainly not in the house.
 
Another alternative is that they are holding him offshow to get the two females together first, then introduce him later. He may well breed with the original(strange) female(Swoozie) but I don't rate his chances very highly of breeding with the one he came with from Karlsruhe, just because its a new situation for them. I would think they both need new partners to achieve that.
 
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