Paignton Zoo Paignton Zoo

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Gigit said:
The male who used to be in the house near the Ape House died some time ago - They are entertaining little creatures, especially when they're outside digging at the edge of the water.
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I mentioned how that old(?)male used to go back and forth repeatedly along one horizontal branch in stereotyped fashion. I'll bet if you measured the distance you would find it was exactly the same as the width of his cage in the old house. Sad or what? :(

These are very interesting little monkeys- apparently they are quite closely related to Baboons.
 
Update for Pertinax - I spoke to a keeper about the Red River Hogs today. The sole hog is actually female. The male had to be put down after getting a very bad foot infection. They are hoping to get a new male in the new year.
Damisi is still here. He was outside and gave us a display of chest beating. More news as I get it :)
 
Allen's Swamp Monkeys

Pertinax said:
These are very interesting little monkeys- apparently they are quite closely related to Baboons.
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I've never warmed to Baboons - too noisy and confrontational - but the Swamp Monkeys are endearing. They settle down to watch if you show them interesting things, and the female who used to be paired with the male sucks her thumb. Cute! :)
 
Gigit said:
Update for Pertinax - I spoke to a keeper about the Red River Hogs today. The sole hog is actually female.
Damisi is still here. He was outside and gave us a display of chest beating. More news as I get it :)
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Thanks Gigit. The sex is listed wringly on ISIS then. Glad they'll be getting another male- I think that could stimulate breeding too- as I think I'm right in saying the original pair hadn't bred.

Damisi- I know you'll let us(me?) know when he departs. Any news you can gather from the keepers on what's been done to the Chessington enclosure regarding changes would be valuable too. In case you don't know,Chessington's gorilla enclosure is basically a large square meshed enclosure(like the Howletts cages) but with very small dens at the back-which are not on show to the public. It needed improving.
 
Gigit said:
the Swamp Monkeys are endearing. They settle down to watch if you show them interesting things, and the female who used to be paired with the male sucks her thumb. Cute! :)
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They seem very quiet and 'creep' about along the branches- I can imagine how they move about similarly in a forested African Swamp. I think Paignton's little island is quite a good habitat. But neither Paignton nor Twycross seem to have had any luck breeding them.
 
Swamp Monkeys: The information sign says little is known about their breeding habits, so maybe things aren't quite right for them in these zoos. They do seem to enjoy their island at Paignton though.
Gorillas: Today's Daily Mail (SW version anyway) has photos of Kivu and Kiondo celebrating Kivu's 5th birthday with the keepers and a cake.
 
Gigit said:
Gorillas: Today's Daily Mail (SW version anyway) has photos of Kivu and Kiondo celebrating Kivu's 5th birthday with the keepers and a cake.
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These two are grandsons of the white gorilla 'Snowflake' which used to live at Barcelona. (Their mothers are his daughters). Kiondo's mother 'Kena' is also now in the Uk, at Blackpool Zoo.
 
Here are the results of my latest enquiries:

Swamp Monkeys: Good news - Paignton has a male and female in quarantine. The keeper wasn't sure which European zoo they'd come from.

Damisi: will now be moving to Chessington after Christmas.

Giraffes: Two European females were earmarked to join the male earlier this year, but the Blue Tongue business got in the way. If movement is still prevented next year, they may have to think again.
 
Thanks Gigit. Good news indeed about the Swamp Monkeys- I hope they can breed them- it might be a 1st breeding in the UK even....
 
i think Bristol were the 1st to breed them in the Uk, followed by Edinburgh.
 
Yes, I thought I was probably wrong there.....

Do you know if Twycross have ever bred from theirs? I think its now only Twycross and Paignton keeping them in UK.
 
Gigit- the good news is that gorilla 'Mapema' is already mating the youngest of the females(Safiri- from Sydney) at Duisburg.:)
 
Pertinax said:
Yes, I thought I was probably wrong there.....

Do you know if Twycross have ever bred from theirs? I think its now only Twycross and Paignton keeping them in UK.
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Twycross had a young one their a few years ago but after asking the staff i discovered it had been born at Edinburgh,but its mother had rejected it so it was sent to Twycross for hand rearing as they have a little bit of experience in that department,sadly i believe the youngster has now died.
 
I forecast a veritable population explosion at Chessington with Damisi! They have FOUR females of breeding age( 2 mothers, 2 daughters) plus two more younger daughters coming along too. That's SIX potential females for him. That still excludes the two much older females Kaja and Baffia who will probably not go with him and stay instead with the old male Kumba.

I think they will certainly need new accomodation soon- unless they have made major changes recently. Chessington have the most successful uk gorilla group after the Howletts groups. Its the group London Zoo would like to have!

It will be interesting to see which male breeds first- Mapema or Damisi....
 
These lonely weeks for Damisi won't have been in vain! Chessington does seem a surprising place for successful breeding. I would imagine that most visitors don't give the gorillas a second look, or even know they are there. I'll do my best to find out about the accommodation after Christmas.
 
Actually, the Gorillas at Chessington are not far from the entrance area, and well advertised- I think they do get a lot of visitors, even if most people have come for the Amusements and rides rather than to see animals and then of course the whole place is shut for most of the winter..... Its an odd situation really- particularly as its been a very successful gorilla group in recent years (they had a very good keeper at a crucial period who managed them very skillfully)

My guess is they will have made at least some changes to the cage as earlier this year they were threatened with having their zoo licence revoked by the local council if they didn't!
 
Diana monkeys

Pertinax - I've solved the mystery of the extra Diana Monkey! For some reason, I failed to notice that a male infant was born on 22 June 2007. The previous birth was a female - Akia - in February 2006.
I'll check on the Damisi situation next week.
 
Gigit said:
Pertinax - I've solved the mystery of the extra Diana Monkey! For some reason, I failed to notice that a male infant was born on 22 June 2007. The previous birth was a female - Akia - in February 2006.
I'll check on the Damisi situation next week.
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oh well, at least they have started breeding regularly since being moved into the new area.. they were kept in the old Monkey house for a long time without any sign of breeding(that I know of...) maybe the move to more spacious accomodation was the key. I'm trying to find out what's happening with the ones they've still got at Newquay.

Damisi- he looks well grown from the photo so he should be able to take control okay when he arrives at Chessington.... I'm still very interested to know if they have had to make any changes to their cage though.
 
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