I was under the impression the colour phase 'cross-fox' isn't in the (wild) UK Fox population.
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park Port Lympne 2013
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
I was under the impression the colour phase 'cross-fox' isn't in the (wild) UK Fox population.
Palace of the Apes?
Now the Djala group has left for Africa, the 'Palace of the Apes' must be empty, or almost so- 'Emmie' and/or any other animal which didn't go may still be in there?
Who will go in there now? A new breeding group- or some young males?
Looking through the lists, most of the younger males at Howletts have now been relocated elsewhere(e.g. six to Rhenen Zoo) so will it be a new group headed by Kifu's son 'Ebeki' perhaps?
That's presuming of course that they still keep Gorillas in it....
Now the Djala group has left for Africa, the 'Palace of the Apes' must be empty, or almost so- 'Emmie' and/or any other animal which didn't go may still be in there?
Who will go in there now? A new breeding group- or some young males?
Looking through the lists, most of the younger males at Howletts have now been relocated elsewhere(e.g. six to Rhenen Zoo) so will it be a new group headed by Kifu's son 'Ebeki' perhaps?
That's presuming of course that they still keep Gorillas in it....
So was I; hence my not being able to identify it straight away. As I noted, I initially wondered whether Port Lympne had got a jackal without anyone hearing about it!
Best guess is that the mutation has entered the wild population in very small numbers through escapes from captivity.
Now the Djala group has left for Africa, the 'Palace of the Apes' must be empty, or almost so- 'Emmie' and/or any other animal which didn't go may still be in there?
Who will go in there now? A new breeding group- or some young males?
Looking through the lists, most of the younger males at Howletts have now been relocated elsewhere(e.g. six to Rhenen Zoo) so will it be a new group headed by Kifu's son 'Ebeki' perhaps?
That's presuming of course that they still keep Gorillas in it....
I can't imagine any other species there.
Alternatively they could move one of the existing Howletts groups. Moving either Dzjangou's or Kouillou's group would let them give the old females from Bitam's group more space. Or they could move the group formerly led by Kijo and introduce a new male (and perhaps more females) - there is more space at PL than at Howletts for such introductions.
Alan
Its certainly about time that group(Kijo's) had a new male- they've kept it male-less to allow the youngest baby to grow safely, but its been like that for several years now. I did wonder if, having recently sent a female to Givskud in Denmark, they might get a new male from there (there is a suitable aged one) - its something they have never done before but more and more of their own males/females are related now, though there has been no indication this might happen.
There are certainly several possibilities for which Gorilla combination might fill the 'Palace' and like you I can't imagine it won't be Gorillas.
Aspinall Snr did not favour Orangutans so he never kept them, though the indoor parts of the Gorillariums would actually suit them very well. Bonobos were never as available in his day as they are now.
But I guess it will be transferred Gorillas from Howletts.
A small number of photographs from my trip have now been added to the gallery.
Another interview with Damian Aspinall, from yesterday's Guradian 
Damian Aspinall | 'I'm happiest with the animals' | Life and style | The Guardian
Alan
Damian Aspinall | 'I'm happiest with the animals' | Life and style | The Guardian
Alan
sooty mangabey
Well-Known Member
Another interview with Damian Aspinall, from yesterday's Guradian
Damian Aspinall | 'I'm happiest with the animals' | Life and style | The Guardian
Alan
Warning! Don't read this if you are easily wound-up. This man is truly extraordinary (I'm talking about DA not Gentle Lemur). Zoos, he tells us, are "barbaric". Of course, the irony of his being able to enjoy communing with the gorillas, while arguing that such a thing should be denied to others, is there for all to see.
Lovely Duckling
Member
How many Gorillas remain at PL?
Can you name / identify the groups by individual make up there?
Any possibility any of these bachelors might one day lead a group?
Port Lympne
I was under the impression that a Cross Fox arose from a North American Red Fox x Silver Fox [itself a colour form of NARF] mating. Can it be that the odd escaped Silver Fox has infused American genes into native foxes, or has the 'cross' mutation occurred spontaneously over here?
I was under the impression that a Cross Fox arose from a North American Red Fox x Silver Fox [itself a colour form of NARF] mating. Can it be that the odd escaped Silver Fox has infused American genes into native foxes, or has the 'cross' mutation occurred spontaneously over here?
Haven't the foggiest. I know the Cross Fox occurs naturally in tiny numbers in Scandanavia, and relatively large numbers in Canada, though.
If I were to hazard a guess, I think it most likely there have been escapes from private hands of Silver Foxes.
Group 1. (5 older males-Circular enclosure);
Ambam/Kush/Djimu (together)
Mataki(was seperated). Timbou(solitary many years now).
Group 2. (4 younger males- 'Pavilion' enclosure);
Kanghu/Kebu/Kouyou/Fubu (together, 4 halfbrothers, sons of Kifu.)
Those are the only males at PL now unless any new ones have been moved there recently. Most of these are already genetically well-represented within the Howletts breeding groups- the most likely chance for any of them breeding-wise is if another zoo asks them for one-as happened with 'Oumbie'/Twycross and more recently Ujiji to S.E. Asia. 'Ambam' nearly went to Rotterdam too, but it didn't happen.
Its worth noting the old 'Kijo' group at Howletts still has no adult male since he died several years ago (because there was a small infant in the group) so there is still a vacancy for a new male in that one in due course- unless they get a completely unrelated one from elsewhere -which would not be a bad idea, given the increasing relatedness of many of their groups.
5 of the 'Group 1' nearly went to a new bachelor facility at Rhenen also, but that didn't happen either and they took several younger males direct from the Howletts breeding groups instead.
How do you rate the chances of any of the older males to be socially adaptive and able to lead a breeding group?
Fair enough bachelor groups exist, but it would be nice to see some of the seniors move on.
Fair enough bachelor groups exist, but it would be nice to see some of the seniors move on.
I agree it would be nice if one or two these fully adult males could be allowed breeding groups instead of having to live together. Timbou and Mataki were handraised, Ambam was mother-raised for a year and handraised after that, Kush and Djimu were mother-reared, so the last three are the more likely to be viable as breeders.
I know when Twycross applied to them for a male they were originally going to be sent the solitary 'Timbou'(handraised) but EEP advised sending another male(Oumbi) because he was mother-raised. He proved that the cross-over from longterm fully adult bachelor to breeding male was quite feasible, though it took him a while to adapt to females and he was quite aggressive to start with, though he seems fully adapted now.
However, having recently read about a handreared male 'Oliver', who was born at the Bronx, handraised and having (apparently) no Gorilla company between the ages of 6-23( 18 years!!) yet now fathering a baby at Columbus-anything seems possible, even for handraised males.
I think kifu's genetic line is quite well represented so its unlikely his 4 sons will end up leading breedin groups in the near future, unless some distant collection requests one of them. It would be nice if one female from each pre existing grp was mixed with an older batchelor male to form a new group to replace djala's group now off to gabon.
Lovely Duckling
Member
I went the other day and witnessed no Gorillas whatsoever.