...plus I guess they can use this period to bring in and integrate the new silverback and female into the group. But it still seems a long while for them to be offshow. I'm aware visitors can still see the males in the original enclosure during this period though.
Prague Zoo Praha Prague Zoo News 2022
- Thread starter JurassicMax
- Start date
I dont know details and can only speculate. I would say the reason is they still need time to finish the visitors amenities. Space dedicated to visitors inside this house is larger than to animals, with a lot of shick-snack planned (similar to heavy elephant valley theming, but more).
Thanks for the explanation. Gorilla quarters completed but not the whole house/visitor areas. I understand now. They will no doubt use this offshow time to add the new male and female so there is a complete group again when it opens later in the year.
So, the family gorilla group in the new facility are:
0.1 Kamba b. 1991
0.1 Kijivu b. 1993 (proven)
0.1 Shinda b. 1991 (proven)
1.0 Ajabu b. 2016 (castrated, son of Shinda)
All females are Apenheul descendants. New silverback Kisumu (born 1997) is a Tierpark Hellabrunn, Muenchen representative.
Former silverback Richard stays behind in the old gorilla exhibit in the lower zoo together with his 2 sons Kiburi (2010) and Nuru (2012), who are both offspring of mother Kijivu.
Correct, I had meant to write 1971/72. Sorry for the inconvenience.
When I was there just over a month ago all restaurants and cafes that had indoor spaces appeared to be open. My travelling companions and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Gaston, the main restaurant near the Sichuan Pavilion.
Thank you for the information and recommendation!
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know why Kijivu had last child 10 years ago?
She comes from an extremely well represented line, so it was going to be difficult to place any future offspring. Her youngest two sons are now in a bachelor troop, while her daughter has not been allowed to have anymore offspring after giving birth in 2013.
She was otherwise an excellent breeder - producing four offspring in eight years; while Kamba struggled to produce viable offspring and Shinda struggled to conceive/carry an infant to term.
Elephantelephant
Well-Known Member
That is reasonable but on the other side sad, she was a very good mother. But what is very interesting, if I'm not mistaken, Duni who is to come is Kijivu's granddaughter!
Yes, Duni was born 16/04/2013 to Moja (Kijivu’s first offspring).
I’m very familiar with Kijivu’s family as they’re the main family line in Australasia. She comes from a line of excellent mothers.
It’ll be interesting to see if Duni has a habit of covering her ears like Kriba and her daughters do!
Refresh my memory please: the various species are maintained separately or part of the same flock of birds (potential for hybridisation / generics)? I would figure that Praha Zoo keeps all species in their own breeding group (curatorial courtesy and knowledge).
Nope, the situation is still unchanged - Prague is now THE LAST zoo in Czechia that still keeps mixed breeding flock of flamingos. All other zoos have already switched to only one species per enclosure, even known obscessive species-collector like Plzen sent their last Chileans away to keep just a single flamingo species!. In Prague, Greaters live separated. But Caribbeans, Chileans and hybrids are kept together and let inbreed. Just yesterday I observed mating of a Chilean/Caribbean mixed pair and some of the adult hybrids are in bonded pairs.
Maybe you remmember that when we met many years ago, I went on a long angry rant about the bird curator and his absolute disregard of good husbandry of flamingos? I guess he probably gives more dam even about rats that occasionaly swim over flamingo pool that to the birds there. No progress on his part.
But there are two changes for the worse since. First, both flamingo enclosures now look more like dark jungle that open areas for sun-loving birds. You know the Greater flamingo pen is small, maybe 150 m2, with over 80 adult flamingos - that is overcrowded already by simply its size. But over last years, trees and other vegetation was let to grow so much that 2/3 of the exhibit is unusable for the birds, in part simply impassable. Only maybe 30m2 get direct sun during the day and that is the place where all the birds concentrate. The exhibit with American flamingos is a little bit better, thick vegetation (partly thick bambus, partly sone bushes) obscures "only" 1/2 of dry land there, but untrimmed tall trees surrounding the exhibit are shading also here majority of the area.
The second change for worse is develomental damage seen in chicks that hatched during last breeding seasons. You can recognize them not only by partial coloration and yellow rings, but also by "dwarfism" and non-straight legs of some. Many chicks actually developed so badly, with so curved legs, they had to be put down at few months age. Food must be high-proteine and low calcium/vitamins to grow so badly. Another reason might be that shade in enclosures - once chicks form creches, they move at side of the flock of adult birds and if they try to mix, they get pecked by unrelated adults. Adults concentrate at that single place that gets direct sunlight (which they love and bitterly fight others who would want to get their place) while chicks are forced to spend all their first half-year in the thick "jungle" parts of enclosure without access to any sun and that affects processing of calcium in their bodies. With sad outcome.
Yesterday, while I watched both flocks, I was seriusly thinking what tools you would need to trim which tree branches, which whole trees and bushes need to be cut down completely, if there is way to prevent bambus offshoots to propagate to cleared land (maybe mixing salt into soil). Unfortunately I dont have guts to simpy break in during night and make the much needed gardening that is overdue at least 10 years.
June list of animal arrivals and babies has been published and is long. Here a few interesting entries:
A pair of European rollers - you can see this species now at two places, in waterbird house -last aviary and in one aviary of local birds near children zoo.
2.1.4 Mekong snail-eating turtles (Malayemys subtrijuga) from private keeper
1.0 Mhorr gazelle from TP Berlin
1.0 Vulturine guineafowl from Dvur Kralove
Born/hatched
17 grey partridges
1 Asian glossy starling
1 Madagascar ibis
4 Princely Spiny-tailed Lizards (Uromastyx princeps)
1 Turner's thick-toed gecko
1 Asian fairy-bluebird
1 Rufous-cheeked laughingthrush
blue sheep, himalayan tahrs, west caucasian turs, 1.0 white-lipped deer
8 Kenyan sand boas
7 zebra-tailed lizards
1 western crowned pigeon
A pair of European rollers - you can see this species now at two places, in waterbird house -last aviary and in one aviary of local birds near children zoo.
2.1.4 Mekong snail-eating turtles (Malayemys subtrijuga) from private keeper
1.0 Mhorr gazelle from TP Berlin
1.0 Vulturine guineafowl from Dvur Kralove
Born/hatched
17 grey partridges
1 Asian glossy starling
1 Madagascar ibis
4 Princely Spiny-tailed Lizards (Uromastyx princeps)
1 Turner's thick-toed gecko
1 Asian fairy-bluebird
1 Rufous-cheeked laughingthrush
blue sheep, himalayan tahrs, west caucasian turs, 1.0 white-lipped deer
8 Kenyan sand boas
7 zebra-tailed lizards
1 western crowned pigeon
This is sad, and should not be the case. Management and conditions required for these birds is now so well known, that there cannot be any excuse.