Part VIII: Rhino House Interior to Bat-eared Fox
The next enclosure within the rhinoceros house was a mid-size paddock which contained a mixture of trees and branches to provide climbing opportunities, along with a variety of vegetation and rockwork; all of which fit with the previously mentioned overall theme of the interior of the rhinoceros house. This enclosure held Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata), as well as serving as the indoor enclosure for the Peters’s Angolan Colobus (Colobus angolensis palliates) held by the collection, although at this point in time only the tortoise were visible. The enclosure seemed like it was a high-quality one for both the species it was intended to hold, although for obvious reasons we were unable to gauge how well the mixture worked.
The final exhibit in the interior of the house comprised a glass-fronted tank containing more of the sand, rockwork and branches found throughout the enclosures of the rhinoceros house, and was of a similarly high quality to the other exhibits. This particular enclosure held a mixture of Sudan Plated Lizard (Gerrhosaurus major), Plains Agama (Acanthocercus atricollis) and Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), a combination which I felt worked very well, with the agama representing an unexpected lifetick as this was a species which Zootierliste did not list for the collection.
Immediately outside the rhinoceros house, a bridge over one of the streams running through the zoo led to the colobus walkthrough enclosure, which also comprised part of the external enclosure for the Eastern Black Rhinoceros. The enclosure had a number of trees for the colobus to climb, along with a large amount of rockwork and felled trees on the ground - some of which was carefully placed and designed to hide the presence of a ha-ha dividing the walkthrough enclosure from the portion of the paddock accessible to the rhinoceros whilst still permitting the colobus to cross from the rhinoceros enclosure to the walkthrough and visa-versa. We were able to get excellent views of the colobus, as one individual in particular was rather fond of sitting on the fence at the side of the public footpath; the keeper who was stationed in the walkthrough enclosure had to make this individual move away from us on a number of occasions. As this was one of the species which represented a major incentive for visiting Magdeburg, we were very pleased to be able to watch this unusual and attractive species at some length.
After exiting the walkthrough enclosure, the path took us around to a point where we could view the second of the exterior enclosures for the rhinoceros; this one being a large grassy paddock containing a small amount of rockwork and a number of relatively young trees, and which contained the Eastern Black Rhinoceros, along with groups of both Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) and Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi), both of which are species which although present in UK collections are still somewhat unusual and always worth further attention in my opinion. The enclosure seemed to work rather well for all three species held, with the animals mixing freely and without any visible problems in their interactions - furthermore, it was a very pleasant looking enclosure overall, and one which kept to the high standards which the collection had demonstrated thus far.
Just opposite this enclosure was a very pleasant little exhibit which held a pair of South African Bat-eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis megalotis), a species which I always enjoy observing due to their unusual appearance and behaviour; in many ways, this taxon fills a similar niche to the aardwolf, both being members of carnivoran groups which have almost entirely specialised into feeding almost entirely on termites. The exhibit itself was glass-fronted with an attractive wooden frame permitting unrestricted views on a sandy enclosure with plentiful small bushes and a number of dens where the inhabitants could hide away from the public; however, when we visited the foxes were highly active and visible.
At this point, having reached the main restaurant, we took the opportunity to have some lunch.
(Attached are photographs of the indoor colobus enclosure, the mixed reptile enclosure, two views of the colobus walkthrough, the external rhinoceros enclosure and the bat-eared fox enclosure)
The next enclosure within the rhinoceros house was a mid-size paddock which contained a mixture of trees and branches to provide climbing opportunities, along with a variety of vegetation and rockwork; all of which fit with the previously mentioned overall theme of the interior of the rhinoceros house. This enclosure held Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata), as well as serving as the indoor enclosure for the Peters’s Angolan Colobus (Colobus angolensis palliates) held by the collection, although at this point in time only the tortoise were visible. The enclosure seemed like it was a high-quality one for both the species it was intended to hold, although for obvious reasons we were unable to gauge how well the mixture worked.
The final exhibit in the interior of the house comprised a glass-fronted tank containing more of the sand, rockwork and branches found throughout the enclosures of the rhinoceros house, and was of a similarly high quality to the other exhibits. This particular enclosure held a mixture of Sudan Plated Lizard (Gerrhosaurus major), Plains Agama (Acanthocercus atricollis) and Pancake Tortoise (Malacochersus tornieri), a combination which I felt worked very well, with the agama representing an unexpected lifetick as this was a species which Zootierliste did not list for the collection.
Immediately outside the rhinoceros house, a bridge over one of the streams running through the zoo led to the colobus walkthrough enclosure, which also comprised part of the external enclosure for the Eastern Black Rhinoceros. The enclosure had a number of trees for the colobus to climb, along with a large amount of rockwork and felled trees on the ground - some of which was carefully placed and designed to hide the presence of a ha-ha dividing the walkthrough enclosure from the portion of the paddock accessible to the rhinoceros whilst still permitting the colobus to cross from the rhinoceros enclosure to the walkthrough and visa-versa. We were able to get excellent views of the colobus, as one individual in particular was rather fond of sitting on the fence at the side of the public footpath; the keeper who was stationed in the walkthrough enclosure had to make this individual move away from us on a number of occasions. As this was one of the species which represented a major incentive for visiting Magdeburg, we were very pleased to be able to watch this unusual and attractive species at some length.
After exiting the walkthrough enclosure, the path took us around to a point where we could view the second of the exterior enclosures for the rhinoceros; this one being a large grassy paddock containing a small amount of rockwork and a number of relatively young trees, and which contained the Eastern Black Rhinoceros, along with groups of both Defassa Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus defassa) and Blesbok (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi), both of which are species which although present in UK collections are still somewhat unusual and always worth further attention in my opinion. The enclosure seemed to work rather well for all three species held, with the animals mixing freely and without any visible problems in their interactions - furthermore, it was a very pleasant looking enclosure overall, and one which kept to the high standards which the collection had demonstrated thus far.
Just opposite this enclosure was a very pleasant little exhibit which held a pair of South African Bat-eared Fox (Otocyon megalotis megalotis), a species which I always enjoy observing due to their unusual appearance and behaviour; in many ways, this taxon fills a similar niche to the aardwolf, both being members of carnivoran groups which have almost entirely specialised into feeding almost entirely on termites. The exhibit itself was glass-fronted with an attractive wooden frame permitting unrestricted views on a sandy enclosure with plentiful small bushes and a number of dens where the inhabitants could hide away from the public; however, when we visited the foxes were highly active and visible.
At this point, having reached the main restaurant, we took the opportunity to have some lunch.
(Attached are photographs of the indoor colobus enclosure, the mixed reptile enclosure, two views of the colobus walkthrough, the external rhinoceros enclosure and the bat-eared fox enclosure)
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I find the walk-through colobus enclosure a very interesting concept.
so saying they all seem sub-par is premature. Secondly, as noted in my discussion of the Belted Lemur enclosure (and visible in the photograph, actually) the enclosure extends beyond the public area to offshow areas. Thirdly, although no lemurs are visible in the photograph to give an accurate scale, that cage is pretty big; at least 10' tall if not more.
