mhale
Well-Known Member
Had a lovely visit to Marwell today - very hot there and loads of people, but most of the animals were outside. These are my observations:
1. Couldn't see the penguin chicks, but there was an adult inside one of the houses round the back so I wondered if that was where the chicks are?
2. There were four rheas sitting on what I presume are nests in their enclosure
3. The sable antelopes and Congo buffaloes were out in the paddock together, but the giraffes were in the old bongo paddock (as Marwell Dalek noted in his update)
4. The leopards have swapped enclosures, so Akin is now in the smaller part and Ascha and Kiska are in the larger part - I would have loved to have been there when they first walked into their new enclosures and explored them
5. I actually saw the dama gazelles out in the paddock with the gemsboks for the first time
6. The waterbucks and Grevy's zebras were in the right hand part of the African Valley at first, then the zebras moved right in front of the viewing platform by Cafe Graze
7. Two male ostriches were sitting on nests at the top of the African Valley (as observed by Marwell Dalek)
8. I saw the new Dorcas gazelle
9. There didn't appear to be any dwarf mongooses in Aridlands, but there were still some in the enclosure by Marwell Hall
10. I managed to get my first clear shot of one of the sand cats in the outdoor area
11. I saw the Przewalski's foal
12. Yenna was lying indoors, Gamin was outdoors and Zambar was by the entrance to his indoor quarters
13. The bat eared fox enclosure was labelled as empty
14. The new Chapman's zebra foal Zeus is gorgeous and only two weeks old
15. Both the red pandas were visible in the tree
16. I didn't see any joeys in the Australian Walkabout today
17. The emperor tamarins were particularly active today
18. I couldn't see the otters indoors or outdoors in Life in the Trees
19. The kangaroos looked good in their new enclosure as its more spacious for them
20. The Amphibian Centre has two types of frog on display now (through the windows): Amazonian milk frogs and Dyeing poison dart frogs, but I was told by a volunteer that there is a problem with drainage so it is still uncertain as to whether it can open for Summer 2009
The giraffes appear to be in the old bongo paddock for most of the day now, so does this mean the bongoes have to stay on the hardstanding all the time? I'm waiting patiently for that one visit when I see some giraffe in the African Valley! It looks a bit sparse at times when the waterbucks, zebras and ostriches are all at the edges of the field, so maybe the giraffes will fill it out (although there's not that many of them)
My photos will follow
1. Couldn't see the penguin chicks, but there was an adult inside one of the houses round the back so I wondered if that was where the chicks are?
2. There were four rheas sitting on what I presume are nests in their enclosure
3. The sable antelopes and Congo buffaloes were out in the paddock together, but the giraffes were in the old bongo paddock (as Marwell Dalek noted in his update)
4. The leopards have swapped enclosures, so Akin is now in the smaller part and Ascha and Kiska are in the larger part - I would have loved to have been there when they first walked into their new enclosures and explored them
5. I actually saw the dama gazelles out in the paddock with the gemsboks for the first time
6. The waterbucks and Grevy's zebras were in the right hand part of the African Valley at first, then the zebras moved right in front of the viewing platform by Cafe Graze
7. Two male ostriches were sitting on nests at the top of the African Valley (as observed by Marwell Dalek)
8. I saw the new Dorcas gazelle
9. There didn't appear to be any dwarf mongooses in Aridlands, but there were still some in the enclosure by Marwell Hall
10. I managed to get my first clear shot of one of the sand cats in the outdoor area
11. I saw the Przewalski's foal
12. Yenna was lying indoors, Gamin was outdoors and Zambar was by the entrance to his indoor quarters
13. The bat eared fox enclosure was labelled as empty
14. The new Chapman's zebra foal Zeus is gorgeous and only two weeks old
15. Both the red pandas were visible in the tree
16. I didn't see any joeys in the Australian Walkabout today
17. The emperor tamarins were particularly active today
18. I couldn't see the otters indoors or outdoors in Life in the Trees
19. The kangaroos looked good in their new enclosure as its more spacious for them
20. The Amphibian Centre has two types of frog on display now (through the windows): Amazonian milk frogs and Dyeing poison dart frogs, but I was told by a volunteer that there is a problem with drainage so it is still uncertain as to whether it can open for Summer 2009
The giraffes appear to be in the old bongo paddock for most of the day now, so does this mean the bongoes have to stay on the hardstanding all the time? I'm waiting patiently for that one visit when I see some giraffe in the African Valley! It looks a bit sparse at times when the waterbucks, zebras and ostriches are all at the edges of the field, so maybe the giraffes will fill it out (although there's not that many of them)
My photos will follow
Yes, I do mean the paddock on the bongo side of Heart of Africa, next to their hardstanding