Watching wild wildlife at the Zoo

gentle lemur

gentle lemur

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I expect every zoo has its own local wildlife visitors. They tend to be much more tame than they would be in other places, so they are often worth watching.
I can't get excited by starlings, mallards or moorhens, but I have enjoyed watching jackdaws and magpies in many zoos. Marwell is good for rooks and Harewood House has a feeding station for wild herons and reintroduced red kites sometimes soar overhead. In summer Port Lympne can be swarming with dragonflies, many of which will have flown across from France. I can even remember seeing a black morph red squirrel near the marmot enclosure at Hellabrunn many years ago.
But I didn't expect to see a kestrel in the Miniature Monkeys exhibit at Chester Zoo last Saturday afternoon. It flew down into the Pied tamarin enclosure and then up into an oak tree in the Geoffroy's marmoset enclosure to eat the shrew (or small mouse) that it had caught.

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The kestrel finished its meal very quickly, then it flew back over the path and perched in a small tree in the tamarin's enclosure so that it could watch the ground.

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It tried various perches, taking no notice of the growing group of visitors on the path. I have never been so close to a wild bird of prey. The light was difficult and there was a strong wind, but I had my Nikon with a long lens on my trusty monopod and the bird was so close that I was able to fill the frame.
Suddenly it spotted a larger mouse and caught it in a flash. Then it flew off over the monkey house.

Has anyone made any similar sightings?

Alan
 
Yes, I've seen a kestrel (probably the very same) in the Off show rhino house! It was with the junior members, and we were really close to Rosie (the black rhino) but then in flew the kestrel and our attention was diverted from the huge black rhino to the little falcon at the back of the house.

Saw a wild hummingbird at San Diego Zoo as well....
 
Curummbin Sanctuary has the ultimate wildlife. Wild lorikeets that you can feed from dishes of nectar.
 
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I watched a red squirrel at Jersey for about five minutes. It was darting between the bushes either side of the path by the reptile house before shooting off to somewhere by the tamarin cages.
 
Awesome shots GentleLemur.

I always look out for Herons at Chester Zoo by the penguins or chimp island; but I've never spotted the Kestrel! I will definitely look out for it next time i go!

I've spotted a fair few bunnies, and birds too. It always surprises how few people take interest in the wild animals. Just because its not in a cage or comes from some foreign shores; doesn't make it any less interesting. Some kids (and adults) are blind to what is on their doorstep. grrr.
 
This kestrel was quite unconcerned by the visitors - so I guess it must be a zoo regular, and it probably was the one WH saw in the rhino house.
I guess that the adult marmosets and tamarins would be too big for it to tackle, but young ones could be in some danger from it - it would be awful if the pied tamarins bred but the kestrel got their babies. On the other hand it probably encourages the parents to take good care for their young and the Geoffroy's marmosets seem to be breeding very successfully. I can't think of any other animals at the zoo that could be taken by a kestrel.

Alan
 
Taronga Zoo (and a lot of Sydney's parkland ) is knee-deep in white ibis. They breed (among other places) on the top of Taronga's palm trees, causing a lot of damage, and are more pushy than pigeons and seagulls combined when it comes to hassling the public for food. I have been told ( and I stress that this is only hearsay ) that they are reduced (shot) in numbers occasionally after closing time.

Last time I was at National Zoo, Canberra (in summer) there were signs up warning the public about brown snakes being around in numbers. Hope they had some antivenene on hand.
 
wild tui n NZ zoos

I am always happy to find a tui singing away at numerous occasions in NZ zoos

They are very musical and have a huge repotoire of sounds that include clicks , grunts , chuckles etc . I have heard one at Wellington Zoo mimic a cat amongst its calls .

They have 2 voiceboxes , hence the huge variety of calls that it makes . Often the sounds are outside the range of human hearing , so you can see it move its beak but not hear anything ....
 
I once saw a couple of Raccoons on top of the tree Kangaroo exhibit at Toronto zoo I think they were trying to get inside
 
Some European zoos are really thick with wildlife. Especially those with old trees and bordering some suburban areas.

Inside Berlin zoo (right in the city centre) I saw goshawk, ravens and grey wagtail. There was also wild fox which dug an enormous hole inside hippo enclosure and had to be evicted (not seen this one).

Berlin Tierpark has feral mandarin ducks and numerous common buzzards, noctule bats and rabbits. Wild ravens flying low over a smallish aviary with captive ravens were rather sorry sight.

I also remember Rostock zoo, when pinioned white-naped cranes were shouting at large flock of wild common cranes flying low overhead.

In Zurich I saw several times buzzards and red kite circling low near Masoala.

What I have not seen: Edinburgh has badgers, foxes and stoats. Basel has wintering kingfishers. Nurnberg has several woodpecker species and woodcocks. Poznan Nowe Zoo had wild roe deer which were casually fenced during construction of this huge park. Don't know if they still exist, but fresh ones could well jump in.
 
MARK said:
I once saw a couple of Raccoons on top of the tree Kangaroo exhibit at Toronto zoo I think they were trying to get inside
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I've seen one there teasing the lions, just running along the side of the enclosure. I thought for a moment it would lose its footing and become lion chow :eek:

I've also seen several deer at the zoo (one which was sniffing noses with another ungulate), the usual squirrels, and countless bird species. They often have wild swans (and of course geese) nesting on their grounds.

Saw my first Kingbird at Zooz Nature Park in Stevensville, in Fort Erie and a Night Heron, and on my recent trip there, a muskrat and Great Blue Heron.
 
Meaghan Edwards said:
I've seen one there teasing the lions, just running along the side of the enclosure. I thought for a moment it would lose its footing and become lion chow :eek:

I've also seen several deer at the zoo (one which was sniffing noses with another ungulate), the usual squirrels, and countless bird species. They often have wild swans (and of course geese) nesting on their grounds.

Saw my first Kingbird at Zooz Nature Park in Stevensville, in Fort Erie and a Night Heron, and on my recent trip there, a muskrat and Great Blue Heron.
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Meaghan, I was told that Wolfs were getting into the Rockton Safrai park some years ago attacking the hoof stock and the managers introduced Mules in with the Deer/Antelopes at night to protect the herds and from what I was told worked :D.

I have an Auntie in Hamilton :cool:
 
I can imagine it worked! I've always heard it's a smart thing for a critter or would be human thief to not get between a mule and it's "herd" :D
 
We have wild coyotes that live in the pak around the zoo--many snowy mornings this winter I followed their tracks up the road to my gate but they haven't gotten is as far as I can tell. We have waytoo many Canada geese and mallard ducks and chipmunks in plague proportions. Raccoons are a big problem--they can carry a nasty parasite called Baylisascaris (raccoon roundworms) that can be fatal to the exhibit animals. Only way to get rid of it is fire! We also have lots of great blue herons, belted kingfishers, and a pair of wood ducks nesting just outsidethe zoo.
 
Baylisascaris procyonis is indeed a problem, especially with parrots and other birds, due to CNS-damage by the migrating L3 larvae and can even be a zoonosis. You might also be able to get rid of it by using certain disinfectants, but only temporarily & in very high dosis-and even then, chances are high that some survive, "inhibitating" for years. Feral cats are a similar problem in many zoos due to spreading Toxoplasmosis gondii.

In some European zoos, like Heidelberg, but also in some American zoos, You might be able to spot some exotic neozoas-among others, Ringnecked Parakeets.
 
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