Chester Zoo Zoo Days
- Thread starter ZooMania
- Start date
I like the new Zoo Days. More animals are being shown. I even saw a male Madagascan Fody tonight, and I've not seen any in the zoo yet.
Also, I've now seen five episodes and there's only been one mention of lions. Hooray!
Redpanda, the Paignton tortoises are Aldabran Giant tortoises.
Also, I've now seen five episodes and there's only been one mention of lions. Hooray!
Redpanda, the Paignton tortoises are Aldabran Giant tortoises.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Almost nearly but not quite some of Paigntons may be Seychelles Tortoise but if they are not Seychelles they are Aldabran Giant Tortoise and not Galapagos Tortoise.Chesters are the only ones ON-SHOW in the U.K.
So far I have enjoyed the new series more than previous ones . Less repetition and interesting stories e.g. providing Sheba with a separate sleeping area , treatment of Strolch , new cheetah enclosures , introduction of one-horned rhinos . I also like the glimpses of all sorts of other animals in the zoo and the aeriel shots of the zoo .
Questionmark?
Are you talking Dipsochelys dussumieri here or ... the real Seychelles granite rock species?
A SNPT site owns several giant tortoises of the Seychelles termed the extinct taxa D. arnoldi and D. hollolisa. They have even been breeding up numbers somewhat. Several zoos the world over .. actually own some of these presumed extinct Seychelles giants taxa. An example is one Blackpool Zoo male.
To put you out of your misery, all Paignton Zoo giants are Aldabrans ... They were imported at an extremely young age. Most current giants on the Seychelles islands are Aldabrans brought to the islands to take over the role the extinct Seychelles taxa had ... This happened e.g. on Cerf (1700's), Curieuse and other islands (more recent since 1962).
Unfortunately, these introductions from Aldabra can be termed a case of invasive species (mis-)management as some of the Seychelles giants present at the time were pure-bred and wild ranging D. (and some still are)!
I sincerely hope that our zoos in Europe and US become more aware of the genetic/taxonomic issues in Indian Ocean giants and make a realtime effort to breed the D. dussumieri taxon and assist with assembling the ancient Seychelles giant stocks in European and US zoos into a breeding consortium back on the Seychelles.
Mind you it is not just genetics ... but also morphology and taxonomy that rule species definition and we should be extremely careful that the representatives of both ancient Seychelles taxa are preserved and allowed to bounce back from the brink ... We (Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spaniards) owe it the world to do something about this great biodiversity loss ... which in large part has been due to our over-exploitation of giant tortoises in the 1600's till 1950 to allow crews to reach the East with fresh meat on board .....!!!!!
Questionmark?
Are you talking Dipsochelys dussumieri here or ... the real Seychelles granite rock species?
A SNPT site owns several giant tortoises of the Seychelles termed the extinct taxa D. arnoldi and D. hollolisa. They have even been breeding up numbers somewhat. Several zoos the world over .. actually own some of these presumed extinct Seychelles giants taxa. An example is one Blackpool Zoo male.
To put you out of your misery, all Paignton Zoo giants are Aldabrans ... They were imported at an extremely young age. Most current giants on the Seychelles islands are Aldabrans brought to the islands to take over the role the extinct Seychelles taxa had ... This happened e.g. on Cerf (1700's), Curieuse and other islands (more recent since 1962).
Unfortunately, these introductions from Aldabra can be termed a case of invasive species (mis-)management as some of the Seychelles giants present at the time were pure-bred and wild ranging D. (and some still are)!
I sincerely hope that our zoos in Europe and US become more aware of the genetic/taxonomic issues in Indian Ocean giants and make a realtime effort to breed the D. dussumieri taxon and assist with assembling the ancient Seychelles giant stocks in European and US zoos into a breeding consortium back on the Seychelles.
Mind you it is not just genetics ... but also morphology and taxonomy that rule species definition and we should be extremely careful that the representatives of both ancient Seychelles taxa are preserved and allowed to bounce back from the brink ... We (Dutch, English, Portuguese, Spaniards) owe it the world to do something about this great biodiversity loss ... which in large part has been due to our over-exploitation of giant tortoises in the 1600's till 1950 to allow crews to reach the East with fresh meat on board .....!!!!!
I totally agree, having been to the galapagos i have seen the effect that man has had on the islands. As well as taking the tortoises off for food we also did the most unforgiveable thing of releasing non-natives onto the islands which are still all too apparent as are their effects on this fragile eco-system. Having made multiple species extinct in the galapagos and the indian ocean it is important that we now try and right our past wrongs and do all that we can to stop the tortoises from the seychelles going the same way (a zoo exhibit could be called seySHELLS
)!
taun
Well-Known Member
To be more specific than Taun, the zoo days on demand service is here:
Demand Five | watch Zoo Days
The current series at Chester is series 3 (not series 4 which is from Colchester). However as Taun pointed out, these may only be available in the UK...
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Questionmark?
Are you talking Dipsochelys dussumieri here or ... the real Seychelles granite rock species?
A SNPT site owns several giant tortoises of the Seychelles termed the extinct taxa D. arnoldi and D. hollolisa. They have even been breeding up numbers somewhat. Several zoos the world over .. actually own some of these presumed extinct Seychelles giants taxa. An example is one Blackpool Zoo male.
To put you out of your misery, all Paignton Zoo giants are Aldabrans ... They were imported at an extremely young age. Most current giants on the Seychelles islands are Aldabrans brought to the islands to take over the role the extinct Seychelles taxa had ... This happened e.g. on Cerf (1700's), Curieuse and other islands (more recent since 1962).
Unfortunately, these introductions from Aldabra can be termed a case of invasive species (mis-)management as some of the Seychelles giants present at the time were pure-bred and wild ranging D. (and some still are)!
I sincerely hope that our zoos in Europe and US become more aware of the genetic/taxonomic issues in Indian Ocean giants and make a realtime effort to breed the D. dussumieri taxon and assist with assembling the ancient Seychelles giant stocks in European and US zoos into a breeding consortium back on the Seychelles.:
Yes i was talking about Dipsochelys dussumieri,was going off what a member of staff had told me about 15 years ago,but seen as i heard nothing of it since then just assumed that the were all Aldabran.
I've finally managed to catch up with the current series and I've done a synopsis of the episodes so far:
episode 1
- Strolch, the male spectacled bear, has an operation to discover the cause of his eye problems. It is found to be cataracts in both eyes
- a look at 6 new baby ring-tail lemurs
- the humboldt penguins are nesting and there was a health check of a chick
- a look at the nesting tawny frogmouths
- a male veiled chameleon introduced to the 2 females
episode 2
- Margaret, the hand-reared giraffe calf, is re-introduced to the herd
- The Realm of the Red Ape indoor area is replanted and the Sumatran Orang Utans subsequently destroy the new plants
- a look at the twin red ruffed lemur babies
- a look at 3 new kangaroo joeys
- a checkup on the penguin chicks
- Patna and Baatschi, the indian rhinos, are introduced face-to-face for the first time
episode 3
- an area is set aside for Sheba the elderly elephant to get some peace and quiet from the calves at night. However a calf is still able to climb over the wall which is made from many 2-tonne boulders.
- Strolch, the spectacled bear is allowed outside for the first time since his operation
- the keepers try to catch up a capybara who is due to be moved to Athens zoo
- the group of asian short clawed otters are given a new enrichment device
- a look at a hand-reared spectacled owl chick
episode 4
- Patna and Baatschi, the indian rhinos are let into the paddock together
- one of the young male mandrills recieves a health check before moving to a Russian zoo. They use bugs to draw blood samples
- a behind the scenes look at the new cheetah enclosure being built
- a look at the hatched tawny frogmouths, including supplementary feeding
- a look at why the bactrian camels are molting
episode 5
- the chimps are given eggs as a treat alongside their usual breakfast.
- the leaf cutter ants escape from their enclosure into the public area. The keepers and vets are trying to reinforce the barriers despite the soldier ants attacking
- a look at the tropical realm birds including roul roul partidges
- a male okapi arrives from Marwell
- the wall built for sheba in episode 3 is improved with a strand of hotwire to prevent the calves from reaching sheba
- another update on the progress of the penguin chicks
So good news for fans of the last Chester series... there has been no mention of lions at all in the first week
episode 1
- Strolch, the male spectacled bear, has an operation to discover the cause of his eye problems. It is found to be cataracts in both eyes
- a look at 6 new baby ring-tail lemurs
- the humboldt penguins are nesting and there was a health check of a chick
- a look at the nesting tawny frogmouths
- a male veiled chameleon introduced to the 2 females
episode 2
- Margaret, the hand-reared giraffe calf, is re-introduced to the herd
- The Realm of the Red Ape indoor area is replanted and the Sumatran Orang Utans subsequently destroy the new plants
- a look at the twin red ruffed lemur babies
- a look at 3 new kangaroo joeys
- a checkup on the penguin chicks
- Patna and Baatschi, the indian rhinos, are introduced face-to-face for the first time
episode 3
- an area is set aside for Sheba the elderly elephant to get some peace and quiet from the calves at night. However a calf is still able to climb over the wall which is made from many 2-tonne boulders.
- Strolch, the spectacled bear is allowed outside for the first time since his operation
- the keepers try to catch up a capybara who is due to be moved to Athens zoo
- the group of asian short clawed otters are given a new enrichment device
- a look at a hand-reared spectacled owl chick
episode 4
- Patna and Baatschi, the indian rhinos are let into the paddock together
- one of the young male mandrills recieves a health check before moving to a Russian zoo. They use bugs to draw blood samples
- a behind the scenes look at the new cheetah enclosure being built
- a look at the hatched tawny frogmouths, including supplementary feeding
- a look at why the bactrian camels are molting
episode 5
- the chimps are given eggs as a treat alongside their usual breakfast.
- the leaf cutter ants escape from their enclosure into the public area. The keepers and vets are trying to reinforce the barriers despite the soldier ants attacking
- a look at the tropical realm birds including roul roul partidges
- a male okapi arrives from Marwell
- the wall built for sheba in episode 3 is improved with a strand of hotwire to prevent the calves from reaching sheba
- another update on the progress of the penguin chicks
So good news for fans of the last Chester series... there has been no mention of lions at all in the first week
So good news for fans of the last Chester series... there has been no mention of lions at all in the first week
When the cheetah enclosure part was introduced the commentator said the Asian lions were getting new neighbours. Still, I can live with one mention of lions per series.
episode 6 synopsis
- cheetah enclosure being built and landscaped with the cheetahs due to arrive soon
- update on the penguin chicks again
- sofia, the jaguar gets a contraceptive (no breeding due to a medical issue)
- the tapirs go for a swim
- the ants are prevented from escaping by adding washing up liquid into the water moat
- cheetah enclosure being built and landscaped with the cheetahs due to arrive soon
- update on the penguin chicks again
- sofia, the jaguar gets a contraceptive (no breeding due to a medical issue)
- the tapirs go for a swim
- the ants are prevented from escaping by adding washing up liquid into the water moat