‘Extinct’ bird hatches at Bristol Zoo Gardens

‘Extinct’ bird hatches at Bristol Zoo Gardens

One of the rarest birds in the world has been bred by keepers at Bristol Zoo Gardens.

A Socorro dove chick has hatched and is thriving in the zoo, marking a major success for the species which is extinct in the wild. It is the first time Socorro doves have successfully bred at Bristol Zoo in five years. The chick was one of two that hatched but sadly one of them died at a young age.

The last recorded sighting of a Socorro dove in the wild was in 1972. Now there are around just 100 held in captivity in zoos around the world – including 25 birds in six UK zoos. Coordinated conservation breeding of the birds by organisations such as Bristol Zoo has prevented the total extinction of the species.

Bristol Zoo’s Curator of birds, Nigel Simpson, said: “Sadly these birds now only exist in captivity, so to have this chick hatch and survive 40 years after they were last seen in the wild is a great achievement.”

The chick at Bristol Zoo has been raised by foster birds - a pair of European turtle doves - which have a strong track record of raising healthy chicks. The precious Socorro dove egg was placed in the turtle doves’ nest as the adult Socorro doves have a poor history of incubating eggs.

Keepers monitored the chick via a hidden camera to follow its progress, capturing rare footage of these extremely endangered birds. To see a short clip of the two chicks (one of which unfortunately later died), click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sytyTj99onI&feature=youtu.be

Nigel added: “The foster birds have done a fantastic job of raising this very important chick and we are thrilled to say that another pair of foster birds is now incubating another Socorro dove egg which we hope will hatch soon.”

The chick is now fully fledged and can be seen in one of the aviaries near the zoo’s education centre. Bristol Zoo hopes the young bird, and any future chicks, will eventually be paired with Socorro doves from other UK zoos to continue the vital captive breeding programme for the species.

Socorro doves were native to the island of Socorro, 600 miles off the western coast of Mexico. They died out after falling prey to a rising number of feral cats in the area. Overgrazing sheep also destroyed much of their forest floor habitat and the birds were also hunted by humans for food.

Bristol Zoo Gardens is a conservation and education charity and relies on the generous support of the public not only to fund its important work in the zoo, but also its vital conservation and research projects spanning five continents.

For more information about visiting Bristol Zoo Gardens, visit the website at www.bristolzoo.org.uk or phone 0117 974 7300.

Special sunset opening at Bristol Zoo Gardens

Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestrated1/5950455424/

Special sunset opening at Bristol Zoo Gardens

As part of its 175th birthday celebrations this year, Bristol Zoo is inviting members of the public to visit the Zoo after closing time next week.

On Friday, August 5 the Zoo will open in the evening, offering visitors a chance to enjoy the Zoo after-hours, as the sun sets.

All the Zoo’s animal houses and exhibits will be open, giving visitors the chance to see everything from lions, gorillas and penguins to monkeys, seals and meerkats.

Throughout the evening there will be a programme of Amazing Animal displays, opportunities to meet some smaller creatures up-close, animal talks and feeds. Face painting will be available at a small charge and there will also be special appearances from the Zoo’s new mascot, Larry the Lemur.

There will also be music from Cotswold Big Band and refreshments from the Zoo’s Coral Café, as well as a Bath Ales bar.

Wendy Walton, Head of Commercial Operations at Bristol Zoo said: “This really is a fantastic opportunity to visit Bristol Zoo at a special time of day and experience the Zoo at the sun goes down – it certainly promises to be a Friday night out with a difference!”

Tickets are still available, either in advance or on the night, and cost £10 per adult and £6 for children/concessions. Family tickets are £25. Zoo members can enter for free on a first come, first served basis. Last entry is at 9pm and animal houses will close between 9-9.30pm, weather dependent.

To books tickets online please visit the website http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/sunset-special . For further information or to purchase tickets over the phone please contact: 0117 974 7300.

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Bristol Zoo Gardens scoops top awards at British Zoo “Oscars”

Photo credit: Schwitzer and Bristol Zoo Gardens

Bristol Zoo Gardens has received two top awards from the British zoo community at a prestigious awards ceremony.

The Zoo has won ‘best research project’ and ‘best conservation breeding project’ in the annual British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) awards.

The conservation breeding award has been given for the Zoo’s successful breeding of a colony of seven endangered Livingstone’s fruit bats, and its links to the Zoo’s fruit bat conservation project in the Comoro Islands.

The research project award was given for the Zoo’s study into the effects of fruit protein on primate communities in Madagascar and the neotropics.

Commendations were also awarded to Bristol Zoo for three of its education campaigns, the launch of a study into the world’s most endangered primates, its Bangless Bonfire Night events and for its environmental sustainability manifesto.

The awards were presented at a prestigious ceremony at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon, attended by more than 100 people last night (Wednesday, November 3).

Director of Bristol Zoo, Dr Bryan Carroll, said: “It’s wonderful to receive these awards, they highlight the Zoo’s efforts in research and conservation breeding which is an extremely important part of what we do. These awards also show that the zoo community recognises the dedication and hard work that goes on at Bristol and other British zoos every day.”

Held annually for over a decade, the BIAZA awards recognise outstanding contributions and achievements in the fields of wildlife conservation, advances in animal welfare and husbandry, marketing, PR, education, research, and enclosure design.

Dr Miranda Stevenson, Director of BIAZA said: “The award-winning programmes showcased through these awards demonstrate the huge investment of energy and resources made by our leading zoos to improve animal welfare and raise environmental awareness.

“These awards recognise and celebrate the vital contributions that our members are making to conservation and education each year. Equally, they are standard bearers for excellence in animal husbandry and welfare. We congratulate all the winners on their achievement.”

BIAZA is a conservation, education and scientific wildlife charity, which acts as the principal professional body representing the responsible zoo and aquarium community in the UK and Ireland.

For more information about Bristol Zoo Gardens, visit the website at http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/

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New meerkat manor planned for Bristol Zoo Gardens

New meerkat manor planned for Bristol Zoo Gardens

Credit Bob Pitchford

Bristol Zoo Gardens has announced plans for a new meerkat exhibit scheduled to open next spring.



The new meerkat enclosure will form part of wider plans to refresh and renew the southern part of the Zoo. The plans include improvements to the children’s play area, a bridge with a hide and viewing platforms over the Zoo’s lake, and the creation of a secret garden with a Japanese fernery.



The Zoo has this week submitted a formal planning application to Bristol City Council for consideration of the £500,000 plans.



If planning permission is granted, work on the revamp of the southern area of the Zoo is set to begin this winter. The Zoo will stay open as usual with minimal disruption to visitors.

Credit Peter Budd

The Director of Bristol Zoo, Dr Jo Gipps, said: “These exciting plans will breathe new life into an area of the Zoo where there is great potential, and will come to fruition as the Zoo celebrates its 175th anniversary next year.”



He added: “The plans form part of an exciting series of events scheduled throughout 2011 to celebrate this landmark big birthday and to bring Bristol together, and we are very much looking forward to a year-long celebration of all that is great about the Zoo and Bristol as a whole.”



The new, all-weather meerkat exhibit is set to be the highlight of the improvements. At 152 square meters, it will be over three times bigger than the current enclosure, with space for around 30 meerkats. It will also have undercover viewing areas, a viewing dome and a tunnel for visitors to get up-close to the animals at eye-level.



John Partridge, Senior Curator of Animals, said: “We wanted the new meerkat enclosure to be the best it possibly could be, with plenty of indoor and outdoor space, shelters and high-tech heating systems.



“We have based its design on best practice at other zoos around the world. It will offer plenty of space and enrichment opportunities for the animals, as well as improved and exciting viewing opportunities for the public.”



The enclosure will include warm rocks to provide localised heating for the meerkats, as well as large sandy areas for them to dig and forage, and off-show sections where they can rest and sleep.



The exhibit will feature as many energy saving devices as possible in line with the Zoo’s commitment to sustainability. General heating to the building will be provided by an air source heat pump as well solar panels on the south facing roof to generate electricity.



The Zoo’s meerkat family will move into Twilightworld temporarily, while their new accommodation is being built.



Meerkats are highly social animals, native to Southern Africa. They live in large, tight-knit groups called mobs or gangs, and they take turns to do duties such as baby-sitter for the young, hunt and sentry duty, for the benefit of the group as a whole.



For more information about Bristol Zoo Gardens visit the website at http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/  or phone 0117 974 7300

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A Huge Surprise For Biggie And His Girls

Three giant arrivals at Bristol Zoo Gardens

Three giant tortoises have joined the herd at Bristol Zoo Gardens. It is hoped that the new arrivals, a male and two females, named Hogarth, Hissy and Stevie, will boost breeding within the group.

Photo credit Bristol Zoo Gardens

The trio have joined the Zoo’s current giant tortoises – Biggie the male, and his three female companions; Twiggy, Helen and Matilda.

It is thought to be the first time Biggie, the Zoo’s only male giant tortoise, has shared his enclosure with another male, and keepers hope the arrival of Hogarth will create competition for Biggie, and kick-start breeding within the group.

Photo credit Bristol Zoo Gardens

Tim Skelton, curator of reptiles at Bristol Zoo Gardens, has worked with the giant tortoises for 11 years. He said: “The arrival of three new giant tortoises is a great addition to our collection. We needed to increase the group size in order to stimulate breeding behaviour in the herd as part of a co-ordinated captive breeding programme for this vulnerable species.”

But the arrival of baby tortoises could take time, as Tim explains: “When it comes to tortoises, nothing happens very quickly, and Biggie has certainly been taking his time when it comes to breeding. He has been here for 35 years but hasn’t taken much interest in the females that have been here during that time. We are hoping that the arrival of another male, as well as two new females, might motivate him into action!”

Photo credit Bristol Zoo Gardens

The tortoises are Aldabra giant tortoises, the only surviving giant tortoise species from the islands of Aldabra and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean. The species is classified as ‘vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and European zoos are involved in a co-ordinated captive breeding programme for the species.

Biggie has been at Bristol Zoo since 1975 after being donated by Bristol University. His exact age is unknown; he could be between 70 and 100 years old, but he still has plenty of breeding potential as giant tortoises can live to be more than 150.

Competition now comes in the form of Hogarth, who is similar to Biggie’s colossal weight of 175kg (27.6 stone) - equivalent to an adult silverback gorilla.

Hogarth, Hissy and Stevie are on a breeding loan from wildlife expert, Nigel Marven, who presented television’s 'Prehistoric Park'. Nigel said he would love to see his and Bristol Zoo's tortoises breed together. “My wife Gill, former HTV presenter, our two-year-old daughter Ella and I are already missing the tortoises terribly, but it will be worth it for the patter of tiny claws!” Nigel said. “Of course we'll be visiting them at the Zoo whenever we can."

He added: “I'm not sure of the exact ages of the three tortoises on loan to Bristol Zoo, but they're at least 25 years old. They were bred in captivity in Zanzibar, not their ancestral home, which is Aldabra.”

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Gorillas make the best dads, Bristol Zoo poll shows

Gorillas make the best animal dads, according to the results of a poll run by Bristol Zoo Gardens.

Photo credit: Peter Budd

The Zoo ran the survey on its new website, asking visitors to choose between six animals the Zoo staff nominated for their good parental behavior.

The choices were: western lowland gorilla, cassowary, meerkat, posion dart frog, Malawi cichlid or Geoffroy’s marmoset.

Jock, Bristol Zoo’s impressive silverback gorilla, won the poll with 30 per cent of the votes, followed by the zoo’s male Geoffroy’s marmoset, who took 18 per cent of votes. In joint third place were the alpha male in the Zoo’s meerkat family and the male cassowary, which each took 16 per cent of the votes.

Jock lives on Gorilla Island with two female gorillas, Salome and Romina, and has fathered two youngsters: Namoki and Komale. He has recently also taken Kera under his wing – a young orphan gorilla that joined Bristol Zoo’s gorilla family almost two years ago.

John Partridge, Senior Curator of Animals at Bristol Zoo Gardens, said: “Jock is probably the most well-known animal ‘dad’ we have here at Bristol Zoo. Gorillas live in structured family groups usually dominated by a single, mature male gorilla that forms strong bonds with his mates. Gorilla dads play an important role in protecting their families, particularly their young.”

He added: “Jock does a great job of looking after his family, and, despite his impressive size, he is actually quite a softie at heart - we often see him playing with and tickling the youngsters - it’s lovely to watch. Importantly though, he also does a great job of keeping the three boisterous young gorillas in line!”

Unlike Jock, many male animals raise their young almost single handedly, such as the Geoffroy’s marmoset, which cares for his babies (usually twins) from birth – cleaning them when they are born and carrying both twins on his back. The babies are completely dependent for the first two weeks and the father only carries them to the mother when they need to be nursed. When the babies are old enough to eat solid food, the father will feed them.

Male cassowaries are also known for their outstanding parenting skills, taking great care to incubate three to five eggs in a clutch, for around 50 days until the eggs hatch. Once hatched, the male will rear the tiny chicks single handedly for nine months, protecting them from predators and teaching them to find food on their own, until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

If your Dad is as great as Jock the gorilla, why not buy him a gorilla adoption from Bristol Zoo as the perfect last-minute Father’s Day gift? Or, treat your Dad to a trip to Bristol Zoo for a great family day out.

For more details about visiting Bristol Zoo Gardens or its animal adoption packages, visit the website at http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/  or phone 0117 974 7300.

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Appeal to help save native crayfish this Christmas season

Ecologists from a local partnership to protect nativecrayfish are appealing for help saving the species this Christmas and New Year.


The South West Crayfish Project aims to raise awareness of the simple steps the public can take to protect this important aquatic animal from the deadly crayfish plague.

Crayfish plague is a fungus-like disease which is harmless to people and animals but lethal to our native white-clawed crayfish. It can be spread by people as it attaches onto anything that gets wet in infected water – this can include wellies, walking boots, fishing tackle and nets.

Maddy Rees, spokesperson for the South West Crayfish Project, explains how people can help stop the spread of the disease this festive period: “Many people enjoy going out for a long walk after a big Christmas dinner, or perhaps on Boxing Day or New Year’s Day. While we encourage people to get out and about and enjoy our beautiful countryside, there are a few simple measures people can take to help prevent the spread of this crayfish disease.”

She added: “Whether you are taking a walk along the river or teaching your children to fish, be aware that you might be affecting the health of our native wildlife. We are urging people to help prevent the spread of the crayfish plague by simply cleaning and drying any equipment or footwear you get wet in our rivers and lakes. The drying is particularly important as any remaining moisture may enable the disease to survive.”

The South West Crayfish Project is a partnership led by the Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation - a sister organisation to Bristol Zoo Gardens - with the Avon Wildlife Trust, Environment Agency, Buglife and funded by Natural England, Biffaward and Bristol Water.

The white-clawed crayfish is the UK’s only native crayfish species, but their numbers have suffered extensive decline in recent years. Up to 95 per cent of populations have been lost in some parts of the UK due to the crayfish plague.

Experts warn the species could become extinct from the UK within the next 30 years and the species has now been designated a UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority species.

One of the main culprits for the spread of the disease is the aggressive American signal crayfish – a non-native species which is taking over UK waterways and wiping out the smaller native species.

For more information about the South West Crayfish Project, please visit www.bristolzoo.org.uk/about/conservation/project  or contact Maddy Rees by email on mrees@bristolzoo.org.uk