AT THE ZOO

BABY MONKEYS BOOST CAPTIVE POPULATION

The zoo now holds the only population of black lion tamarins outside of Brazil, and this received a further boost when triplets were born to one of our pairs – an unusual event as twins are the norm. The laborious birth meant the mother required some intensive treatment afterwards so the infants were taken for temporary hand-rearing. One of the infants was quite small compared to the others and failed to thrive but the remaining two were successfully returned to the mother who then resumed lactation and is suckling them successfully. This was intensive work, a difficult feat and a significant addition to the population of this Critically Endangered monkey.

BUMPER BREEDING FOR FLAMINGOS

Four Chilean flamingos hatched over winter, another unusual event, bringing the total reared from this strange breeding ‘season’ to seven. The chicks were hand-reared and as part of this they were taken for walks around the zoo to exercise their developing legs – a fascinating sight for zoo visitors. They were gradually introduced into the main flamingo flock, chaperoned by their human carers initially, but are now fully reintegrated, spending all their time within the flamboyance!

KEEPER SKILLS

Anaesthetising larger animals, whether for veterinary examination, to move them to other parts of the zoo or for export, can be a stressful process for both the animals and staff involved. These days we attempt to administer all anaesthetic in these circumstances by trained injection. Keepers work with the animals over many months gradually getting them used to being touched and even pricked with a needle for a small reward, meaning that injection is much simpler and smoother. The same training techniques can be used to administer medication, to check the animal’s condition and even perform ultrasound examinations.

AGM

The 55th Annual General Meeting of Members of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust will take place on Wednesday the 11th September at 6pm at The Royal Yacht Hotel. Following the formal AGM business there will be a special talk on ‘Rewilding’.

Check out Durrell.org/events for more details and to find out what else is on at Jersey Zoo this year.

NEW HOME FOR INDIGO

Indigo, our adolescent male gorilla, left the zoo for pastures new in March. He has now joined a group of other young male gorillas, one of whom is his uncle, Lomako, at Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium. Since his birth in 2012 he has been a much loved member of Durrell’s gorilla family, with his mischievous personality and antics enjoyed by staff and visitors alike. However, he had started to outgrow his family here and it was time for him to move on to join his new temporary bachelor group, as he would do if he was in the wild. We will all miss him, but are confident he will have a good future in Belgium and beyond.

BEHIND THE SCENES

A lot of important conservation work goes on behind the scenes at Jersey Zoo, but now visitors to the Amphibian and Reptile House can see some of this directly. A new exhibit holds the breeding tanks of orange-tailed skinks, a species that was heading for extinction before Durrell became involved. Isolated on just one single small island off the coast of Mauritius, the arrival of an invasive shrew in 2010 could have spelt disaster. Luckily we were able to rescue a number for intensive captive breeding efforts here at the zoo and in Mauritius. Now visitors have a window into the world of conservation in action.