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Zamba the baby White Rhino
Zamba the male baby White Rhino was born on Sunday the 3rd October 2009 after a 16 month pregnancy and is the first to be born here at Colchester Zoo!
Not only is he the first here, but Zamba is also the first White Rhino to be born through the pioneering process of Artificial Insemination in the UK!
Zamba was born to Cynthia one of our female White Rhinos, his father, Simba sadly died in April so Cynthia's successful pregnancy and Zamba's birth has left a poignant legacy to Simba.
As Zamba is getting bigger and stronger, he is being let out into the paddock with Cynthia to start mixing with some of the other animals. He has struck up a friendship with the zebra, who love to play with Zamba as he encourages them to chase him round the paddock! |
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Ayo the baby Pygmy Hippo
After a long wait Colchester Zoo is delighted to announce the birth of our first pygmy hippo at the Kingdom of the Wild!
Venus the pygmy hippo gave birth on the morning of Friday the 27th November 2009 to a healthy female baby who has now been named Ayo! Mother and baby have been doing well and have built a tight bond with the baby suckling strongly. Venus has proven herself to be an excellent mother constantly checking to keep her baby in her sight! They can now be seen spending plenty of time in their heated pool in the enclosure, with Ayo now fully confident to hold her breath and disappear underneath!
The Pygmy Hippo is listed on Appendix II of CITES, and classified as Vulnerable on the ICUN Red List of threatened Species. The Pygmy Hippo is also part of the EEP (European Endangered Species) breeding programme, and we are thrilled that the successful birth of our Pygmy Hippo will contribute to the continued support for preserving this species.
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Epesi the Giraffe
On Wednesday 2nd June a new male reticulated giraffe joined the collection at Colchester Zoo. Transferring here from Nurnberg Zoo in Germany, he was born in August 2008 and is called Epesi. Epesi’s arrival will allow Colchester Zoo to form its first ever breeding group of giraffe, as he joins our two female purebred reticulated giraffes, Lili and Isha.
As the three giraffes are still at a young age, they won’t be able to breed until they have matured, but in the future we hope that they will be able to take a successful and active role in the EEP breeding programme for this species.
Epesi is at the moment, a slightly smaller size than the two females, and has already been successfully mixed with the two girls. He is still a little shy and nervous of his new surroundings, and has been given access to the outside hard standing section of the enclosure to allow him to see the paddock and his new neighbours!
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Wolf Cubs
Call of the Wild has seen the addition of new wolf cubs that are believed to have been born towards the end of May, this year.
Having initially remained hidden in their den, Keepers have been able to spot 6 cubs so far as they have started to emerge into the outside of the enclosure.
The cubs have been born to mum, Akila, and are still very small, though some can occasionally be seen venturing out into the enclosure alongside the other adults. |
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Meerkat Pups
Our mob of meerkats has grown again with the birth of another litter of meerkat pups! Pippa our female has given birth to her third litter of pups on the 20th May, with Robbie again the Dad of the latest pups.
Whilst very young the pups will remain hidden away with mum inside their den in the enclosure whilst they grow bigger and stronger before emerging to explore outside.
Pippa's last litter born on the 2nd of March this year have now grown into small adults but can be spotted as they are still a slightly smaller size than the other adults.
Mum, Pippa came to Colchester Zoo from Banham Zoo in July 2009, and Dad, Robbie was born here in September 2003. This is Pippa's third offspring, after giving birth to her first pup in October 2009 and her 3 pups in March 2010. |
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Aardvark Baby
Colchester Zoo’s group of aardvarks are the only successful group to breed in the UK; and they have continued to multiply with the birth of a new baby aardvark on Saturday 27th February!
The new arrival, yet to be named, is the fourth offspring born to mum, Oq and dad; Adela, and the fifth new baby born overall! The new baby and mum are also the first to be moved into the new rearing burrow which has been specially built to enhance the breeding success that has been experienced with this species.
Oq and baby have now moved back into the main burrow along with the other aardvarks, now that baby has grown strong enough to withstand any knocks or bumps from the other aardvarks! They can be seen down at the Aardvark burrow next to the Kingdom of the Wild building. |
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Telu the Komodo Dragon
During the evening of Wednesday 5th May 2010 a new male Komodo dragon joined the collection at Colchester Zoo from Zoo Praha in Prague.
The new male is called Telu and is three years old. He was born and bred in Zoo Praha in Prague. He has joined the collection in order to take part in the EEP breeding programme for this species.
The Komodo Dragon is classified as vulnerable on the ICUN Red List and listed on Appendix I of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.) Their number has declined in the wild due to the threat of widespread habitat loss, a loss of prey species and hunting.
With the new arrival of our male Komodo dragon, we are very pleased that we will be able to take part within the EEP breeding programme and help the conservation and continued existence of this wonderful species. |
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An An the Red Panda
A new male red panda joined the collection at Colchester Zoo Thursday the 6th May from Warsaw Zoo in Poland. The new male is called An An and is just 11 months old. An An joins our female red panda, Lushan, and it is hoped that we will be able to take an active role in the EEP breeding programme with successful breeding between the pair in the future once An An reaches sexual maturity at around 3 years old.
Colchester Zoo used to house An An’s father, Rusco along with another male red panda Rondo, who came to Colchester Zoo from Dublin Zoo in May 2003. Rondo was kept in the collection at Colchester in order to breed with our female Lushan, although this was sadly not successful, but Rusco went on to Frankfurt Zoo and then transferred on to Warsaw Zoo, where he successfully bred with the birth of An An!
An An can be seen along with Lushan in the enclosure from the main viewing area on Lemur Bridge.
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Ring-Tailed Lemur Twins
Our female Ring-tailed Lemur, Madison gave birth to twin baby lemurs on the 23rd March!
Fathered by our male Lemur, Rio, the twins started clinging to Mum's chest straight away, and even went outside in the enclosure with Mum shortly after being born.
The tiny twins are out on show, and if you are lucky you will be able to catch sight of them holding on tightly to Mum, Madison at their enclosure at Lemur islands! |
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Jabu the Gelada Baby
A new addition to the Gelada family was born on Wednesday 23rd December 2009. The baby has been named 'Jabu' meaning "blessing" in the Zulu language! Mum, Mena who was born in September 1993, and Dad, Junior who was born in January 1992, are both being great parents and making sure the baby is healthy, well and warm!
Jabu has been growing well, and is now keen to play with his fellow Geladas and explore his enclosure, though mum, Mena has other ideas and keeps him close by holding on tightly to his tail!
Gelada’s are highly endangered so Colchester Zoo is pleased to be running such a successful breeding programme for this species as the Gelada breeding group has now risen to 8! Junior is the dominant male in the group and is living up to the father role. |
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Olly the Colobus Monkey
On the 22nd November one of our female Colobus monkeys housed in the Out of Africa area gave birth to a healthy baby!
The baby has now been confirmed to be a male, and has now been named as 'Olly' by the keepers! Olly has been enjoying exploring his enclosure, and learning to jump and leap around by mimicking mum and dad!
The new arrival brings the number of Colobus Monkeys housed in the Out of Africa exhibit up to 4, and the number of Colobus Monkeys overall up to 11! This baby is Etosha's second baby after her first male offspring, Lloyd was born in October 2008. |
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Mandrill Youngsters
The Mandrill troop grew with the birth of three babies in October 2009, the first was born on the 11th to mum Solomina, the second on the 17th to mum Millie and the third on the 25th to mum Malaya!
All were fathered by the troop's dominant male Dume.
The mandrill babies are all doing very well following their birth in October of this year, and can now be seen regularly venturing outside to play in their enclosure just behind the Flaconry lawn!
The babies have now grown through their fur coats but can still be easily spotted as they are still small with plenty more growing to be done!
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Moto the L'hoest monkey
The L’hoest family which are housed as a secondary exhibit in Chimp World have a new addition. The baby has been named 'Moto' meaning fire in Swahili, and is now regularly exploring the enclosure and playing with the other L'hoest monkeys in the exhibit!
The L'hoest monkey is also known as the mountain monkey and belongs to the group of monkeys known as the guenons. It is a long-tailed monkey with a grizzled dark brown, short coat.
The new offspring brings the L'hoest group to 6! Biko is a proud mum of 4 with her male partner within the group, Chris. The group are always a great family to see when visiting the Zoo so make sure you pay them a visit as you pass through Chimp World!
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Talia the Chimpanzee
On the 14th March, Tekita, one of our female chimps, gave birth to her second infant, bringing the number in our group of chimps to 8! Tekita gave birth at 11.00am in the morning of the 14th March, which is very unusual as animals usually prefer to give birth during the night when it is quiet.
However, fortunately for the visitors that were in the park that day, she gave birth during the day in their night quarters and so visitors could watch the birth and see the baby at just a few hours old.
The baby, who was named Talia by her keepers, is sister to Tumba, Tekita's first baby. They can often be seen playing together now that Talia is getting older and venturing away from her mum, she is also very active during feed times, and can be seen practising swinging from the bars at the top of the enclosure! |
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Penguin Chicks
So far during 2010 there have been some successful hatchings of Penguin chicks, at Penguin Shores there have been 5 chicks successfully hatched within the group.
These chicks have grown well, and have now also been named by the Keepers! George and Tuxedo were born to Nautilus and Ebby on the 23rd April, Bounty was born to Sam and Zippo on the 10th May and Coral and Reef were born to Angel and Aslan on the 3rd May!
These chicks can all be seen in the enclosure at Penguin Shores amongst the other adults, and can be spotted by their grey coats! |
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Crowned Crane Chicks
The Crowned cranes housed in their enclosure opposite the Mandrills have successfully hatched 3 chicks!
The three chicks were born to dad, Wonky and mum, Willow at the end of July 2010. The three chicks are all continuing to do well, and can be seen following mum and dad whilst they forage around the enclosure! |
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Waldrapp Ibis Chicks
Two critically endangered Waldrapp Ibis chicks successfully hatched on the 12th June 2010!
The parents of the two chicks both came to Colchester Zoo from Twycross Zoo in 2001, the male is aged 11 and the female aged 10.
The Waldrapp Ibis has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1994, the highest level possible next to total extinction or extinction in the wild. The species has undergone a long term decline in numbers resulting in a very small population left in the wild. The recent decline in numbers is due to a number of threats, including hunting, loss of habitat with disturbance of cliff breeding areas as well as overgrazing and firewood harvesting which has reduced the quality of habitat in feeding areas.
Colchester Zoo is very pleased to have been able to contribute to the continued existence of this critically endangered species, we very much hope that these chicks continue to do well and will help to ensure the survival of this species in the future. |
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Pied Tamarin Twins
Endangered Twin pied tamarin twins have been born at Colchester Zoo on the 27th May! The Keepers cannot yet tell the sex of the youngsters, but the twins have been born to mum, Grace and Dad, Will. Grace was born in January 2007 and came to Colchester Zoo in November 2009 from Zoo Parc de Beauval in France, with Will being born in March 2001 and arriving at Colchester Zoo in July 2008 from Montreal Zoo, Canada.
The pied tamarin is notoriously hard to breed as it is highly sensitive and easily prone to environmental stress. We are delighted to have had a successful breeding take place with the birth of the twins, and to make such an important contribution to the sustained existence of this endangered species. |
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