Author Topic: Colchester Visit 01.05.12  (Read 104 times)

AmyB

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Colchester Visit 01.05.12
« on: May 01, 2012, 03:55:23 pm »
Spent ages at the zoo today. Decided to go today as the weather forecast wasn't great (was hoping for no one else to be there) and I was the only person there for the first hour or so.
Went straight to my orang man! He came straight over to the window to see me and kissed the glass. Tiga was fast asleep under the outside of a punch bag (he'd shredded it to pieces but took the cover off first then destroyed the inside). He refused to wake up for an hour!
Chimps all seemed fine. Talia had the devil in her and spent the whole time I was there watching them drive bombing the adults and poking/prodding them then running off laughing with a huge play face. She pinched food off Tombe (alpha male) but he didn't tell her off, so she's still a baby for the time being. Tumba, for a change, wasn't the one in trouble! He is looking very grown up all of a sudden. Billy-Joe came over to say hello, but doesn't bottom wiggle at me any more (the keepers don't want it encouraged, so I'm happy that she seems to have stopped doing it).
Spent over 90 minutes with the lemurs in the new walk through. The new baby (5 weeks old) is beautiful. I'm pretty sure it's a boy. He has started to come off his mum, Maddison, and is exploring his surroundings. Hig bigger sister, Lexie (about 6-9 months old) seems to be a bit jealous that she's not the baby any more. New baby was on mum suckling, so Lexie grabbed him, removed him from the nipple and started suckling herself!!!! She's apparently being a bit of a terror at the moment and has started to jump on visitors when they are least expecting it. I sat down a few times to photograph baby, and Lexie kept coming over to me. At one point she got 2 hands on my leg but I stood up before she got any further! The staff don't want them jumping on visitors. The rest of the group (who I don't know very well at all yet) seemed ok and were sunning themselves for the brief moments that the sun did come out.
Took billions of pictures, mainly of the lemurs, so will upload some of them over next few days and put them on FB.

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Joan

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Re: Colchester Visit 01.05.12
« Reply #1 on: May 09, 2012, 03:38:54 pm »
Interesting to see that lemurs have personalities when you get to know them as I never spend much time in Malagasy, just check that George and Blue are OK.  I always love to see lemurs lined up in a row sunbathing.

Tiga seems to be like most teenagers needing hours and hours of sleep.   Great chimpanzee group, very united.

 

AmyB

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Re: Colchester Visit 01.05.12
« Reply #2 on: May 09, 2012, 08:36:07 pm »
I'm going to make it my personal mission to know the names of and recognise each of the ring tails! They're such lovely animals. The new enclosure is lovely, because you're not always looking down on them and you can get soooo close. Once I've questioned a keeper and got names and I.D tips it won't be too difficult...hopefully! Lexie is a sweetheart, but a bit of a terror at the moment bless her :-)


Troglodytes

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Re: Colchester Visit 01.05.12
« Reply #3 on: May 09, 2012, 09:48:39 pm »
How many are there? I used to know the YWP ones but last years twins are too alike!

AmyB

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Re: Colchester Visit 01.05.12
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2012, 08:24:45 pm »
About 9 or 10 I think. The 3 red ruffs live in there too, they're easy to ID though. B&W ruffs easy to ID as well