It has been a while since the last update but that doesn't mean any less work has been done or the cameras have stopped clicking, so here is an update to show what has been going on over the winter period.
With the zoo being more a seasonal business, running at full speed in the spring and summer months, we take full advantage of the quieter times in winter to get some construction done. The main project this winter has been a refurbishment of the Tiger Sanctuary area of the zoo.
In 2010, a new set of tiger bedroom accommodation was made, a significant upgrade from their previous bedrooms. The new bedrooms are positioned at one end of the tiger sanctuary and are directly connected to two of the enclosures there. However one of the other enclosures down the other end of the tiger sanctuary was still only connected to the old bedroom area. Two goals were therefore present here - 1. To connect the far enclosure to the new bedroom block and 2. To knock down the old bedroom block that was now redundant and taking up space. This will now allow for enclosure extensions and additional visitor viewing areas.
To do this a fenced off walkway has been constructed through the middle of two of the enclosures to connect the farthest enclosure. This new interconnected system also means we can freely rotate the cats around into different enclosures in a daily basis, vastly increasing the amount of space they effectively have as well as providing very interesting enrichment in the form of the smells left behind by the previous occupants - the tigers will be able to get to know each other even better! These refurbishments apply to the tigers Lola, Chandru and Rajiv.
Below are some before and after photos to show visually what's been going on....
....but it wouldn't be a true blog update without any animals! So to make this update more palatable I have sandwiched the construction photos with some shots of the wonderful Mr. Fox. that I mentioned I would get some photos of (in a blog update from about 6 months ago! - I can only poke fun at the frequency of these updates currently!)
Turns out Mr. Fox doesn't mind a good pose - just like the most of the cats at the zoo!
Tiger Sanctuary Refurbishment
The solid wall between 2 enclosures at the tiger sanctuary has now been removed so that the cats can now see each other again. Whilst this refurbishment has been going on Lola and Chandru have been living temporarily in two other enclosures where they can see each other and this has lead to a prolific amount of chuffing (chuffing is the tiger friendly welcoming greeting, a strong indicator that the cats are enjoying each others company), and we hope they will continue to enjoy seeing each other once they have been moved back into these enclosures:
There is also now a walkway for the tiger in the far enclosure to walk down to reach the new bedrooms (in this shot from ontop of the new bedrooms, the old green bedrooms at the end are still standing but these are being demolished currently to finished connecting the new bedrooms to the far enclosure):
The wall came down...
Then the old bedrooms started coming down...
With more space, there is now a small extension to the two tiger sanctuary enclosures, always good!...
A view of the new bedrooms. Now with connecting tunnel to far enclosure and additional security area for the cat to go through to give increased safety to keepers operating in the enclosures as well as benefits from a veterinary stand point.
Then more of the rest of the old bedroom block is coming down to make way for more visitor viewing space and the rest of the connecting tiger walkway...
First row of bedrooms knocked down! (Brandishing some of the tools that did the job - I spot a sledgehammer, a crowbar and one of those big pneumatic drills!)
An unnecessary shot, but I would like to use this space to express my delight at the removal of the most ridiculously short beam of wood in the zoo that I used to bang my head on every morning! Here I stand in the spot where it used to be - who's laughing now!!
Meanwhile..
Whilst all this has been going on, as I mentioned, Lola and Chandru have been moved to temporary enclosures where they are in full view of each other (previously they had that solid wall between each other that has now been taken down for when they move back) and have been getting on very well! They often like to stay next to the other and do a lot of chuffing! Here are some shots of them looking cosy....
(p.s. check out the size of Chandru next to Lola! Chandru is an approximate 145kg cat at the last weigh in compared to the approximate 110kg Lola)
One more of Mr. Fox:
We didn't get any snow here in Sandown on the Isle of Wight this past winter, though I know most of the country did. We were somewhat looking forward to seeing some snow however, as it always make for a striking photo. Oh well, maybe Mr. Fox will get his first snow fall next year!
