Ranthambore Revamp

Thanks to the hard work of our staff, volunteers and friends at Aquatic Engineers the Ramthambore was drained, cleaned and fitted with a new pump in July.

This has allowed the animal care team to think up lots of fun new enrichment activities which make the most of the water. It does, however, mean they have had to get into their waders. Ben is pictures here setting up a raft for Diamond and Aysha, and also hiding some meat in the tree. This encourages them to swim, jump and use their problem-solving skills to work out what to do.

Big cats are not as intelligent as the monkeys, but they are very committed to their dinner and they will usually manage to solve the keepers' puzzles.

Enclosure Redesign

Our parks team are currently busy landscaping one of our enclosures ready for the arrival of some Bennett's wallabies.

This was our first ever tiger enclosure, and it has served the zoo very well over the past thirty years. However, it was a little isolated from the rest of the big cats and there wasn't any room for expansion. The team therefore decided to house all our tigers in The Tiger Sanctuary and Big Cat Territory areas of the zoo, leaving this enclosure free.

We though that wallabies would be a great addition to this area of the zoo. A walk-though area will mean that people can enter the enclosure and meet the animals.


Benches have already been installed, and now the parks team are busy laying turf. We're torn on whether it looks like it should house hobbits or tellytubbies! We hope to welcome the wallabies in the next two weeks.

A lot's been happening since the last update.

25th July 2011

With the summer season in full swing, the zoo is at it's peak and a great place to see the cats out enjoying the Sun. Unfortunately this can sap a keeper's energy is quite well by the end of the day and so apologies for the lack of recent blog entries! A lot has been happening at the zoo, and a lot to write about and so to give a brief summary we have had:

- The moving of Chiquita the jaguar to her new enclosure
- A tiger health check up
- Renovation and maintenance of the water features in Ranthambore and Kahna enclosure which are now complete and being used by the tiger.
- Renovating Chandru's old enclosure (he moved to a new one earlier this year) to create a habitat for wallabies
- Watching the baby black lemur (which were yet to name!) grow up and bounce around over mum Adala and dad Mitsio (who look like they would do anything for 5 minutes peace sometimes.)
- Bonding with a new red fox colony at the zoo.

To make up for a lack of images, here's a shot of Aysha running through the water feature in Ranthambore from a couple of days ago, that sums up the summer feeling at the zoo in my eyes:

Black Lemurs

Adala's baby is nine weeks old today. She is now able to leave her mother for short periods of time, although she always sticks close to her. Most of her time is now spent clinging to her mother's back.

She has been exploring her environment, and so her keepers have had to make some modifications to baby-proof the enclosure. Tiny lemurs can fit through tiny gaps, so the team have been covering any suspicious spaces with chicken wire.

Unfortunately Aprily's baby did not survive. He died of natural causes and all indications show that Aprily was being a very good mother to him. The whole team was saddened by the news; although losing animals is part of zoo work, it is always upsetting.

We take heart from the fact that Aprily was such a good mother, and we hope that some time in the future she will be able to have another baby.

Finally got hold of a very special treat for Chiquita - A particular brand of perfume!

11th June 2011

Today after the jaguar talk we were lent a small gift by one of our visitors. It has scientifically been proven that big cats are driven to a state of ecstasy by a particular brand of perfume - Calvin Klein Obsession for Men.

Video about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znbIkKXM2p8

One of our visitors had some in their bag so I was able to spray it through the fence for our jaguar Chiquita. I didn't get a video, but here are some shots of here obviously enjoying the aroma of whatever the secret chemical may be!

Chandru moves to new enclosure!

8th June 2011

Today we moved Chandru over to his new enclosure and living quarters. His night accomodation is now in the new bedroom block. This means he will be able to sleep more comfortably and keepers can observe him a lot easier when he is inside that previously. He also now has a new enclosure that has been refurbished with new platforms so he can sit up high. He can actually see most of the zoo from his new platform and watch all the other cats from there as well which will be very interesting to him.

He is also new to an old love interest in the tigress Lola who is in the enclosure next door. And with the way the bedroom blocks are designed, with sliding doors between the bedrooms, we can actually rotate Chandru into Lola's enclosure and vice versa, giving them a new environment to live in each day and being able to take in the smell of the cat from the day previously. Here are some shots of the move and Chandru in his new enclosure:

Moving Chandru across:

Checking him over quickly in his new bedroom before he wakes up!



The view of the lion enclosure Chandru now has from his top platform:

A nice portrait shot of Chandru as he looks over towards his new neighbours, the lions, from his new outside den:



 Chandru in his new enclosure:



'Walking the Wight' to help wild tigers in India

Our Education Officer, Tracy, recently walked around the circumference of the Isle of Wight to raise money for the tiger conservation work we have chosen to support to help conserve wild tigers.

From the 1st of June to the 4th of June, Tracy and her daugter Jenny did he sponsered walk to raise money for the Global Tiger patrol of which the Isle of Wight Zoo supports and this year the zoo has pledged signifcantly more funds to help the organization expand their work so the extra fund raising is certainly needed. Luckily, with the dedication of people like Tracy and Jenny we are hoping to reach that target.

Below are photos of Tracy and Jenny as they pass by some of the coastal landmarks they came across on their journey:

Starting point at the zoo in Sandown:

At Bembridge Lifeboat Station:

Coming up to Alum Bay and the Needles:

Tracy at Totland:

Jenny at Freshwater Bay:

For the last half mile of the journey Tracy and Jenny were joined by the Unidos Samba band, of which Tracy is a part of and were able to come up to the finish line with the beat of the drums in full support:

 Information about what the funds we raise for the Global Tiger Patrol does can be found here:

Helping wild tigers in the Bhadra-Kudremukh Landscape with the Global Tiger Patrol