New zebra settling in nicely

George with Milo, Ella and Benjamin Mee

On December 5th 2012 we received our new Zebras from Longleat Safari Park, and they were immediately placed in their new, purpose built stable. They took to their new home very quickly, and have rapidly become a firm favourite of the Keepers.

They were named by a special DZP visitor, George Koshti-Richman as Zebedee, Zak & Spot. They are all easily identifiable, as each zebra’s stripes are unique to that animal, a bit like our fingerprints. Zebedee can be identified by the thick black stripe down the centre of his back, Zak has thick black stripes under both eyes, and Spot has a small white “heart” shape on the top of his back right leg and a black “Y” on his upper right foreleg.

Their unique markings make it easy for us to identify individuals, but there is one intriguing questions regarding the zebra’s stripes; are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? The answer is to be found at the end of this article.

You may be surprised to see three males together, but in zebra society this is perfectly normal. Young males leave their family herd at between one and four years old and join all male bachelor herds until they are able to lead a herd of their own. Inter zoo co-operation allows these natural set-ups to happen by sending males to other collections who have the space to hold bachelor herds. Here at DZP they can form a bachelor herd where they can exhibit natural behaviours such as play fighting, learning new social skills, and generally behaving normally.

Zak, Zebedee and Spot enjoying their accommodation

Zebras can, and will become aggressive if they feel threatened, and they have some pretty formidable weapons with which to defend themselves. When confronted by any form of danger they will lash out with their powerful hind legs, or they will try to bite with their impressive teeth. Either can cause quite serious injuries and all the Keeper Team have been trained to manage the zebra with minimal risk to both parties.

We are planning to let them out into the African Paddock sometime in March, when, hopefully, the ground will have dried out. As they are designed for life in arid areas they can sometimes suffer hoof problems if the ground is too wet, and after our very rainy winter we want to make sure everything is perfect before giving them access to the fields. This has given us the opportunity to train the zebra, getting them to treat the stable block as a place of security, comfort and food. This will be important in the summer months when we may need to get them in for paddock maintenance or routine veterinary examinations and procedures.

Grants Zebras are the smallest of the Plains Zebra sub-species, being typically 120-140cms tall, and weighing on average 300Kgs. They can live up to 25 years in the wild, but in zoos and wildlife parks we can expect them to live for up to 40 years.

They are without doubt one of the most readily identifiable of all the African animals. No-one who has ever seen a Zebra can confuse it with anything else, which in a way is ironic. The very thing that makes the zebra most identifiable is the one thing that may help it when being attacked by lions, hyenas, hunting dogs or leopards. When they are in a large herd their stripes act as a disruptive camouflage, confusing predators because they cannot distinguish one individual from another.

Zebras are social animals, living in a herd system consisting of a stallion several mares and their young. Some herds may combine to form larger ones numbering several hundred, but family members will always remain close to each other.

Zebras are an iconic African species that inspire joy and excitement in all who see them, but there is still one unanswered question that perplexes staff and visitors alike. Are they white with black stripes, or black with white stripes? The current opinion from scientists is that they are black with white stripes. What do you think?  Either way they are indeed striking animals, and we look forward to seeing them in all their glory for years to come.

Mike Downman
Head Keeper

Lone Flamingo Finds New Family

On Wednesday our lone Chilean flamingo was collected by Paignton Zoo to join a flock of 47 birds. Flamingos are social and live together in large colonies of a few dozen to tens of thousands. Originally one of a small group, this one male was left when, in recent years, the other birds passed away. He is around 30 years old which may sound like alot but, in captivity flamingos can live into their 40s, so he has plenty more years to look forward to in his new home.

Chilean flamingos have mainly white plumage with a faint pink tinge. To conserve body heat, they often stand on one leg and bring the other close to their body. They also tuck their head under a wing for this reason. Like other flamingos, they spend up to 30% of their time preening and feed on invertebrates which live in mud. They also eat some blue-green algae, insect larvae, small worms, and other organisms found in alkaline water. Most zoos feed a specially formulated flamingo pellet soaked in water. In the wild, Chilean flamingos are classified as vulnerable. They are at risk from illegal egg-collecting and habitat loss.

Our flamingo, having always lived in the walk-in enclosure is very used to people, especially keepers, being within a few feet of him. This meant that it was very easy to simply pick him up and carry him to a travel crate in Paignton Zoo's van. He put up no resistance; the event was stress free for animal and keepers!

Prickly Pair to Porfell

Our two African Crested Porcupines have recently been transferred to a new home. We took the decision to rehome the male and female for several reasons. Firstly, as the animals are nocturnal, visitors were often unable to see them. The zoo is not currently in a position to build facilities which would improve viewing (for instance by constructing a nocturnal house). Also, although the enclosure had been extended in the last two years, it was very old and we felt no longer suitable for housing the rodents.

Our curator Will managed to find a home for the pair at Porfell Wildlife Park and Sanctuary near Liskeard in Cornwall. In return we will be collecting a small number of young wallabies from this collection during the next month. We are planning to keep the new arrivals with our African pygmy goats in their walk through exhibit.

Porcupines defend themselves using their long, sharp quills. They can be very dangerous and will charge backwards towards a predator so that the quills become embedded, often in the muzzle, of the animal. As you can imagine, keepers were a little wary when the day came to crate them up! However, they were smoothly ushered into their transport crate through their house using only a broom and a keepers rather loud voice!

As you can see from the photo below we have now demolished their old home. The porcupines had been quite destructive, so much so, that repairing the enclosure for another animal was not really viable. We will let you know when our wallabies arrive.

Pigs transferred to new homes

This photo, taken earlier this afternoon, shows our curator Will and keeper Ben, ushering the two remaining female pigs from their enclosure into a horse box. You may remember in an earlier blog we told you we were looking to rehome our 7 vietnamese pot bellied pigs. Well, over the last few weeks suitable homes have been found for all of them, and these sisters were the last to leave. The 3 males, dominant Boris and his sons, were transferred together two weeks ago and are now living in Somerset. The two females we moved yesterday are also sisters, and were relocated to a small holding in North Cornwall; they are likely to breed in the future. The keepers are very pleased that the pigs have gone to such good homes and could be kept in suitable groups.

The pig enclosure will soon be undergoing redevelopment to accomodate our reindeer, Blitzen, Comet and Donna. Before building work begins in two weeks time, the empty paddock will be used by the reindeer during the daytime. This is to get them used to this area of the zoo gradually. They will have different animal neighbours here, and of course there will be other new sights, smells and noises too. It also means that the tapir will have access to their paddock 24/7 again. The reindeer will still be walked back to the unused tapir house and hardstanding area overnight. Construction of the new houses and hardstandings will begin soon so check the blog regularly for updates on how it is progressing.