Wild Dogs and Tragopans - Chester Zoo [26/03/2011]

This is my first entry and since I didn't know I was going to set this up I didn't take any notes, so things may be missed out and times may not be accurate - yet I'll do my best to give a flavour of what's to come:

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We arrived at the zoo between 11:30am and 12:00pm since we had to nip to Chester retail park first to pick up a pre-order. When we got there we were greeted by massive queues at the main entrance, however the fast track and a zoo membership got us through in probably less than a minute. We'd gone especially to see the African wild dogs that arrived merely days before. I asked the person on the gate, but discovered that the exhibit was still not open. I was hoping that may have changed since 'preview days' were advertised. Alas, that wasn't to be...but all hope was not lost.

Straight from the entrance, we headed to the lechwe and roan antelope paddocks with the hope of catching a glimpse across the paddock to the wild dog enclosure. Nothing, and although I was a little disappointed I kind of expected it around midday.

One thing that did amaze me was the almost subtle form of inter-species enrichment, with the lechwe constantly looking over to the wild dog enclosure. I assume this is natural interaction at its best, with members of the lechwe group keeping an eye out for danger as the others graze.



Kafue Flats lecwe (Kobus leche kafuensis) pair keeping an eye out for
for possible danger from their new neighbours, a group of 7 African wild
dogs (Lycaon pictus).

 After an unsuccessful few minutes looking for the wild dogs, we went up and around the zebra and sitatunga paddocks. For the first time since last year I saw the two Grevy's zebra on the paddock, which was a pleasant surprise. Ashley, the wild leucistic jackdaw [a real rarity] was in the sitatunga paddock, and two young male sitatunga were having a disagreement.

Ashley - the unofficial name for the very rare leucistic jackdaw
at Chester Zoo.

A pair of young male Western sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekii) having a
disagreement.

 Afterwards, we passed through 'Bears of the Cloud Forest' and were in for a real treat. It is one of my favourite exhibits at the zoo anyway, but both Sangay and Franka (the spectacled bears) were right at the front, along with the group of South American coati. It was the first time I've seen both species in close proximity. It was brilliant to see them all so close to the front.

Franka the female spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) under the tree
and a South American coati (Nasua nasua) in close proximity.

A South American coati (Nasua nasua) in good view at 'Bears of the
Cloud Forest' - the first decent view since they were in the old enclosure.



Sangay - the male spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus)
foraging.

We carried on around and over the Bats Bridge, quickly viewing the Philippine spotted deer and the Visayan warty pigs along the way. I quickly glimpsed one of the cheetahs jump down from off a log and crossed over past the anoa island (the Lowland anoa wasn't out unfortunately) and towards the lions.

There was a large group of people around the lion enclosure and I assumed there must have either been a feed or a talk, or even just a good view of one of the lions. Yet as I got closer and closer, I noticed that these people weren't around the enclosure - they were in it! Of course, the lions were inside during this. As it turned out, it was a junior members activity in which they were getting plaster casts of the cats' pug marks.

From the lions, we headed to the second main reason for the days visit: to see if the Temminck's tragopan was displaying. We saw this within minutes of arriving and I was snapping away, however I could only get pictures of the tragopan facing away as it displayed. By the time I had found a better angle it was done, and as I saw it reach up and run towards the female I realised I wanted to get a photo of it reaching upwards.

Male Temminck's tragopan (Tragopan temminckii) with its
lappet partially displayed.

Male Temminck's tragopan (Tragopan temminckii)
displaying.

We waited for somewhere between 1 and 2 hours in the hopes that he would display again, and that I would be at a better angle for photographs. Alas, this wait was to no avail. He kept bulking himself up and loosening his lappet as if he were about to display, yet he just seemed to stop there rather than continue the routine. What he did do was follow every move that the Cabot's tragopan in the neighbouring aviary made. I imagine this was territorial, however the female also showed quite an interest in the Cabot's tragopan. Luckily, the aviaries are tucked away and generally missed by visitors, so it was very quiet with just the bird calls to keep us company for the most part (unlike the rest of the zoo).

Anyway, by 2pm we were starving and it put me into a predicament. If we went to get some food we risked missing a display, yet if we staked out the aviary for another 2 hours I would get grumpy we hadn't seen anything else - especially if the male didn't display and I would have thought it a waste of a day. We decided to call time on trying as it looked less and less likely, and we went to get some food.

Alas, we decided to try one of the 6oz Welsh beef burgers that were on sale outside the Acorn bar near the Roman Garden. At £4.50 each they won't be had on every visit, but they tasted very nice indeed, and when you take into account the 20% member's discount it wasn't too bad.

After eating nice and quickly we planned the next stage of the visit. A trip through Realm of the Red Ape (the wrong way through)  would then bring us out on the way to Spirit of the Jaguar. Within seconds of stepping foot within the building I realised I'd made a mistake. It was as if we were walking through a wall of treacle. You could hardly look at anything since the crowds around the viewing windows were unnegotiable. Further more, the river of people passing through prevented any stopping to look into the aviaries and vivariums, though I did manage to stop for a minute at the green pricklenape [mountain horned dragon] vivarium to look for the unlabelled Asian tree toad. Again, this was to no avail.

We went straight to Spirit of the Jaguar, though we spent longer looking at the amphibians and the eyelash vipers than we did looking at the jaguars. We saw and photographed the Chacoan horned frog, which had been nowhere to be seen on previous visits though was in decent view this time.

Chacoan horned frog (Ceratophrys cranwelli) - usually
hidden in 'Spirit of the Jaguar.'

Looked into the other amphibian vivariums and got what I consider to be a nice and interesting photograph of one of my favourite species, the mission golden-eyed tree frog.

Mission golden-eyed tree frog (Trachycephalus resinifictrix).

After a look at the amphibians and the eyelash vipers, we cut pretty much straight through the other half of 'Spirit of the Jaguar' and did what I consider to be a forgotten corner of the zoo - which includes the midwife toads [no amount of luck will bring them out of hiding] and the sand lizards. The plan was to look around there, cut through the Tropical Realm from the back (capuchins) and then zooming around the giraffes and okapi, back to the bridge over the canal and around passed 'Butterfly Journey' and 'Condor Cliffs.' Then it would be over the bridge, past the elephants and towards the wild dogs once more. This isn't quite what happened.

In the 'forgotten corner,' I saw the Azara's agouti for the first time ever in the blue-throated macaw aviary. I was amazed, I looked into their 'hide' and saw suggestions of movement, and then it ventured right out into plain view.

Azara's agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) in the blue-throated
macaw aviary.

So, me now very happy at seeing something I hadn't seen before at the zoo, we went through the Tropical Realm. What was supposed to be a shortcut through to see if the emerald tree boa was in a good position for photographs (it wasn't) became a decent-length visit. Both Philippine crocodiles were on land and perfectly visible and some of the upper aviaries seemed easier to photograph birds in than normal.

Mindy, the female Philippine crocodile (Crocodylus mindorensis)
in the Tropical Realm.

Orange-headed ground thrush (Zoothera citrina) in
the Tropical Realm.

Female Congo peafowl (Afropavo congensis) in
one of the upper aviaries of the Tropical Realm.

Red-and-yellow barbet (Trachyphonus erythrocephalus)
in the Tropical Realm.

A quick look in some of the reptile enclosures showed that two Radiated tortoises were mating, the Galapagos giant tortoise were lazing, 1 tuatara was visible sat next to its burrow and the Gila monsters have been moved off-show, so now their vivarium holds just the blue spiny lizards.

Northern tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus) outside its burrow in the
Tropical Realm.

Blue spiny lizard (Sceloporus serrifer) in the old Gila Monster
vivarium in the Tropical Realm.

Spending too long in the Tropical Realm meant that we didn't go through the giraffe house and 'Secret World of the Okapi' as planned and instead we went straight across the bridge over the canal. We saw both Southern pudu but there was no sign of the giant anteaters; nothing new there.

Moving towards the elephant bridge, we saw the Andean condors and the American black vulture enjoying a tasty rabbit and some rats. We watched them for a minute or so before going over the elephant bridge. The male calf Nayan and the females were on the paddock, so I took a few pictures of them.

Left to right: Thi Hi Way, Nayan, Jamilah and Maya -
Asian elephants (Elephas maximus)

Also, I'm pleased that after so many visits saying 'I'll get a picture today' and then forgetting when I'm there, I finally photographed the Burmese brow-antlered deer. Better still, a nice picture of the stag of this wonderful species.

Burmese brow-antlered deer (Rucervus eldi thamin)
in the Asian Plains exhibit.

Afterwards, we walked up between Asian Plains and Monkey Islands and across through Miniature Monkeys to get a few pictures of one of my favourite callitrichid species - the Golden-headed lion tamarins. These were posing nicely for some time and with a few pictures of them I had filled my bigger flash card.

Female golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas)
in Miniature Monkeys.

After changing to my spare 1gb flash card in case of hidden surprises, we walked back past the Kirk's dik-dik enclosure towards the porcupine shed and the lechwe and roan antelope paddocks for a last ditch attempt to see the wild dogs. Again we saw nothing - at least for a couple of minutes. And then there was a flash of movement so quick it could have been a blink. But then there was another, and another, and we were sure we'd seen one. I flicked my camera on in excitement and started photographing as the group ran back and too. Although my zoom isn't brilliant and the dogs were essentially small, blurred shapes in the enclosure, I had managed to see and photograph not only my first glimpse of a wild dog at Chester, but my first glimpse of a wild dog in general. I was made up.

African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus). They had arrived only a few days
before and their exhibit was closed to the public to let them settle in,
yet they could be seen across the roan antelope paddock.

A cropped picture of one of the African wild
dogs (Lycaon pictus)

After a quick look at a row of gemsbok and the porcupines (including the babies), we headed around past the back of the crane paddocks and the waterfowl and pelican aviary, passed the mandrill side of Monkey Islands and across to Tsavo: Black Rhino experience. After spending a few minutes in there before our bus was due, we then headed back to the exit.

Gemsbok (Oryx gazella) herd line up for a photograph.

Baby crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata)

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Remember to check back on the 10th or the 11th April when hopefully I shall have my next visit to Chester Zoo written up and posted.