October Animal News: Animal updates, Habitat Improvements and Conservation Successes

As the summer ends and the autumn leaves begin to fall, September and October have been filled with positive stories from across the zoo.

From exciting habitat improvements and important animal moves to conservation work here in Hampshire and around the world, here are some of the stories you may have missed.

We’re Proudly Guilty

We launched the first two videos in our new Proudly Guilty series, revealing why some of the things we’re criticised for are actually choices we’re proud to make for animals and nature.

From giving our animals plenty of space to roam, explore and choose where they spend their time to creating wild, biodiverse habitats, the series shares more about the thinking behind the way we care for our animals and manage the zoo.

We can’t wait to share the rest of the series with you very soon.

You’ve voted for our otters!

The results are in, and our Asian small-clawed otters have won this year’s Vote Wild!

This means £5,000 will go towards exciting improvements to their habitat, including a warm indoor pool and new nesting areas.

More than £1,000 was also raised through additional donations, which will be shared across all six projects to support their future development.

A huge thank you to everyone who voted or donated, as well as our Prize Pot Supporters: Waitrose & Partners Chandler Ford and their customers, Mazuri, Kiezebrink, Veritech Security and SMI.

Sharing Amali’s incredible recovery

On World Animal Day, 4 October, we shared the remarkable story of Southern white rhino calf Amali and the dedicated team behind her recovery.

Amali became seriously ill earlier this year after contracting salmonella. She required around 12 weeks of intensive care from our veterinary and hoofstock teams, who worked tirelessly to support her recovery.

Working with external experts, our Principal Zoo Vet, Elysé Summerfield-Smith, developed an innovative combination of probiotics to help rebuild the beneficial bacteria in Amali’s gut.

Amali has since been discharged from intensive care and can now regularly be seen exploring the main field alongside her mum, Zahra.

Improvements at Penguin Cove

If you’ve visited recently, you may have noticed work taking place at Penguin Cove.

A new flow cannon, funded through our World of Swimming campaign, has been purchased and installed. This equipment creates moving water within the habitat, providing a more stimulating environment and encourages natural swimming behaviours.

Work has also started to install new netting over Penguin Cove. This will provide our colony with greater protection from wild birds and the potential transmission of diseases such as avian influenza.

Preventative measures like these play an important role in protecting the health and welfare of our animals. This work will also help create a more immersive experience for visitors to Penguin Cove.

A new basking area for our gibbons

Work has been underway to install a new basking rig for our gibbons, giving them access to UVB light.

UVB light plays an important role in primate health by helping the body produce vitamin D3. This allows calcium and phosphorus to be absorbed properly, supporting healthy skeletal development and helping to prevent conditions such as metabolic bone disease.

The new rig will also give visitors an even better view of the boys as they relax and bask beneath the lights.

This marks an important milestone, as all the primates in their care will now have access to UVB lighting.

Preventative care for our bokiboky

Our bokiboky received important preventative healthcare this month, with vaccinations carried out by our veterinary and animal care teams.

Regular health checks, vaccinations and other preventative treatments form an essential part of the lifelong care we provide for our animals.

Fish isolation facilities

Work on our new fish isolation facilities is now complete, and our clown loaches are currently settling in, before they head to The Tropical House at the end of the year.

Sand lizard conservation continues

Work on our new sand lizard conservation breeding facility is progressing well.

Once complete, the facility will support our work with this threatened native reptile and contribute to efforts to restore populations in the wild.

Several members of the Marwell team have also joined our Conservation team and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust to carry out sand lizard and crayfish surveys at Eelmoor Marsh and other local sites.

These surveys help conservationists monitor populations, understand how they are using their habitats and identify where further support may be needed.

Returning rare snails to the wild

Around 200 Partula snails from three species have been transferred from Marwell to ZSL as part of an international conservation effort.

They have since been released into the wild in French Polynesia, helping to restore species that have disappeared from parts of their former range.

They may be small but Partula snails play an important role in their island ecosystems. Their return is the result of years of carefully coordinated conservation breeding involving zoos and conservation organisations around the world.

An okapi swap

Female okapi, Kibibi left Marwell to join ZSL, while their male okapi, Mzimu travelled in the opposite direction and joined us here at the zoo on the same day.

After spending her first few days settling in behind the scenes, Mzimu was given access to the paddock for the first time and began exploring her new surroundings.

These carefully planned moves form part of the European breeding programme for okapi, helping to maintain a healthy and genetically diverse population in conservation zoos.

Thank you

Thank you for continuing to support our animals and the work we do to protect wildlife. We’ll be sharing more news from across the zoo soon.

You can also stay up to date via our social media channels:  Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok.