UK's only female giant panda artificially inseminated at zoo

APRIL 1, 2019

Britain's only female giant panda has been artificially inseminated in a bid to produce a cub.

Officials at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland said Monday it's "far too early" to know if the procedure was a success. The zoo said Tian Tian had her annual health check on Sunday and was artificially inseminated "under expert veterinary care."

Tian Tian, 15, has had cubs in China but not in Britain, where she and male companion Yang Guang have lived since 2011. Her name means "sunshine."

There have been attempts to breed a cub every year since then, thus far without success. The zoo says the gestation period for a giant panda is typically about five months.

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Edinburgh zoo halts giant panda breeding programme

Keepers to suspend efforts for at least a year and reassess strategy after five failed attempts

Severin Carrell Scotland editor

Tue 13 Mar 2018 11.09 GMTLast modified on Tue 13 Mar 2018 11.47 GMT

Edinburgh zoo has suspended its giant panda breeding programme for at least a year after failing five times to produce cubs through artificial insemination.

The zoo, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), said it needed to reassess its strategies before making a final decision on whether to again put its female Tian Tian through artificial insemination.

“We will not attempt to breed our giant pandas this year because we want to further assess the incredibly complex and unpredictable breeding process,” a spokeswoman said.

“This pause, which is supported by our giant panda team and other key specialists, will allow us further time to consider the scientific data, our own experiences and those of colleagues around the world, including the latest thinking on giant panda accommodation.”

The RZSS loaned Tian Tian and Yang Guang from China for 10 years in 2011, for a fee of $1m (£720,000) a year, as part of a £2.6bn trade deal.

Tian Tian had had twins in China in 2009, but the RZSS tried natural mating only once, in 2012. It subsequently used artificial insemination with Yang Guang’s semen and defrosted semen from a bear that had successfully bred at Berlin zoo.

Continued  

Chimps Can Learn Foreign 'Dialects,' Experiment Shows

by Tanya Lewis, Staff Writer | February 05, 2015 12:08pm ET

Zookeepers at Scotland's Edinburgh Zoo began a fascinating social experiment in 2010: They put a group of chimpanzees raised locally in the Netherlands together with a group of chimps raised in Scotland. This kind of chimpanzee-group mixing almost never occurs in the wild.

Like all chimpanzees, the two groups of chimps in the study had specialgrunts for certain types of food, which change based on their preferences. The Dutch chimps loved apples, and referred to the fruit using a high-pitched grunt, whereas the Scottish chimps disliked apples, and used a much lower-pitched grunt to describe the fruit.

But after three years of living with the Scottish chimps, the Dutch chimps did something that surprised the researchers: They started using the low-pitched grunt to refer to apples. The new grunts suggested that the Dutch group had learned the word from the Scottish chimps, according to the study, published today (Feb. 5) in the journal Current Biology.

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Edinburgh Zoo has first UK koala birth

Keepers at Edinburgh zoo have revealed they have succeeded in achieving the first koala birth in the UK.

Their female koala, Alinga, is carrying a joey in its pouch after giving birth early in the summer.

The new arrival can be seen wriggling around in the pouch and is expected to poke its head out for the first time in the next 6 weeks.

Meanwhile, the zoo said it was still optimistic its female panda could give birth within the next week.

Donald Gow, senior keeper at Edinburgh Zoo, says: "We are all immensely excited by the birth of the UK's first ever koala joey.

"I have worked with the zoo's koalas for the past eight years and they require a lot of specialised care.

"Koalas are very sensitive creatures with a very selective diet and the husbandry can be extremely challenging."

He added: "As they are solitary animals, it takes an expert eye to know how to successfully introduce a male and female together for breeding.

"There is a lot of dedication and skill involved in caring for koalas, and it is a significant achievement for everybody involved."

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Bright red bird recaptured by Edinburgh Zoo

A rare bright-red bird which escaped from Edinburgh Zoo last week has been recaptured about four miles away.

Keepers noticed the scarlet ibis was missing on Tuesday and it was later spotted close to the city centre.

The two-year-old female bird was recaptured on Sunday afternoon on the shoreline in the Cramond area and is now recovering in quarantine.

It is believed the bird escaped after a squirrel chewed a hole at the top of its cage.

The ibis has been at the zoo since 2010 and shares her enclosure with the six other members of her flock and 36 resident flamingos.

Colin Oulton, team leader of the bird section at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "It's really quite surprising how far the scarlet ibis flew, eventually ending up at the shore at Cramond.

"Being flock birds, you would expect them to stay quite close to the rest of the flock."

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-19391284

Bright red bird escapes from Edinburgh Zoo

A rare bird has escaped from Edinburgh Zoo and is on the loose in the city after a squirrel chewed a hole at the top of its cage.

Keepers noticed the scarlet ibis was missing and it was later spotted three miles away in Dundas Street, close to the city centre.

The bird is believed to have escaped through a hole in netting which covers its enclosure.

It is in danger of being attacked by predators because of its bright colour.

Dundas Street

The zoo and animal welfare charity Scottish SPCA are tracking the ibis and say they were close to catching it several times.

Darren McGarry, head of animals at Edinburgh Zoo, said: "Our bird team noticed one of our scarlet ibis was missing from the enclosure this morning and a search of Edinburgh Zoo showed the bird had seemed to have left the site.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-19346665

Penguins move to a new home in Edinburgh Zoo

Animal transportation can be a tricky business. Keepers at Edinburgh Zoo have had to literally pick up a penguin.

About 29 Gentoo penguins have been moved while their pool is being refurbished.

Watch video here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17473753

Giant pandas coming to Edinburgh Zoo. What is the point?

Pandas at Edinburgh ZooNovember 2011. The Scottish Government has been taken to task over advertisements placed to coincide with the arrival of two Giant Pandas at Edinburgh Zoo. Although the Scottish Government turned down requests from the Zoo for funding towards the cost of leasing the animals from the Chinese authorities it now appears the Government is keen to capitalise on the media interest in the new arrivals.


Huge cost to lease pandas
In the advert, placed by Government Department Natural Scotland, it is claimed that "the Chinese are gifting two giant pandas to live in Scotland ...". In fact the bears are being leased from the Chinese by Edinburgh Zoo. Although the Zoo has not disclosed the fee they are paying it is described on a Chinese Government website as "substantial" and is thought to be between £1 million and £1.4 million per year for the ten years of the leasing agreement. A complaint has been made to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) on the grounds that, by suggesting the animals are being supplied free of charge by the Chinese Government, the advert is untrue and misleading.

Complaint to Advertising Standards Authority by Animal Concern
In a Freedom of Information request the Scottish Government has been asked to disclose who initiated and authorised this advertising campaign and how much public money has been spent on it. The complaint to the ASA and the Freedom of Information request have been made by Animal Concern, an organisation which opposes bringing the Giant Pandas to Scotland.

John Robins of Animal Concern states; "These bears are being brought to Scotland in a desperate bid to solve a financial crisis at Edinburgh Zoo. Similar initiatives at other zoos have ended badly with the huge costs of leasing and caring for the pandas outstripping the extra income they generate.

Little or no conservation value
There is little conservation or educational value in the project and the vast sums of money being paid to the Chinese authorities would be better spent improving conditions for other animals at the Zoo or in buying large areas of the natural habitat of the Giant Panda and protecting it from human encroachment and commercial exploitation. It is quite sickening to see both the Scottish and Chinese Governments desperately trying to generate positive publicity on the back of the cute and cuddly image of the two pandas which are being transported half-way across the globe for nothing more than very unsavoury financial and political reasons. Instead of sucking up to Chinese politicians, Edinburgh Zoo would do more for conservation by taking them to task on the environmental damage and loss of habitat being caused in China by uncontrolled expansion of polluting industries. Alex Salmond should be criticising the Chinese human rights record instead of selling them cheap factory farmed salmon. These adverts are untrue and misleading and an extremely dubious waste of public money."

Edinburgh Zoo made a loss of circa £1.5 million last year and borrowed £2 million from Lloyds Bank this March to help pay for the new enclosure for the two pandas. Since January several staff and Trustees have left the Zoo.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/edinburgh-pandas.html

Climate role for only polar bear

The only polar bear in a UK zoo will be used to help educate visitors to her new home in the Highlands.

Preparations are being made to move Mercedes from Edinburgh to the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig.

The park's Doug Richardson said information on climate change and its effects on wildlife would be set up around the animal's enclosure.

A crate used for moving rhino has been modified to transport the bear by road in late August or early September.

Mr Richardson, animal collection manager, said: "Polar bear are seen as the flagship species for warnings of global climate change.

"Something we plan to do on this big issue is to centre a lot of our interpretive material on climate change around Mercedes."

He expects the bear to be a huge draw, adding to an increase in visitor numbers seen following the birth of three Amur tiger cubs.

Mr Richardson said: "The cubs have seen the park breaking all sorts of records in terms of entries and sales at the gift shop.

"The arrival of the polar bear will be the icing on the cake."

He said the more money that could be generated, the more funds could be channelled into the park's research work and conservation projects.

New enclosure
Mr Richardson added that Mercedes would not need be drugged for her journey to the Highlands.

The crate has been attached to part of her enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo so the bear becomes familiar with it.

It has also been designed to allow air flow and provide shade for the animal if the weather is hot.
Mr Richardson said: "Moving polar bears is quite straightforward and they do not stress out particularly easily so long as there are people around them that they are familiar with."
Rescued from Churchill n Canada, Mercedes is thought to be 27-years-old. Polar bears can live into their early 30s.

An appeal was launched last month by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland to raise £50,000 to fund her move north.

Original estimates put the cost of a new enclosure at £300,000 but a team of soldiers helped build the enclosure, which reduced the cost to £75,000.
The society has also raised £25,000 through donations.





http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/8139926.stm

Monkeys found 'chink' in security

Five monkeys who have been on the loose for five days found a "chink in the armour" of the security in their Edinburgh Zoo enclosure, keepers said.

The barbary macaques, which are not said to pose a threat to humans, made their bid for freedom on Friday.

The new primates from a centre in Germany, climbed a wall before squeezing under an electric fence.

Lorna Hughes, head zookeeper, said they were younger and more agile than macaques previously held in the cage.

Small holiday
Ms Hughes said she hoped attempts to lure them down with their favourite foods such as nuts, seeds and bananas would work before they were forced to use nets or, as a last resort, darts.
She told BBC Scotland: "We moved our 12 barbary macaques to a new enclosure within the zoo and, being inquisitive animals, they decided to explore their enclosure and found a certain little weakness where they could climb up a certain part of the wall and make their way under the electric fence at the top.

"So we have had a few who have been on a small holiday for a few days in the zoo.

"They have stayed within the vicinity of the enclosure just at the trees and path behind and we have known where all of the animals have been at all times.

"We have had barbary macaques living in this enclosure for many years, probably almost 20 years, but this is a new group who are a bit younger, more agile and they found a chink in the armour, which we are going to have modified."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8139268.stm