Does Bongorob or anyone have details of the Spectacled Bears at Chester? I know the male is called 'Strolch', about twelve years old, and came from an Eastern European zoo with another similar aged male 'Valentine( who may have been his brother) who has since left. 1. Where did Valentine go? 2. What zoo did they both come from? 3. Any details as above for the female Bear?
Valentine went to johanasburg zoo. Both males came from Wroclaw zoo in 2004. They lived with each other since they were 2, but before Valentine left, he was separated from Strolch due to fighting. There has been a mega typo in the zoos guides since their arrival, they called the male estrolch!! I don't think that valentine and strolch are brothers. The female is called Loja and has bred before.
Thanks for those details, its more than I knew before. I thought 'E...strolch' was an odd name.. I still have an idea they may have been brothers- but from seperate litters, hence not being together from birth. When I went soon after they arrived at Chester, 'Strolch' showed well in the new enclosure, but the other was not to be seen. I guessed from this that they would keep the one I saw as he was a better exhibit- they did... I didn't know they were later separated. Does 'Loja' have the full 'spectacles' or just white face markings like most of them do?
The female Lodja has a broad blaze on her face and the beginning of 'spectactes' but not the whole marking. No doubt you know each bear is marked differently... You obviously get very close to the bears during your 'shadow- a- keeper' or whatever. What's the deal on health and safety issues- are you insured against being bitten by a bear, or harmed by a hornbill?
The keepers have to make sure that we don't get too close. We had to wear crash helmets when we went in with the male great indian hornbill, as he is know to dive bomb!! Some of the bear keepers, can get the bear to stand on it's hind legs, so that they can tickle it!!
And still on Spectacled bears, but not at Chester... Does anyone know if there's been any breeding at South Lakes yet- probably not as the male only arrived earlier this year. I thought South Lakes and Chester would do a male/female exchange of bears, but it didn't happen like that- South Lakes have kept all 4 females and added a male from elsewhere(France?) (I know South Lakes are a private enterprise and bit 'maverick'- like the Aspinall parks when it comes to interzoo cooperation).
Perhaps it was not left to Chester and South Lakes to make the decision. Chester do tend to import from the continent a lot, I suppose to maximize outbreeding.
At Jersey very many years go they used to go in with the original male Spectacled bear 'Pedro' as there wasn't an option really. The poor thing used to get very excited and 'amorous' as he had no companion at that time. He was one of probably only 3 Spectacled bears in the Uk then, the others were a pair at London,which later moved to a horrible little enclosure like a dog's kennel at Whipsnade. I doubt few people ever noticed them there. At Jersey they finally got a female from the USA(Brookfield Chicago) and despite being rather 'humanised' Pedro settled down with 'Petrona' and fathered 2 sets of cubs. But Jersey's current Spectacled bears aren't related to that first pair. I believe the breeding male at Basel is/was, one of Pedro and Petrona's though so the line is still there.
Yes, maybe so... I suppose I thought one or two of the South Lakes females would end up at Chester zoo, it seems a bit imbalanced that South Lakes have five and Chester only two, while Chester's exhibit is certainly big enough for a couple more bears- maybe exchanges wil happen after breeding.
The new male at South Lakes is called Snoopy. He was imported from France eariler this year. The females are Alice, Mona, Zamora and Zepita.
On my zoo keeper for the day we fed the bears, am not sure they could house anymore than a breeding pair and offspring due to the enclosure design, i know they put up a tempory fence to seperate the two males they hard but i doubt they would put one up permeantly.
I wonder why they started to fight, after living together okay for many years. Change of environment?
The females also came from Europe- I believe from Paris and Zurich. Possibly they are two sets of sisters?-(or maybe not)
You are quite correct they are 2 sets of sisters but they can only breed from 1 set of sisters but cannot rember which set it is.
The bear enclosure can be easily divided and also extended at the rear and northern side (tapir enclosure) if the need arises. If the female is pregnant she and the cubs will be housed at the rear of the enclosure, leaving the male on show. From her behaviour it is likely that she is.
Oh thats great news. I was getting a bit worried that we werent going to get any Bear cubs, now all we need is a baby Rhino.
After joining the site recently and following a few threads of interest and Bears is one of mine, it is apparent that many of the contributers to the site are very unfamiliar with EAZA breeding programmes, their management, strictly applied rules and how much planning and organisation there is in such a species as Spectacled Bears. The movement , pairing and numbers of animals in each participating zoo is controlled and managed long term , not by the zoo but by the programme co ordinator. The choice of Bears is not made by the zoo, but once again all done by the co ordinator. so the fact that specific bears are in Chester and South Lakes the pairings, numbers and strategy is not a decision made by either zoo it is a decision solely made by the Species Committee and co ordinator. This applies to all EEP managed species and with regard to private or charity zoos it makes no difference. No EEP animal is allowed to be traded under any circumstance. It is a condition of membership of EAZA to conform to all requests and rules of the EEP committee. South Lakes have 5 bears, yes, but that was not the original plan, it was to keep 1.2 animals. At one time the recommendation was to send the two paris born twin females to Chester for breeding and to keep the two Zurich born females to breed at South Lakes. However the plan was changed and another solution for Chester was made. this left South Lakes holding five animals , having to build new facilities indoors last winter for the extra needs (the outdoor being large enough for all five animals). Zoos who commit to EEP speices have to pay for all the necessary requirements and this is part of the commitment to careful and responsible animal management. A zoo was supposed to take the two females but let the EEP down by not building the facilities promised and the bears were not allowed to go because standards were not met. All facilities must be checked and approved by the EEP before allowing any zoo to take on these wonderful animals. By the way, you can apply all this criteria to all managed speices withing EAZA and AZA. I have been concerned in my first visits to the site that many comments are made that dont have sound or factual base and I am sure that if all were more informed of the quality assurance from EAZA as opposed to other organisations in the zoo world then that would assist the enthusiasts who sometimes are way out in the guess work and concepts about zoos. Im sure that this will get a number of comments but maybe many dont realise that planning at species level is not made by individual holders of animals in EAZA. I know that Snoopy and Zamora and Zepita were given recommendations to breed in the annual report for the EEP , it has been reported to the EEP that they are both pregnant. the enclosure there is unique as it is reported to have a pair of tapir, many agoutis, otters and coatis mixed with the five bears and all are breeding as a report was done last year for a study on bears behaviour and the stimulus was noted as being excellent for the mental welfare of the bears. So lets hope Chester and South Lakes have success because bears in the UK are few and far between. Also take note of the conservation programme in the wild at South Lakes it has been adopted by the EAZA EEP , in Peru about $50,000 US a year is spent by South Lakes on conservation management and re introduction of rehabilitated bears to the wild so the literature says. Why dont more zoos do this kind of thing? Cheers
