Paignton Zoo is inviting visitors to help name its baby orang utan. The female baby was born on Thursday 11 April.
“Her keepers have chosen a shortlist of names. We have a collecting box in the foyer with eight slots – people can vote for the name or names they like the best. This way, everyone gets to vote and we raise money for conservation at the same time.”
The names are: Bethari, meaning goddess; Elok (beautiful, awesome, jewel); Intan (diamond); Kes (patience); Lintang (star); Ratih (goddess of beauty); Tatau (a place in Sarawak where the baby’s great grandmother...
Torbay Hospital has donated a used ultrasound machine to Paignton Zoo.
Paignton Zoo Head of Veterinary Services Ghislaine Sayers said: “Ultrasound is a valuable imaging tool that helps us to diagnose certain types of soft tissue and organ disease including ligament damage and heart disease.”
It has already been used to diagnose a pregnancy in a sheep. Ghislaine again: “The big benefit for us is that it is portable. We could never have afforded to buy a new one for ourselves, so to have this one given to us is wonderful!
Paignton Zoo’s Great Gorillas Project is well under way. And for two local artists, the rivalry is personal.
Husband and wife artists Deborah Treliving and Malcolm Law are going head-to-head. Malcolm is creating Cool Ice Cream Bananas Gorilla for the Princesshay Shopping Centre in Exeter, while Deborah is painting Hippocampus Guttulatus Gorilla on behalf of Cavanna Homes.
The Great Gorillas Project is celebrating the 90th birthday of the region’s largest and best-known zoo, Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, which is a registered charity.
Living Coasts has announced plans to celebrate its 10th Birthday.
Torquay’s coastal zoo and aquarium marks its first decade in July, and plans include diving displays, a special cake and a VIP party for children born on the same day.
The zoo, a registered charity, opened to the public on 14 July 2003, with an official ceremony performed by the Princess Royal following in September. Celebrations will build up to the weekend of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July.
The British Freediving Association will be on site on the Saturday. Freedivers will be in the seal tank at 11....
Stagecoach South West announced that it has signed up to sponsor a unique piece of three-dimensional public art – a life-sized model gorilla. The gorilla is part of the Great Gorillas Project, which not only celebrates the 90th birthday of the region’s largest and best-known zoo, Paignton Zoo Environmental Park, but is also raising funds for gorilla conservation and providing a showcase for specially commissioned artists.
Stagecoach’s very own banana-covered gorilla was painted last week (week commencing 15 April) in the painting space made available in Exeter’s Guildhall Shopping...
While most young people have been thinking of Easter eggs and Easter bunnies, students at the Centre for the Creative Industries at Exeter College have been welcoming their special Easter gift – that of a life-sized Gorilla sculpture.
The Easter arrival is Exeter College’s support for Paignton Zoo’s celebration of 90 years of conservation, aimed at engaging communities with a mass exhibition of public art to raise awareness and funds to help the Cross River Gorillas of Nigeria –t he world’s most threatened species of gorilla and in danger of extinction, and marks the culmination of...
A Devon zoo and aquarium has had an unusual spring birth – two baby stingrays.
The bluespotted ribbontail rays - one male and one female - were born on Sunday 17 March at Living Coasts, in Torquay.
Clare Rugg, Living Coasts Operations Manager, said: “The female was getting bigger and bigger and we saw some movement inside her. We have been looking expectantly in the tank each morning for the last five weeks!
“Twins are not unusual – it’s thought that they can have up to five pups per litter. The babies are perfect miniatures of the parents – but they do have their...
Paignton Zoo in Devon has built a zip-line for its tigers.
Keepers at the park – a registered charity – have devised the thrill ride with help from woodland adventure company Treesurfers.
In fact, it is the big cats’ lunch that will ride the zip-line – all the tigers have to do is catch it.
Senior Head Keeper of Mammals Matthew Webb explained: “We have used things such as hanging bags in the past to encourage them to get a bit more physical. Now we have the zip line, down which we can send meat for the tigers to chase and jump at.
This summer, Exeter and Torbay are going to have some rather unusual visitors. To mark Paignton Zoo’s 90th anniversary, lifesize gorilla sculptures will be inhabiting the open spaces and parks of Exeter and Torbay – each showcasing their own individual art, designed by local artists.
Arriving at the end of July with a Great Gorilla Flotilla in Torbay, the gorillas will be with us for 10 weeks throughout the summer, giving locals and visitors alike the chance to get up close to these magnificent pieces of work. After this, the gorillas will then be sold in a big Charity Auction at...
A scientist at a Devon wildlife charity is to take on a top national job.
Dr Kirsten Pullen, Zoo Research Officer at the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, is to become the new Chief Executive Officer at the British & Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).
BIAZA represents the top zoological collections and promotes high standards in research, husbandry and animal welfare. The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, owns nature reserves and carries out conservation projects at home and...
