Help Tropiquaria - Zoo's Need Food Too

03/12/2022

19/11/2022

Directors Blog - International Mens day (and the anniversary of the discovery of Puerto Rica!)

Well we got through the first week of being closed Tuesday to Friday and opened again this morning to a nice, but cold, day with a good turn out of visitors who seemed to enjoy themselves.

Thanks this week are due to our regular donors, Iceland, Morrisons and the Co-Op for food, and some of our on-line donors who have remained loyal since the first covid lockdown. Each of you helps to keep us running in this time of horrendously rising prices.

Animal wise we have already managed in the first week of closure to replace a large aquarium in the aquarium and rebuild the panelling around it, this is needed occasionally because of leaks, scratches on the glass, etc. We have also continued to replace the tapir fence at the front which has needed doing for some time.

We now have, for the first time, (three-spined) sticklebacks on display. For those who do not know them they are a small British fish, remarkable for the bright red colour the males go during the breeding season. Their size has opened them up to much study in captivity and such great ethologists as Niko Tinbergen and Desmond Morris have studied their behaviour extensively.

Keep Well,

Chris, Lady Jane, Mr. Harvey, Lulu and all the staff and animals at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight is Edison Lighthouse with "Love grows (where my Rosemary goes)". The first record to top the charts in 1970. It stayed at number one for 5 weeks in the UK, and the reason I chose it tonight is because we saw them live at a sixties weekend in South Devon last weekend, and they were brilliant. They played it twice, once in each half, and the audience loved it.

PPS Donors, we could still use apples (eating) and any other fruit you may have as well as salad. Any fish as long as fresh would also be useful; our otters are growing and eating us out of house and home!

20/05/2022

A Zoo Post Siege

Director's Blog, Lockdown 3 plus 1 year this week.

When we re-opened in May 2021 we knew that there would be a whole range of new challenges in the post covid world, but knew that we were ready to face them. Our wonderful staff were ready and keen to re-engage with the public. Our underlying ethos (set by law) to conserve and to educate remained the same, but some of our methods would have to change.

Possibly the biggest change has been animal handling, it may come back eventually, but at present we still can't disinfect animals safely between people handling them, and even if we could because large numbers of people are regularly gelling their hands, they may pose a risk to the animals.

What we have achieved is a new outside tortoise enclosure, two new goodeid facilities including a large inside pond, a new serval enclosure, larger than the previous one, and still to come a new, larger, meerkat enclosure. There isn't just animal work though, the cafe has a new fire-alarm system, and soon it will have new worksurfaces.

Whilst all the staff have done well, Jake received an award as an unsung hero, both at county and regional level. Other staff members have been hard at work with potential sponsors, and we have had several already who have enabled some of the projects above. Despite being open for a year now we continue to receive donations of food which have saved us a lot of money.

There are though many challenges for the future, our building requires continuous work, our fuel prices are going through the roof, and food prices are rising both because of fuel prices and because of the knock-on effects of the attack on Ukraine. Additionally the government is bringing in a new "Secretary of States Standards for Modern Zoo Practice". These are the rules we have to follow to keep our licence. The draft, still to be confirmed, will double our paperwork and restrict or stop the return of animal handling.

During the last year we have also lost some of our best known and most loved animals, Oz the Serval, (Lymphoma), Izzy the Dog (Splenic tumour) and Missy the raccoon (full results still awaited, but it was age related). Missy is pictured here; she wasn't the easiest of raccoons, but then hadn't had the best start in life. At least she had 9 years of good food and some companionship here. She will still be missed.

Keep Well,

Chris, Lady Jane, Harvey (now senior dog), Lulu (apprentice dog!), and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight. Last week was the Royal Marines Mountbatten festival of Music, as it is the 40th Anniversary of the Falklands conflict, much of the music reflected this. If you find the concert on youtube go to 1hour 33 and see them perform Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms", Band Sergeant Andy Platt on guitar, and the lovely Band Corporal Sam McIndoe singing. This song was written by Mark Knopfler as a response to the Falklands war.

PPS Donations - wow we have so many people to thank now, and so many continuing projects. At present apples and pears, and any building materials, particularly potential ones used for fencing (posts and heavy gauge netting), but please telephone first.

24/04/2022

Jake Tyler has long been an unsung hero at Watchet’s Tropiquaria Zoo, where he is a popular keeper and staff member for the past eight years, but last week he finally got official recognition as Somerset’s unsung hero and went on to become a joint winner of the South West Tourism excellence awar...

23/12/2021

Directors' Dog's Christmas message, Christmas 2021

My Lords, Ladies, Gentlemen, Little, Folk, fellow dogs, and all other animals of whatever species and denomination.

Following the success of my Christmas message last year (Dad - ruddy dog's got more likes on Facebook than me again!), I have been asked, for a second year to give a Christmas message on behalf of Tropiquaria. Whilst 2020 was an "Annus horribilis" 2021 showed some promise and some return to normal. We were closed at the start of the year for the first 131 days, eventually opening on May 11th. My (human) dad said that we could have opened earlier, but we couldn't let people inside, so we stayed closed until May.

Then when we opened, we opened, with lots of people coming in, more than in 2019, despite being closed for so long and missing Easter holidays and some bank holidays. Mum and dad was pleased that despite being open a lot of donations continued to come in, both cash, from this country and overseas and food and hay and straw and things from local shops and people. The Co-op stores were very good and gave us loads of what they called "short-dated" food.

Izzy, my doggy aunty, and I continued in our roles as zoo dogs, although Izzy, now being almost 10 is taking life more slowly. This leaves me to the main PR work by being on the gate when we are open. Izzy stays with me, but I have to talk to most of the visitors , and distract the children whilst the parents are hearing about face masks, when the cafe closes and where things like toilets are. What I didn't realise was the power of my Christmas message last year, not only did the presents continue to come in for Izzy and I, but people who hadn't visited Tropiquaria came to see me!

Being a zoo dog you get to know most of the main zoo animals as you walk round the park, and some of them you look upon as friends. I am sad to report that this year I lost 2 friends, Louie the Coati, and Oz the Serval. Louie was very old, having come to us from Cricket St Thomas when that closed, and Oz was quite old too but had a problem with his blood which he wasn't going to get better from. On the plus side we have had 2 mongooses join us from Bristol Zoo (apparently the whole of Bristol zoo is about to move into the countryside, and some of the animals are leaving first). Anyway these two came to us and seem to be settling in well. (For the other dogs reading, these mongooses are like stinky ferrets, but with South African accents...).

My Christmas message is this, although we seem to be over the worst of the Covid thing that nearly bankrupted us in 2020 there is still a lot we need to do. We now have what they call a variant or mutation of Covid which seems easier to catch, but not quite so dangerous, so the humans will need to continue wearing masks and rubbing that clear smelly stuff on their hands. If the government says no going out, or no parties, and keep your mask on then you just have to do it. And get your shots done regularly (oops mine are overdue, must chat to Dad!).

I am pleased to report that during the year the popularity of dogs seems to have risen. In Russia (where my friend Buggerov comes from) a top football team (Zenit St. Petersburg) appeared on the pitch each holding a dog from the local rescue shelter which did a lot to promote adoption and rehoming of homeless dogs. In Northern India an abandoned, new born, human baby was kept warm overnight by a stray dog and her puppies on a frosty night, and lived as a result. Here in the UK "Flump" a small Maltese dog was a birthing companion for his human mum Charlotte, at Poole hospital. Flump is an assistance dog, but the first to be an authorised birthing companion. Everyone seems pleased and the hospital is teaching others about the advantage of the presence of dogs!

As well as the covid worries there are also issues about "Avian influenza" or bird flu, which has come back, and is worse than before. So apparently we need to keep our birds inside. I am relieved to say that we haven't had to bring the emus and rhea into the main building though. Dad says that the Turkey in the freezer is safe too! Do try and keep your birds indoor though.

The message for 2022 is simple, keep listening to radio and tv about how to avoid the terrible diseases that are still about, take all the medical/veterinary advice you are offered. Do holiday at home, so you can avoid cramped aircraft and ferries and trains, and take the dog to get you walking outside, explore the country, go to places you haven't been to before, and try the local foods. Remember during a lockdown your dog can be your best friend, and a good excuse to go out for a walk if you are otherwise not supposed to.

Happy Christmas from all at Tropiquaria from Harvey and Izzy

PS Mum and Dad (Human) send their seasonal greetings too, as do the staff and the rest of the animals.

PPS Dad is listening to a Dutch band on the computer tonight. They are called Raccoon and most of the songs are in English. His favourite is called "Love you more" and with racoon is a girl from Holland called Ilse de Lange, she apparently did the Eurovision Song contest things when she was younger. The lead singer is called Bart van der Weide and, on the you tube video seems to have problems with his trousers!

PPPS Donors, over Christmas, Izzy, myself and the raccoons would be grateful for any left over turkeys, Fresh salad also seems to keep the tortoises happy.

05/12/2021

A Zoo post siege

Lockdown 3, plus 6 months and 24 days

Directors blog on a cool and breezy Sunday here at Tropiquaria. A few visitors and massive shop sales following last nights blatant advertising, so thank you to all our purchasers. What I had failed to say was that we are also well stocked with stocking fillers, and as before you can use the shop without paying to come in, and without paying to park. If you are feeling down Mr. Harvey is here for cuddles too, to avoid any misunderstandings Mr Harvey is our Pyrenean Mountain Dog who likes to be on the gate when we are open.

Animal news tonight is that friends of ours "Beastwatch UK", is featured in the Observer Magazine today. Beastwatch is a voluntary organisation that specialises in going to reports of exotic animals loose in the UK and capturing them, either for return to the owners or for rehoming. They deal with everything from spiders accidentally imported with bananas through to wallabies, emus and rheas. If interested they have a page that is easy to find.

Zoo news today seems to concentrate on the covid in the Hippos at Antwerp that I mentioned last night and to Newquay Zoo in Cornwall re-opening a week after damage through the storm Arwen, a number of trees had come down, but fortunately no animals were hurt or escaped. We clearly got off lightly here at Tropiquaria.

Tonight's picture is of one of our Fire Skinks, one of the most brightly coloured lizards we have, but sadly one that spends a lot of time underground. Although not rare we are pleased to have bred them this year.

Keep Well,

Chris, Jane, Izzy, Harvey and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight is Duran Duran with "A view to a kill" (look at the BBC 2 Radio Theatre 2/12/2021 version to see that they can still do it, and with an audience). I know Mel in London who follows these blogs can sometimes get tickets for BBC concerts, Mel don't forget your friends in Somerset if some come you way for anything like this again. I need an excuse for a trip to London!

PPS Donors at present we need salad, leeks, pears and melons, all gratefully received.

27/11/2021

A Zoo post Siege

Lockdown plus 6 months and 16 days

Directors blog on a very blustery Saturday evening. It has been a very interesting week, despite now being closed for 4 days a week the days have been still very busy., with new arrivals trips out and lots of other surprises.

First of all our thanks to various people for fruit and veg donations, to Mark and Noe for cash and to Williton pet and equine for dried dog food. All help keep our running costs down.

Zoo news, and this time mainly about Tropi! On Wednesday lady Jane and I went to Bristol to pick up 2 female yellow mongooses to join our male. A nice trip which gave us a little bit of time to look around Bristol, possibly for the last time before it closes. As we arrived the Dudley Zoo van was there too collecting some naked mole rats, and there was also someone else expected to collect fish. Despite this the staff were a happy bunch, and we had a lovely lunch there. The eternal professionals Bristol sent a little box of food for the mongooses on the way back. This included live locusts, these came back without trouble, but what we didn't realise was that there were also live locusts in the carrying boxes with the mongooses which escaped in the car!

On Thursday morning I went to the vets to pick up a prescription for Oz, our serval and was asked whether I knew I had a locust on my shoulder! I don't think my explanation about it being "National take your locust to work day" was really accepted.

Tropiquaria has also just had its response to a request for evidence by a government select committee on "The effects on Human Rights of the long Covid lockdown". The full report is yet to come out though.

Other wildlife news, the Times today announced its nominated Christmas charities for this year. One of them is the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust, and the article featured the work they are doing at Steart to the North of us, where they have recreated, as a flood defence, a 250 hectare wetland. This is marvellous news as it is already becoming a major wildlife refuge.

Tonight's pic is some of our ring-tail lemurs huddling together, possibly because of the cold. Pic. Courtesy of Jess.

Keep Well,

Chris, Jane, Izzy, Harvey and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria.

PS Music on the computer tonight is Odyssey with Inside Out. Just announced this week, Odyssey will be appearing at the 2022 Watchet music festival. I just know that M, and M. will be wanting to come down and see them. If you phone tomorrow tonight I can read you the rest of the line up so far.

PPS, Donors, we are currently using all the pears, salad and root vegetables we can get. We also need a new front opening freezer for the aquarium. Ours has given up the ghost after many years loyal service.

19/11/2021

A Zoo post siege

Lockdown 3 plus 6months and 8 days

Directors blog on a cool Friday night. This week was the first of our Winter open 3, closed 4 day regime (ie. Open Saturday, Sunday Monday , closed for the others). This goes on until the Christmas holidays start. We were looking forward to the rest, although in fairness the animals and the staff do miss their public. The rest was Not to be! So lots of news!

Firstly thank yous, and tonight we have to thank big time Kelly and Jodie of Watchet Glass and Mandy of Roman Glass (Minehead), they have all worked beyond the call of duty this week in getting us a large piece of laminated glass urgently to replace one in the gibbon house. Also Mark for his regular cash donation and several people for their food and cash donations including of course the local co-ops.

Zoo news. Lucknow zoo celebrates its centenary with a series of celebrations until November 29th including the arrival of 6 new zebra from Israel. Much closer to home Paignton is taking 3 lions from sister zoo Newquay. This will give the lions a much bigger enclosure. Here at Tropiquaria we will have the flying squirrels on show this weekend after a series of "move arounds" and refits in the nocturnal house. They are where the sugar gliders were and the sugar gliders are now where the civet used to be (don't worry she is fine). When I went round this afternoon the squirrels were doing their "all in bed exercise" so I couldn't photograph them, but the sugar gliders were all out, hence tonight's photo. As mentioned earlier the gibbons broke a window this week, at least we think they did, the glass fracture patterns might suggest a different story though!

Next week we are going to Bristol zoo to bring back some new female yellow mongooses, our male will be happy (hopefully!).

Keep well,

Chris, Jane, Izzy, Harvey and all the staff and animals at Tropiquaria

PS Music tonight, the Watchet Conservation Society put this up during the week, just after their meeting, The Stereo twins with "Wish you well". Sadly I had not heard of them before, although apparently they had performed at Stogumber last year. They are world class and have performed with a lot of well known acts. They remind me of Bond with their musical style. The interesting thing about the video is that it was filmed, clearly, on the derelict papermill site in Watchet (just down the road) and we knew nothing about this until the video appeared on youtube a week ago. I know my friend in London Michelle will be keen to research this, and look out her Bond CDs too. If you like young ladies playing violins really well, or old abandoned industrial sites do watch this, it is worth while.

PPS Donors you are continuing to do a wonderful job, our current needs are pears, salad, parsnips, swedes, bananas and melons. All are helpful and saves us money.

14/11/2021

A Zoo post siege,

Lockdown 3 plus 6 months and 3 days

Directors blog on Remembrance Sunday so in some respects a sombre day, but still a beautiful sunny start to the day. Lots of Tropiquaria news, and a few thank yous since the last blog. Earlier this week Lady Jane and I went to the Family Attractions Expo in Birmingham NEC. Not a venue that Lady Jane likes, and paying £16.00 for a days parking didn't impress me too much either. It was a very useful exercise though, with lots of new contacts made for things as diverse as toys for the shop, tops for cage and cheaper, more environmentally rubbish removal. Having been brought up in the West Midlands I also had the pleasure of introducing Lady Jane (a Devon girl), to the wonderful midland habit of having a pub breakfast (£5.95 for all you can eat, at the Dudley Arms!)

Our thank yous are currently to the Co-Ops for food, particularly Williton and Minehead. To Bev and her partner for more animal food and some home made soap, and to several people who have donated towards our aquarium alterations and the replacement of two aquaria.

International zoo news, sadly just announced today 3 snow leopards at a zoo in America have died of covid related causes. Reports of 3 giraffe dying at another zoo (Dallas) as a result of covid vaccination are spreading on social media are totally incorrect, and the zoo has categorically stated that they did not receive the vaccine. Here in the UK we are all starting to take precautions against bird flu (Avian Influenza) which has popped up in several parts of the country, at the moment mainly in poultry farms, and some distance from us. The variety this year is H5N1 which is generally highly pathogenic, and has caused some concern about the possibility of it passing to people, although IT HAS NOT DONE SO in the UK. As yet there have been no cases near us in domestic or wild birds. If you keep birds though look at the APHA guidance to protect them.

The picture today is from our cafe wall. We have a very talented young lady running the cafe at the moment. She has recently taken to decorating the blackboard in there, and this appeared without prompting. I had not realised that as well as the best known red poppy, people may also wear purple, white and black ones on remembrance day for different reasons. The purple on is to remember animals that have died as a result of war, particularly domestic ones in the service of man. Whilst I had a vague idea of the number of human casualties and knew that a lot of horses, donkeys and mules died I hadn't realised that so many dogs, pigeons and camels had also been killed.

Keep well,

Jane, Chris, Izzy, Harvey and all the staff and animals at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer today is Nick Cave and the bad seeds with "Red Right Hand", the theme for "Peaky Blinders", a Midland/Birmingham based series set mainly in the 1920s, primarily about gangsters, but whose lead male characters had all been scarred by their service in World War one. As a social statement it also shows the West Midlands at its industrial best and worst. I know my social sciences friend Mel will have something to say about that.

PPS Donations, as ever we can use salad, pears, parsnips and celery. If anyone has any surplus 4" x 4" posts at 2 metres plus we are starting some fence replacement now that we are down to being closed Tuesday - Friday.

31/10/2021

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to everyone! 👻🎃🎃 except that seagull that steals food from the Wallabies 😡

26/07/2021

A Zoo coming out of siege

Post Lockdown 3, 2months 15 days, and the school holidays have started. A major heat wave, many tons of soil moved and good bye to one of our favourite animals.

Thank you's tonight to several people for donations , Noe (in America) and Mark (in the UK) for cash. The Co-ops in Minehead and Williton for food and several people locally for smaller food donations. Our visitor numbers have been very good, particularly when you consider that the weather has been more consistent with visiting the beach than a zoo.

The buying on line of tickets through Paypal works, but does rather generate a lot of confusion. Despite having clicked through 2 pages stating you cannot do "this less than a day before admission" people continue to do it from the car park before coming in. Then there are multiple telephone calls about not receiving tickets, when we don't send out tickets, and that is explained before they buy the tickets AGAIN! Problem is with the rise in visitor numbers this is 40 telephone calls a day!

Our sad goodbye this week was to Louie, our coati. He had been with us for many years, after coming in, as an adult from Cricket St. Thomas Wildlife Park just before that closed. So we knew he was old, just not how old. Over the years he had lost his tail, when he had an infected bite, and was brilliantly treated by Louise and Adrian. We couldn't use an Elizabethan collar, to keep him away from the wound. So we taped a coke bottle over the tail, which was far more effective. In recent times he developed cataracts, which he coped with well, but a recent bout of arthritis, and a lack of confidence with moving about tipped the balance on quality of life so we said goodbye on Tuesday morning peacefully in his cage before we opened. These are always difficult decisions to make, and all the relevant staff were consulted before the final decision was made. He will be sadly missed.

Unfortunately Coatis will disappear from British zoos over the next few years because the EU has declared them an invasive species so it is illegal to breed, own, supply, rehome, etc.

Keep well,

Chris, Jane, Izzy, Harvey and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight - chosen by Melissa is Whitesnake "Is this love" from 1987, and still one of their most popular concert tracks.

PPS Donors, apples, parsnips, and spring green are our most liked gifts at the moment...

26/06/2021

A Zoo coming out of Siege

Post Lockdown 3, day 40

Directors Blog, and a different one tonight to bring regular supporters up to date with a number of things of interest about Tropiquaria and the happenings of this year.

First of all the Thank yous, donations this week have included some cash (anonymous), several lots of fruit and veg from our regular supporters, and one lot from the Co-op. Tonight, thank you Co-op Williton for all the carrots too. All have helped reduce the outgoings.

Right at the beginning of lockdown 1 we knew that certain things could never be the same again, and that as with any event of evolutionary significance there would be advantages for those who changed to suit the circumstances. We thought about this, and the best way to proceed for Tropiquaria. The decisions were wide, and at many levels. Some I have referred to previously like doing a blog every night to let people know that we were still here, albeit locked in with a lot of hungry animals.

Others I haven't really spoken about before but include some decisions on play equipment and about the animals that we keep. Within the cafe the ball play area was getting old, and we thought that it would be a nightmare to disinfect. So that went, the main play castle was also unlikely to open for some time because the sheer volume of wood would also raise questions about disinfection. With this we decided to reduce the size of the castle, but only by about 5%. These two sacrifices gave us more floor space for tables, an intrinsically safer play area, and no great loss of amenity. i.e. there was still a lot of play equipment, but better ventilated. We also had a lot of wood left over, much in good condition.

Jake took over at this stage and constructed, outside the front of the building, 2 cages one for ferrets and one for guinea pigs. His construction is quite clever because they are in effect temporary structures which are not actually attached to the building. As readers keen on zoos are aware in this country every zoo has to do a first of January stock check of livestock and send the list to the licensing authority . American zoos do something similar, but they generally also record their most popular animals as well. Even some of the big zoos with things like Giant Pandas tend to find their most popular animals are Guinea pigs - hence we decided to acquire some! The mention of them in reviews seems to have borne this out here. A similar situation arose with ferrets. Hence tonights picture, new Guinea Pig and ferret display.

Our other recent change is not covid related and relates to the heating of the hall. As a result of changes in the BBC Wales transmitter we are no longer using heat from transmitter cooling system. We were aware for a few months that this might be happening and have increased our insulation accordingly. We will also be doing an overhaul of our back up heat system shortly. In fact for the month before the transmitter change over the hall was that warm that we didn't use any heat from it. At present we believe that heating during Winter will cost us a bit more, but that it won't make a vast difference overall.

Visitor numbers are still good, today for instance we had 50% more than on the corresponding day in 2019 (we were closed in 2020 on that day). This is with some of the holiday accommodation locally being closed due to staff shortages too. Visitors are in the vast majority, have been VERY nice and very SUPPORTIVE. Again we have had people coming to meet the "dog with a blog" and have their photograph taken with him. Harvey has thoroughly enjoyed this, and I am sure that there are some wonderful pics of him with visitors. If Michelle (visited Friday) is reading this I would love a copy of the pic. you took of him with your daughter, if you could PM me.

Keep Well,

Chris, Jane, Izzy, Harvey and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight Ricky Martin "Living La Vida Loca", a bit fast for me but fits the Saturday night disco theme (have we got those back yet?).

PPS tonight we are donating if anyone locally could use till rolls 44mm x 70mm Non Thermal we have a load that we cannot use free to good home.

22/06/2021

A Zoo coming out of Siege,

Post Lockdown 3, day 35

Directors blog, A warm Tuesday with some nice visitors, and possibly the quietest day since we re-opened. It has been fairly amazing with lots of visitors, the vast majority of whom have been very nice. I think we had two bad reviews on google and trip advisor, but lots of good ones. We have also had lots of things happening that were unexpected. Some involve staff having personal problems, typically not of their making, and I am pleased to say that they have all helped each other and Jane and I to resolve some of these, way beyond the normal call of duty. I never cease to be impressed by the staff and volunteers.

We have also been overwhelmed with comments about the blog from visitors, a few have of whom have come to Somerset to see us, the place and the animals mentioned. Some of these are people who have not visited the area before. Two insisted on having their picture taken with the blogger! I was slightly disappointed that this was Harvey the dog and not me, but he is younger and more handsome!

Thank you tonight to a number of people, we are still getting donations, which are keeping our costs down to a reasonable level. Ones I must mention include food from the Co-Op in Minehead and Williton, Liz for the trailer of stormboard (an amazing new building material made from recycled plastic bottle tops). Also Martin for some interesting business advice

We also had a surprise that was both upsetting and lovely. A lady called Liz visited with a handmade card, her neighbour Dianne, who had made several donations during the lockdown period, had recently died and some of the collection from the funeral was to come to us. It has and Jake has used the money to replace an animal den, that had been partly eaten by its occupants, and to do some barrier improvement.

Animal news for tonight, not zoo related, but amazingly interesting (well for me). Reported in Saturdays Times, fisheries scientists in France have looked at scales from the 27 coelacanths in museums around the world. They found that by using polarised light, the fish scales revealed many more growth rings than were thought to be there originally this suggests that six of the 27 were in their sixties and one was 84. Previously they were only though to live into their 20s. For those who don't know the coelacanth is from an ancient fish lineage that was thought to have gone extinct over 65 million years ago. Then one was found in a South African fish market in1938, and a few more caught near the Comoros in the early 1950s. They typically live at 800 metres depth and so will not survive the pressure changes of being brought to the surface. For this reason we will never see living ones in captivity.

Tonights picture is a pair of our Crested Wood Partridges or Roul Roul Partridges. The female is green, the male darker and with a crest.

Keep well,

Jane Chris, Izzy, Harvey and all the animals and staff at Tropiquaria

PS Music on the computer tonight Paul Weller, "You do something to me" from 1995, according to Paul it is about "unattainable love" enough said.

PPS donations, apples, spring green, fresh salad are always useful, as are parsnips.