In a lovely little place not far from the sea, the old fella takes it easy. He has a garden, a nice view and people who come in every day to look after him. He’s got bad feet, declining eye-sight and bowel problems. Oh, and he’s a 190 kilo gorilla…
Pertinax the Western lowland gorilla, who stood down from his role as boss of the all-male troop at Paignton Zoo, is an OAP – an Old Age...
This Vietnam pheasant chick – and others like it hatched recently at Paignton Zoo – could be the future of its species. Bird keepers at the charity zoo are based in the Avian Breeding Centre, commonly known as the ABC. The chick is being cared for here; while it’s preferable for chicks to be parent reared, keepers will step in to give nature a helping hand when needed. Another six (unrelated)...
What do zoo gardeners get each other for Christmas? A plant, of course – but not just any old plant. Gardeners at Paignton Zoo in Devon have given their colleagues at Marwell Zoo in Hampshire a Titan arum – one of the largest and smelliest plants in the world.
Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) blooms can be up to 3 metres high and 3 metres in circumference and smell like rotting meat...
This is the extraordinary moment the hatching of a rare Mauritius pink pigeon chick was caught on video – and the moment the hard work started in earnest for Paignton Zoo bird keeper Tom Tooley. Senior Bird Keeper Tom is currently 6,000 miles away on the island of Mauritius. But if you think he’s dodged the English winter to relax on a tropical island, think again. He’s spending time with...
Conservationists at family attraction, Dartmoor Zoo, have revealed that they have successfully bred the endangered yellow-headed day gecko in captivity following the hatching of a juvenile gecko on 25 June. The tiny baby is the first to hatch from a clutch of eggs produced by a carefully planned breeding programme which identified the valuable genetics of Dartmoor Zoo's three adult yellow...
Conservationists at family attraction, Dartmoor Zoo, have revealed that they have successfully bred the endangered yellow-headed day gecko in captivity following the hatching of a juvenile gecko on 25 June. The tiny baby is the first to hatch from a clutch of eggs produced by a carefully planned breeding programme which identified the valuable genetics of Dartmoor Zoo's three adult yellow...
One of the world's rarest spiders has been given a fighting chance of survival, after an appeal to build new houses in an old quarry was dismissed on Tuesday (9 June).
The Horrid ground weaver (Nothophantes horridus) is a tiny money spider which has only been found in three sites in Plymouth, nowhere else in the world, and one of those sites has already been built on and lost....
