New Arrivals at Macaque Medina
We’ve welcomed four new additions to the troop at our freshly themed exhibit
Vivian and Leila, our resident Barbary macaques who’ve been part of our zoo family for many years, have had not one, not two but FOUR new arrivals join them at their Macaque Medina home!
We welcomed four new additions to the zoo all the way from Blair Drummond Safari Park in Scotland as part of our membership with EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria) Ex situ Programmes (EEPs) . Meet fellow females Fia, Harper, Gigi and Annalee.
Fia is four years old, Gigi is three, and Harper is still a youngster at two years old and then there’s 12 year old Annalee. All three were born at Blair Drummond apart from Annalee, who arrived at Blair Drummond as a rescue from the pet trade.
Both of our original macaques, Vivian and Leila were also rescued from the pet trade many years ago and arrived here at our zoo around 2008. They’ve been part of the Folly family for many years now, but this year, they’ve started a brand new chapter, moving into an upgraded enclosure designed especially with them and future macaque residents in mind! For the benefit of the existing residents as well as the impending arrival of these four new macaques, the newly themed enclosure was updated to include a brand-new house for the troop, with plenty of safe indoor space and branches to climb and shelter as well as a bio floor where the troop can forage for insects. The outdoor area of the enclosure includes more climbing features and different levels, a pond and ‘tree house’ style shelter for the animals. All six macaques are now starting their new chapter together at our Macaque Medina enclosure.
Mixing new animals with an established group is always a challenge, and our zoo team were prepared for some unsettled behaviour within the troop, in particular from Vivian and Leila who have been set in their ways having been with each other for such a long time. With new youngsters joining the resident, more mature ladies, the introduction was naturally one to be monitored by our well trained animal care team.
“It’s always nerve-wracking to introduce new arrivals into an established group. The arrival of Fia, Harper,
rosie badger, primate keeper and assistant zoo manager
Gigi and Annalee certainly ruffled Leila and Vivian, who weren’t too keen on new arrivals taking over their space. Macaques are quite vocal when there’s anything they’re unhappy with,
so there was some ‘shouting’ as well as some chasing around the enclosure whilst they tried to assert their dominance over the new arrivals.
This is completely normal, expected behaviour whilst the troop get to know each other and should settle down in the coming days”.
Barbary macaques are an endangered species due to issues such as deforestation, the pet trade and human interference. Over 50% of wild Barbary macaque populations have declined over the last 40 years. It’s now thought that fewer than 8,000 Barbary macaques remain in the wild. Our new exhibit highlights these threats in the hope guests learn more about them and how they can help with conservation efforts.- and the aim of the Macaque Medina enclosure is to highlight these threats and educate our guests on what they can do to help with conservation efforts.
Barbary macaques are active, social primates that climb, explore and interact with their environment and their new environment at our zoo encourages this, with more varied levels and structures that promote these natural behaviours. We support a number of conservation charities but we’ve been supporting Barbary Macaques Awareness and Conservation (BMAC’s) work in Morocco for a number of years. They work tirelessly to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the macaques.
We’re so excited to have a new group join our macaques, not only to make a more exciting exhibit for our guests – but as an important step in highlighting the plight of this incredible species.