Aquarium 6: Batfish

P.orbicularis adult

 Among the reef fish in the big tank are a small shoal of juvenile Orbiculate Batfish, Platax orbicularis. Superficially similar to the well known freshwater aquarium angelfish (which was originally described as a Platax), they belong to a group of mostly monochrome, large tropical marine fish commonly referred to as spadefishes. As juveniles they have very tall dorsal and anal fins, which combined with a circular, compressed body gives a triangular body shape. As they mature their fins become proportionally smaller, with a more rectangular body shape. They are all fairly large fish, with some species growing to over 70cm

Wildplace 6: Boreray Sheep

Boreray Sheep

One of the minor but more curious stories in the complicated history of Britain is the story of St Kilda. Located in the Outer Hebrides, it is the most isolated of the archipelago, and today at least is uninhabited except for sea birds, which have the largest colonies in Britain. Up until the 1920’s it had been continually inhabited since at least the Bronze Age, if not earlier, but contact with the outside world for the few hundred (at most) inhabitants was only every few months at best, and in the winter storms they were cut off for much of the year. By historical times they were Gaelic-speaking, living a subsistence=level existence based around small farms, a few sheep, and harvesting young from the vast seabird colonies that are still a feature of the island and its associated offshore sea stacks.

Wildplace 5: Grey Wolf

Part of the aim of Wildplace is to show animals which were once part of the natural fauna of Britain, and one of the most iconic of all extinct British animals is the wolf. Once so numerous in Britain that tributes were levied in wolf skins, and guards were employed to protect sheep flocks, they became extinct in England by the 15^th century, and in Scotland by the late 17^th century. In Ireland they persisted until the 18^th century.

Wildplace 4: Pigmy Goats

Pigmy Goat

One of the longest domesticated animals (after the dog) in the world is the domestic goat. From its original home in Asian mountains, it has travelled with humans all over the world, and unfortunately it is also one of the ecologically destructive. Despite this, it is also one of the most useful of all domestic animals, as its appetite for vegetation of all kinds makes it a prime converter of inedible plants into meat that humans can eat, and milk that they can drink. With such a long history, numerous breeds have been developed for more specialised purposes, from dairy to wool to meat. At Wildplace the goats are part of the Malagasy Village, and are one of the most commonly seen breeds in a display situation, the Pigmy Goat.

Wildplace 3: Guineafowl

The next exhibit along the path is the Malagasy village and lemur walk through. The first section is linked to a project that Wildplace and Bristol Zoo support on the Sahamalaza peninsula in the remote north west of Madagascar, where the researchers are investigating the endemic Blue-Eyed Black Lemur and Sahamalaza Sportive Lemur among other species of this little-known region. As with all the habitats on Madagascar there is grave human pressure from subsistence farming and bushmeat hunting, and so the consortium of organisations also support local education, improvements in farming practises, and healthcare in order to simultaneously increase local support and hopefully reduce pressure on the environment. For this reason the visitor first passes through a village exhibit, with a open-fronted primary classroom like the ones that the zoo supports, and typical farm animals that one might encounter. The first of these is a small flock of chicken-sized domestic poultry, guineafowl.

At their best now: Camellias

This year, as various interesting plants in the zoos gardens come into their best season, I will be writing posts on their natural (and garden) history. Kicking off the series, our Camellia Walk (between Twilight World and the Reptile House) has several large and old Camellias in full blossom. They started some weeks ago, but the cold spring has held them back.

Review of the year part 2: In-situ projects

As well as the various education and captive breeding programs run from Bristol, the zoo is also involved in several in-country projects all over the world, usually as part of a consortium with other zoos and conservation organisations. Here are some of the projects we are involved in, and links to where you can find out more.


Cameroon

orphaned chimps at AAA

The bushmeat trade in Africa is one of the major threats to Africa’s wildlife. Contrary to what is commonly believed, this is not a subsistence-level practise, rather in many cases a supply of expensive wild meat to the cities for high-end purchasers. As a result of the hunting of primates especially, a large number of orphans result. These tend to be kept for a while and then eaten later, but with improved law enforcement many are now confiscated and go to various rescue centres. Since 1997 Bristol has been working with the charity Ape Action Africa, providing veterinary support, education training, and publicity for support and care, with possible eventual rehabilitation, at the Mefou National Park. There are already a small number of regular visitors, and the potential for increasing eco-tourism is certainly there.

Unhappy as Clams

T.derasa

One of the smaller tanks in the aquarium has a new exhibit – a small member of one of the largest bivalves on earth, the Southern Giant Clam Tridacna derasa. With a maximum size of 60cm, it exceeded only by T.gigas, which can reach nearly 1m across. While they are of course exceeded in mass by several species of squid, for a mollusc that is still a pretty respectable size, and the weight of the heavy shell increases their bulk. This giant size is all the odder when it turns out they are actually most closely related to the standard small cockles, Cerastoderma, that can be found around the shores of the UK. This is not due to an especially long life, but rather rapid growth rates – they can be 30cm across within 10 years in some species.

Galliformes 14: And finally…

Japanese Onagadori - tails can grow to 8m!

The last of this series should perhaps have been the first, as its Latin name Gallus domesticus is the source of the name of the whole order Galliformes – the ‘chicken-like’ birds. These are actually the commonest bird in Britain (115 million adults in mid-summer according to official statistics) and the British eat 877 million each year, plus a vast number of eggs. It is probably the main source of animal protein in the British diet, but production is notorious for animal welfare issues, especially around housing conditions for the birds during the few short weeks it takes for them to grow to a saleable size. Partly as a result, many more people these days are keeping chickens in their back gardens. Unfortunately, a desire to see their eggs produced in a more humane living environment is not always matched by a proper knowledge of medical care and diet, and concerns have been raised that these back garden birds may constitute a disease reservoir that may be a problem to commercial flocks. In addition, many cities now have large populations of urban foxes, which can be a serious threat to birds kept in open-topped pens, especially when the owners are at work.

Galliformes 13: Turkeys, domestic and wild

Stag (male) turkey displaying

A survey of all the galliform birds that can be encountered in the UK would be incomplete without covering the two domesticated species that just about everyone except vegetarians will eat each year, the turkey and the chicken. I will cover chickens (which have a long and complex cultural as well as culinary history) next week, but this week I will look at a bird that is going to feature in a lot of peoples meals in the next month or so.

Galliformes 7: Red-Legged Partridge

A.rufa (France)

In 1770 a new species of partridge in addition to our native Grey Partridge was introduced into the UK for hunting. This was the Red-Legged or French Partridge, Alectoris rufa, and releases continue to this day on game estates.

Galliformes 4: Common Pheasant

P.colchicus male - hybrid swarm type

On a drive through the countryside in much of the UK, the most instantly recognizable bird you have a good chance of seeing is a Common or Ring-Necked Pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. Although most people think of it as native, it is in fact an introduced species, and like many pheasants its natural distribution is in Asia, reaching no farther west than the Republic of Georgia in the Caucasus (ancient Colchis of Jason and the Argonauts fame, which is where the specific name comes from). The range extends from their westwards north of the Himalaya as far as the Pacific, reaching north to Siberia and south to northern Vietnam and Taiwan. In Japan it is replaced by the closely related Green Pheasant, P.versicolor. Wherever it is found, the habitat preference is for grassland and farmland with small copses and woodland edge, which it needs for roosting and nesting.

Aquarium tour: It came from the Amazon

In the centre of the aquarium is our walk-through tank. One of the first in the world, though now outclassed by many newer buildings, it was actually created from an old 19th century bear pit. That in turn was a modification of the original building, one of two lime kilns that were on the site before it was acquired by the zoo back in 1835. A great deal of the buildings in Clifton and the surrounding area were built with cement made on the Bristol Zoo site.


There are various species of Amazonian fish in the walk-through tank, but the largest are our Pacu, Colossoma macropomum. As you might guess from the name, they are very large fish, about 1m long and probably weighing around 30kg. They are actually fairly closely related to their smaller, but more famous, cousins, the various species of predatory piranha, but unlike them are omnivorous, with a strong preference for vegetation and fruits of trees.

A Tour through the Aquarium: American Paddlefish

The first large tank in the Aquarium is dedicated to a variety of ‘primitive’ fishes, whose ancestors split from the ancestors of more modern fish such as perch and carp in the distant past. Still surviving today, the Chondrostean fish are characterised by a great reduction in bone and a skeleton that is mostly cartilage. They also often have a shark-like heterocercal tail, and were at one time thought to be close to the sharks. It is now plain that they are modified ray-finned fish, and the surviving forms are not necessarily even closely related to each other. We have two species at Bristol, the Sterlet (a small European species of sturgeon) and the subject of this article, the American Paddlefish Polyodon spathula.

Royal Bath & West Show

This weekend I spent two tiring days at the Royal Bath & West Show south of Bristol. This is the largest agricultural show still running in the UK, and has been in operation since 1777. I went down to help out at the Severn Counties stand, but I took along a small collection of my own animals to show the public – mostly invertebrates of various kinds, but also lizards and snakes. Judging by the responses I got, the visitors were mostly very interested.


Exhibitors have to get down to the show grounds early, which means you see some sights that you won’t get otherwise, like seeing a Highland Cow getting its coat combed and blow dried in preparation for the show ring, and helping carry a 50kg African Spur-Thighed tortoise up a flight of stairs to the British Chelonia Group stand.