Something different: the Sundews

D.madagascariensis

 This week I thought I would take a break from talking about animals and instead write about one of their more unusual predators. I grow a small collection of carnivorous plants and last week at Chester Zoo there was an international meeting of growers from all over Europe. As well as plants for sale, there were also great displays, including from the national collections of Sarracenia and Drosera, and I came away with three of the latter for my collection.

Zoo Review: Exmoor

Tamandua tetradactyla

  Last weekend was the Severn Counties annual summer coach trip. We often visit zoos, and this year we decided to try Exmoor Zoo in north Devon. A fairly small zoo, only set up in its current incarnation 8 years ago, it is situated down one of the typical narrow Devon lanes. An accident on the main road forced our coach to take a longer way round than usual, so the trip down took longer than expected.

Bristol Waterfowl 8: And finally

In 2009 Bristol added a new species to our waterfowl collection, the Marbled duck Marmaronetta angustirostris. We succeeded in breeding them last year, and a small flock can now be seen in the Camargue exhibit by the zoo entrance.

Bristol Waterfowl 7: Meller's Duck

Meller's Duck

 On view in a couple of Bristol’s aviaries are pairs of one of the rarest ducks in the world, the Endangered Meller’s duck, Anas melleri. Originating from Madagascar, where it lives in wetlands in the east of the country and the central plateau, Meller’s ducks superficially resemble a large female mallard, with both the male and female having almost the same plumage. There are several species of ducks, especially in the tropics, which do not have the widely variant plumages familiar from temperate zone species, and this is reflected in their breeding behaviour.

Bristol Waterfowl 6: Wild Goose chase

One of the most beautiful geese in the world is unfortunately also one of the rarest. The Red-breasted Goose Branta ruficollis is currently estimated to have a population of around 35,000 in the wild; perhaps half what it was only 10 years ago, when it was already the rarest in the genus aside from the far more famous Nene Branta sandvicensis.