A top South Devon brewery has created a special beer - for gorillas.
The Bays Great Gorilla Ale is a one-off brew celebrating Paignton Zoo’s 90th birthday and The Great Gorillas Project.
The project features life-sized model gorillas sponsored by businesses, painted in original designs by specially commissioned artists and displayed in a unique public art trail around Exeter and the English Riviera.
Bays Brewery, in Paignton, is supporting the charity event by brewing the limited edition cask-only ale. Peter Salmon, from Bays, said: “We are delighted to support such...
Caring for animals at Paignton Zoo is a real team effort. Take the work that goes into looking after the zebras’ hooves. With horses it’s straightforward, but the zebras are wild animals. The task requires vets, vet nurses, keepers, a farrier, a lot of mobile technology and a general anaesthetic.
All the zebras have their feet checked periodically; today it’s the turn of male Urias. He is anaesthetised by Paignton Zoo vets Ghislaine Sayers and Jo Reynard. Equipment is set up to monitor his heart rate and breathing and to control the flow of anaesthetic gas. Once he’s stable the...
Zoo keepers at Living Coasts in Torquay are using a hi-tech DNA test to discover the sex of newborn chicks more quickly.
The test, using cells from inside the shell of a newly hatched egg, has been developed by a company called Avian Biotech of Truro, Cornwall.
Senior Living Coasts keeper Amy Fitzgerald explained: “You can use feathers to do the test, but you have to wait until the birds have their full plumage - for penguins this is normally about 12 weeks. All we have to do now is send off pieces of dry eggshell. DNA is extracted from the vascular material lining the...
