Elvis the warty pig eats his family at Bristol Zoo: monkey killed by otters

Visayan warty pigs at Edinburgh Zoo. Image by Glen Bowman / CC BY-SA 2.0

A zoo in Bristol lost some of its most endangered animals when a male warty pig killed his family and a rare monkey was eaten by otters.

The incidents happened at Bristol Zoo Gardens last year and were shortly followed by further distress when three rainbow lorikeets escaped.

The zoo said the deaths had upset keepers.

The most serious incident occurred in December when Elvis, a male Visayan warty pig, attacked his partner Manilla, who had just given birth to a piglet, killing both.

Two weeks later, an endangered golden lion tamarin monkey escaped and fell into a pond where it became trapped and was eaten by American otters.

Just a week ago three rainbow lorikeets, usually found in Australia, escaped through a hole in their cage and flew off. One is still on the loose.

Dr Christoph Schwitzer, the zoo’s director of conservation, said: “Over the course of the last three months a couple of very unfortunate and unforeseen incidents have happened with our animal collection at the zoo.

“In July we received a female warty pig called Manilla and we paired her up with a male called Elvis, who came a couple of months later.

“The two got on very well together and we kept them together.

“A few weeks into their stay here the female showed some subtle signs of behaviour changes, so our team of keepers called the in-house vets to assess her.

“We did that and at that stage there was nothing to indicate that she would have been at a late stage of pregnancy because the two animals had not been together for that long yet.

“We concluded that the female was perhaps showing signs of false pregnancy, so we decided at that point to leave the pair together.

“A separation, we thought, would have inflicted further stress upon the female and possibly the male.

“Very unfortunately and unexpectedly the female did give birth at night to a piglet and the male attacked both piglet and mother, inflicting severe injuries that in the end proved fatal.”

Dr Schwitzer added: “This left not only our team of keepers and vets distressed but all of us. We care for thousands of animals here at Bristol Zoo. Our keepers form very strong bonds with these animals.”

Warty pigs – native to the Visayan Islands in the central Philippines – are so rare in the wild that their numbers are unknown.

In the wild, there are two separate remaining populations of warty pigs – on the islands of Panay and Negros.

The golden-headed lion tamarin is a squirrel-sized monkey with a long golden mane. They are native to Brazil, where there are just 10,000 in the wild and they are considered endangered.

Staff said he fell into the lake surrounding its island enclosure and helpers arrived at the location too late to intervene.

Rainbow lorikeets are relatively common but capture for the pet trade is a threat to the species and three escaped from their aviary through a hole covered by vegetation.

A Bristol Zoo spokeswoman said: “Here at Bristol Zoo we actively encourage natural animal behaviours and group dynamics.

“Our animals are also housed in natural enclosures, replicating environments they would be used to in the wild.

“As a result, on rare occasions, despite our best efforts, we are not able to prevent unfortunate and unforeseen situations from occurring.

“We are a conservation charity committed to ensuring the survival of endangered species in the wild as well as in human care.

“Such incidents are distressing for zoo staff, particularly for the keepers who care for the animals involved.

“The zoo is inspected regularly under the Zoo Licensing Act and adheres to the strict animal welfare and husbandry guidelines laid out by British Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and Welfare Research Advisory Board (WRAB).”

(Press Association)