Paignton Zoo: Part 1/4 - Reptiles, Amphibians, & Fish

Cuban Crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer)

Back on May 17th, my friend and my mother went to next town over and visited Paignton Zoo. It's taken me a really long time to get around to writing about this, but today I am, finally! The zoo is laid out in such a way that groups species that share similar habitats together, which meant that some animals of a similar type were on opposite sides of the park. Therefore, I've decided to make four entries about Paignton Zoo: 'Reptiles, Amphibians, & Fish', 'Birds & Cats', 'Primates & Other Medium/Large Mammals', and 'The Ranch & Everything Else', just to give each post some focus. 

The first fish we saw were the blind Mexican tetra or blind cave fish, which were housed in the Reptile Tropics enclosure.  This is a form of the Mexican tetra species of fish that are native to the Pachón caves of Northern Mexico. Due to the conditions in which they live, this sub-type of the species have evolved to be albino, and born without sight or, in many cases, completely without eyes. 

Blind Mexican Tetra
(Astyanax mexicanus)

Despite their lack of vision, blind cave fish are still able to navigate their way around the water using their lateral lines. These "lines" are groups of specially adapted epithelial cells that run along the length of their bodies. The cells respond to motion in the water around the fish and then transduce the signals they receive into electrical impulses via excitatory synapses in their nervous system. This allows the fish to track prey, engage in social schooling behaviour, and aids spatial orientation.

They were really fascinating little aquatic creatures!

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana)

Indonesian Blue-Tongued Skink
(Tiliqua gigas)

As the name of this habitat would suggest, the main residents of the Reptile Tropics were, of course, reptiles. These included a plumed basilisk, green iguana, corn snake, Vietnamese mossy frog, Indonesian blue-tongued skink, dwarf crocodiles, tortoises, toads, unreal-looking tiny tree frogs, and anacondas.

Green Anaconda
(Eunectes murinus)

Yellow-Banded Poison Dart Frog
(Dendrobates leucomelas)

The next area we entered with these kinds of species in was the Desert House, which actually connects to the Reptile Tropics via a humidity/temperature control room. This also acts as a section to keep the free-flying birds in the Desert from entering the Tropics, and vice versa. 

Some of the desert lizards, such as the gila monster, had been moved out of the public display temporarily, so the only reptiles in the Desert area were tortoises. However, they were still really beautiful and I enjoyed watching them snuffling around! 

On the way to the Reptile Nursery, which was the next place we headed to, we also happened to see the lovely giant tortoise below and her (?) friend wandering around their Primley home. (I should point out that the orangey-red appearance is due to the mud/dirt in this area being that colour). 

Aldabra Giant Tortoise
(Geochelone gigantea)

Giant tortoises can live for an extremely long time; the longest genuine recorded lifespan having been 152 years! These particular tortoises were confiscated in the UK by customs, as part of a crack-down on the illegal wildlife trade, and were "deposited" in Paignton in 1986. Assuming that they weren't very old at the time of their arrival, that would make them just over 30 years old now. That's not even a fifth into their possible lifespans!

Aldabra Giant Tortoise

(Geochelone gigantea)

Electric Blue Gecko
(Lygodactylus williamsi)

Electric Blue Gecko
(Lygodactylus williamsi)

Next we arrived in the Reptile Nursery, most of which is a "behind the scenes" working area for zoo staff, with large viewing windows for the public to look through. Through those windows, we were able to see some colourful little electric blue geckos, climbing around on the glass of their tanks! These little climbers were approximately 7 or 8cm long and were, as the name would suggest, an electric blue colour on their back. This faded into orange and then yellow on their stomachs, and there were black markings on their throat areas.

Only the (more dominant) males are this vibrant shade of blue, with the socially suppressed males tending to be black or grey and the females ranging from dark brown to bright green with turquoise accents. Also, the females will usually have little to no black patterning on their throats. Therefore, judging by the colour and markings, I assume that all the geckos we saw that day must have been male.

This particular species of gecko is critically endangered and, in the wild, is only found in 8 km2 (3.1 sq mi) of the Kimboza Forest, in the foothills of the Uluguru Mountains, in eastern Tanzania. It's also been introduced to some parts of Florida as well, though it is not a native species. Since they're so endangered - largely due to the pet trade and habitat destruction - a captive breeding project was initiated in 2013. The project was started by the EAZA, via its zoos - Paignton being one of them - across Europe, in 2013 and it's really nice to see that the program seems to be going well!

Apart from the geckos, the only other animals we saw that day on public display in the Reptile Nursery were some snakes but, unfortunately, I can't remember what kind they were. There's a picture of (one of?) them below:

Snake(s)

At the entrance to Crocodile Swamp

"Danger: Crocodiles;
NO Swimming" 

After the Nursery, we made our way to the Crocodile Swamp. Opposite the entrance, we were greeted by the ominous little reminder warning sign pictured on the right. 

The cuban crocodile, shown at the top of this post, was one of those housed in the Swamp and it, along with all the other crocodiles were amazingly easy to photograph.

Obviously, reptiles in general like to sunbathe or bask in whatever artificial heat source they have available to them, but the crocodiles seemed particularly fond of it. Perhaps due to their size? Does their amphibious nature lower their body temperature even further than some of their other reptilian cousins? Or is it simply because it was the daytime and they are nocturnal hunters (in the wild), so they were just really sleepy? I really have no idea to be honest!

Cuban Crocodile
(Crocodylus rhombifer)

Saltwater Crocodile
(Crocodylus porosus)

Even though this enclosure was called Crocodile Swamp, there were actually snakes, fish, lizards, and all sorts of interesting plants inside as well (more on the plants in another post though).

Burmese Python
(Python bivittatus)

Zebra Mbuna
(Maylandia zebra)

    

Reticulated Python
(Python reticulatus)

Mangrove Monitor Lizard
(Varanus indicus)

Mangrove Monitor Lizard
(Varanus indicus)

As we walked around the Swamp, I was aware of the array of educational materials dotted around the walkways and hidden in nooks & crannies. It was mostly aimed at children, but interesting nevertheless. When you looked through the sphere on the "Sensational Snakes" interactive information board, there was a hologram guide, waiting to teach the onlooker amusing yet relevant anecdotes about snakes and various other related topics.

Golden Mantella Frogs
(Mantella aurantiaca)

The last section we visited - at least, the last section for this post that is - was the Amphibian Ark, which was home to all manner of beautiful frogs, newts and, despite them being amphibians, even a few fish as well. When we entered into the low-level lighting inside the room, there was a display about frog habitat destruction in the rainforest and short clips from a program narrated by Sir David Attenborough accompanied it.

Some of the brightest, but also the smallest in the Ark were the golden mantella frogs, measuring just 2.5cm long! These frogs are somewhat unusual as rather than croak to warn others or attract a mate, they make a series of repetitive clicking sounds instead.

As with the reptilian electric blue gecko, this amphibious little golden Anura is also critically endangered. The wild populations live only in three specific areas centred around the city of Moramanga in Madagascar and, as such, is both being studied and bred in captivity at the zoo.

Other frog species in the Ark included blue-legged mantella frogs (endemic to Madagascar), green and black poison dart frogs (native to Central America and northwestern parts of South America), mission golden-eyed tree frogs (native to the Amazon Rainforest in South America), and Australian green tree frogs (native to Australia and New Guinea).

Blue-legged Mantella
(Mantella expectata)

Green & Black Poison Dart Frog
(Dendrobates auratus)

Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog
(Trachycephalus resinifictrix)

Mission Golden-Eyed Tree Frog
(Trachycephalus resinifictrix)

Australian Green Tree Frogs
(Litoria caerulea)

Then we went around to the last few tanks that contained two lovely salamanders (Anderson's salamander; a critically endangered, neotenic salamander, native to the Mexican state of Michoacán) and a few little fish (guppies), plus the remainder of the hiding green tree frogs.

Anderson's Salamander
(Ambystoma andersoni)

Anderson's Salamander
(Ambystoma andersoni)

Overall, the reptiles, amphibians and fish were really amazing to watch and find out about. Each species and individual was fascinating in its own right, and if I had more time (and space) I'd love to write more in-depth about each one!




Next up in the Zoo entries with be 'Birds & Cats', but for now, I'll leave you with some not so realistic friends I met along the path of today's themes...

Jungle Snake

Killer Croc...with flowers?

Killer Croc...has a bomb...tick tock...