SureFlap products – they’re not just for pets!

16th August 2016

Bristol Zoo Gardens is the fifth oldest zoo in the world and first opened its doors to the public on Monday 11 July 1836. Since then it has helped save over 175 species from extinction, shown 40 million school aged children the value of nature for human society and has given more than 90 million visitors a great day out. The site is owned and operated by Bristol Zoological Society; a conservation and education charity.

All animals at the zoo are microchipped when they are six months old. At SureFlap, we saw this as an opportunity to introduce our products into the zoo environment to help make life easier for some of the primates there. Our doors are allowing subordinate animals access to areas to eat and rest away from those that are more dominant.

The SureFlap Microchip Cat Flap is being used in the squirrel monkey enclosure. Squirrel monkeys are naturally inquisitive, so within hours of being introduced to the cat flap they were using it with ease.

A breeding male called Boris, along with some of his pals, are using the cat flap to enter the squirrel monkey house. The cat flap is denying entry to the female squirrel monkeys. The reason for this is because males are lower ranking than females and outside of the breeding season the males can get picked on by the females. Allowing Boris to enter one room without the females ensures he always has access to food and somewhere to shelter in peace.

Meanwhile, our SureFlap Microchip Pet Door is being used by the zoo’s lemurs. Lemurs are more nervous creatures, so they were sceptical of the new addition at first, but they were using the pet door within a week.

The ring-tailed lemurs and crowned lemurs share an outside area in the lemur walkthrough, but they have their own inside areas. The crowned lemurs were raiding the ring-tail house and stealing their food. The pet door gives the ring-tailed lemurs access to the ring-tail house, whilst keeping the crowned lemurs out. This ensures that their diets can be more properly managed.

We would like to thank Bristol Zoo Gardens for using SureFlap technology and for supplying us with these great pictures!