I will do so by saying that the gibbons offshow will soon be moving back to London as work is progressing on their new home.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade zoo 2017
- Thread starter Max Blundell
- Start date
-
- Tags
- whipsnade zoo
I will do so by saying that the gibbons offshow will soon be moving back to London as work is progressing on their new home.
I know that I am not known for my positivity where ZSL are concerned , but I actually think developing a long wasted area of the zoo (as with the new spider monkey enclosure before this) is one of the better ideas for a new enclosure, nothing lost & another species regained. I hope this trend continues
Where abouts is the new spider monkey enclosure at London zoo? Must pay a visit very soon!
It was built in the outside courtyard in the Clore rainforest, where yellow mongoose could be viewed through the window previously
Last edited:
Right at the exit to the Clore I believe.
Last edited by a moderator:
Oh right I didn't realise they were there. Is it on what was the old outside bit? I remember years ago you could walk around an outside enclosure
Yes, one of the old outside areas.
On my visit today I noticed that the flamingoes again had access to their normal outdoor pool although the captive birds have still not returned to Lake Daedalus.
I saw eight yaks in the old onager paddock today.
The Queen is set to visit Whipsnade tomorrow to unveil the new Centre for Elephant Care. Opens to the public on Wednesday.
Does anyone know if any of the herd are pregnant at present? Would be great to get some more female calves seeing as the majority of the recent births at Whipsnade have been male with the exception of Elizabeth.
http://m.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/queen/story-30248223-detail/story.html
Does anyone know if any of the herd are pregnant at present? Would be great to get some more female calves seeing as the majority of the recent births at Whipsnade have been male with the exception of Elizabeth.
http://m.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/queen/story-30248223-detail/story.html
Will ask tomorow , I am going to see the new centre for elephants so will ask if I see any keepers x
Attempts are being made to breed Kaylee and Donna this year. Azizah is now retired from breeding.
A piece of non-elephant news: the ring-tailed lemurs have a baby!
Aren't they going to have a problem as Donna can't breed with her father emmett? Good if Kaylee has another calf as she hasn't had a baby for a few years,
A.I from unrelated male!
Glad to hear that!
Thanks for the info. I had presumed Kaylee was retired from breeding as she hasn't had a calf since Donna 8 years ago.
Do you know why has Azizah been retired from breeding given that she is younger than Kaylee and has been producing calves every 3-4 years recently?
This means the potential breeding cows at Whipsnade are now Kaylee, Karishma and Donna.
Health and welfare issues afaik. The keepers have alluded there may also be some underlying issues regarding Kaylee conceiving which may require further investigation, although it has'nt been for want of trying!
As I've stated in previous posts, it does leave Whipsnade in an intriguing (worrying?) position regarding it's elephant breeding: 3 non-breeders (Mya, Lucha and Azizah) 1 recent birth (Karishma) leaving currently 1 breeding cow (Donna) if Kaylee can't conceive. The zoo have stated that the breeding bull is going nowhere and there are'nt any plans that I know of of bringing in new females in the short term, even though the new facility has the capacity to hold more elephants.
Aziza has horrible arthritis in her front legs and also suffers from foot abscesses - they are lucky she is still alive and didn`t die before her last calf had reached the age where baby elephants can survive without their mother`s milk. It is certainly the right decision to not let her have any more calves.
I am shocked that they are planning to do AI on Donna, though - the modern and natural way would be to exchange the bull. But I guess it`s the usual story - the keepers are attached to him and he is easy to handle, so they don`t want to let him go even tough it would be better.
I don`t think Whipsnade has too few breeding females, though - 2 who will almost certainly breed (again) and one who may breed again (Kaylee) - that`s a good number and not too few. Sometimes females do have long intervals between births; that happens and does not mean that Kaylee can`t concieve again. Even if she doesn`t, two breeding females are fine. If both Donna and Karishma have another female calf or two in the next years, the future of Whipsnade`s herd is secured. I think bringing in new, unrelated females would be a very bad idea because Whipsndade already has too many unrelated females in their herd, which is already causing enoguh social problems - Mya and Kaylee must always be seperated, and although Karishma can be kept together with the others at the moment, that is possible (or, in my opinion, likely) to change in the future. Whipsnade already needs space to house two groups due to the Mya-Kaylee-problem, and they shouldn`t fill their facility to capacity now because they may well need space to keep another subgroup (Karishma and her calves) in the future. In addition, as I mentioned, a herd with two breeding females has the potential to grow quite soon on its own.
I am shocked that they are planning to do AI on Donna, though - the modern and natural way would be to exchange the bull. But I guess it`s the usual story - the keepers are attached to him and he is easy to handle, so they don`t want to let him go even tough it would be better.
I don`t think Whipsnade has too few breeding females, though - 2 who will almost certainly breed (again) and one who may breed again (Kaylee) - that`s a good number and not too few. Sometimes females do have long intervals between births; that happens and does not mean that Kaylee can`t concieve again. Even if she doesn`t, two breeding females are fine. If both Donna and Karishma have another female calf or two in the next years, the future of Whipsnade`s herd is secured. I think bringing in new, unrelated females would be a very bad idea because Whipsndade already has too many unrelated females in their herd, which is already causing enoguh social problems - Mya and Kaylee must always be seperated, and although Karishma can be kept together with the others at the moment, that is possible (or, in my opinion, likely) to change in the future. Whipsnade already needs space to house two groups due to the Mya-Kaylee-problem, and they shouldn`t fill their facility to capacity now because they may well need space to keep another subgroup (Karishma and her calves) in the future. In addition, as I mentioned, a herd with two breeding females has the potential to grow quite soon on its own.
Stuart Sadler
Member
Tootsie the White Rhino is seperated and signage says this is because she is being readied to move under the European breeding programme.
I did see the transport crate when I visited. I doubt she will stay in the UK, she hasn't been breeding since she left West Mid Safari Park. Did she not have a good relationship with the bull or is there a problem with the bull as he has bred before but stopped in about 2009?
Good question!