ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2023

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rjh said:
The new young male wolverine, which has not been named yet, was moved from off show to the smaller wolverine enclosure this morning. Fi has the run of the larger area and they can see and smell each other through the fencing.
A keeper told us that Puff had been showing signs of pain, which is very unusual for wild animals like wolverines, and due to his age, 14, was put to sleep. Apparently wolverines usually live to 6 in the wild and around 13 in captivity.
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On my visit, the smaller Wolverine enclosure was covered up by weave fencing. Do you just mean that the fencing is gone, or that he was originally held somewhere else entirely?

I assume that this photo I took in May was of Puff. He was a lovely animal, far more energetic than other wolverines I have seen, and always able to entertain crowds by chasing pigeons into trees, surveying his enclosure from the top of logs or rolling around right below them. He will be very much missed.

https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/wolverine.652581/#media
 
Kalaw said:
On my visit, the smaller Wolverine enclosure was covered up by weave fencing. Do you just mean that the fencing is gone, or that he was originally held somewhere else entirely?

I assume that this photo I took in May was of Puff. He was a lovely animal, far more energetic than other wolverines I have seen, and always able to entertain crowds by chasing pigeons into trees, surveying his enclosure from the top of logs or rolling around right below them. He will be very much missed.

https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/wolverine.652581/#media
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Yes that's him. That pink nose is always the giveaway :) Isn't it great we all enjoyed him so much.
 
Very sad news indeed, though a life well lived!

Puff, along with an older female Pigh (“pie”) was one of a number of animals of a founder group of species that came to Whipsnade in the late Noughties when the zoo reimagined its Europe zone as “Wild Wild Whipsnade.” Along with wolverine, lynx, moose and wild boar arrived to complement the existing stock of brown bear, European bison, reindeer and wolves.

The addition of these species represented a significant investment in the living collection at Whipsnade when, at the time, the onus was on big monetary investments at London (Penguin Beach, Gorilla Kingdom, Tiger Territory).
 
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Panthera1981 said:
Very sad news indeed, though a life well lived!

Puff, along with an older female Pigh (“pie”) was one of a number of animals of a founder group of species that came to Whipsnade in the late Noughties when the zoo reimagined its Europe zone as “Wild Wild Whipsnade.” Along with wolverine, lynx, moose and wild boar arrived to complement the existing stock of brown bear, European bison, reindeer and wolves.
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He leaves a good legacy too with Helga who is now at Dudley and Freya.
 
Kalaw said:
On my visit, the smaller Wolverine enclosure was covered up by weave fencing. Do you just mean that the fencing is gone, or that he was originally held somewhere else entirely?
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The new wolverine had been held off show in a different area since he arrived about 4 weeks ago, The weave fencing is still in place so you can only catch glimpses of him when he passes near the wire fencing at the end of the dens.
 
Visited today with the main intention of seeing the new lions. A success! All three were sharing the main enclosure, though the girls were keeping a healthy distance from the new male who clearly has a lot more growing to do! Keepers were regularly monitoring the group, so mixing must have only recently started.

Aside from this, a lot of the heritage signing around the zoo is in an atrocious condition, particularly that of the Lubetkin elephant house. Bleached, torn and barely legible. The house itself is now in as worse a state as I can ever remember, now surrounded by metal crash barriers. It really isn’t a good look when it’s one of the first things you see when entering the zoo.
 
I was reading through the ZSL member's magazine, and found some rather interesting news of sorts. Apologies if this has already been mentioned elsewhere:

Home for British Wildlife:
"Whipsnade Zoo is already a haven for British wildlife, like Red Kites and butterflies, but plans are underway to open a native species conservation and breeding centre at the Zoo, where we can breed Hazel Dormice ready for introduction. We also hope to breed populations of Red-backed Shrike, a small bird that has all but disappeared from Britain, and the Pool Frog, which went extinct in the UK in the 1990s, but we have since helped to reintroduce to areas of East Anglia."

The article also mentions how ZSL is already helping with reintroduction of native species, with London Zoo's vet hospital having the facilities needed to offer quarantine homes of sorts for native animals, particularly Hazel Dormice, before they are released into the wild. A new centre will allow them to help much further, and seems like a very exciting idea to me.
 
Kalaw said:
We also hope to breed populations of Red-backed Shrike, a small bird that has all but disappeared from Britain
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Should this come to fruition, I imagine this will take place off-show much like the now defunct Corncrake breeding the zoo once did. I’m not sure, however, how successful this program was.
 
Panthera1981 said:
Should this come to fruition, I imagine this will take place off-show much like the now defunct Corncrake breeding the zoo once did. I’m not sure, however, how successful this program was.
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The article refers to this as well. Regarding the success:

"Few now return to our shores, but birds bred at Whipsnade have helped set up a new population in Cambridgeshire."
 
Had a lovely afternoon at Whipsnade in the torrential rain! Made for a quiet zoo and some active animals which was good. Was a full waterproofs sort of day though.

It was sad to see Puff’s picture sign gone on the wolverine enclosure. However it was nice to see the new male who is now in with Fi and has been for about four days according to one of the keepers and getting on ok. The new male is good looking and seems very active - both wolverines were running about in the enclosure. Good to see the tradition of ‘most active wolverines’ carrying on. The new male doesn’t have a sign yet.

The rain and cooler temperatures had the bears play fighting in their pool which was fun to watch. Similarly the rhinos ran around chasing each other in the rain. The lions were sensibly in bed somewhere though.

Was great to see two new flamingo chicks in their pond, one a bit older than the other. Always great to see successful hatching in the nests.

Got excellent views of the Japanese crane chick today which was great.
 
Lafone said:
Similarly the rhinos ran around chasing each other in the rain. .
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Rain seems to stimulate this behaviour in G.I Rhinos. I can remember as a child in the 1950's seeing the pair, Mohan and Mohini, behaving in a similar fashion in their old paddock near the Giraffe House. Its now an empty space. Back then my visits always seemed to coincide with awful weather!
 
Rare visit during school holidays and it wasnt too bad apart from one instance.

Saw the two Blue Cranes, really nice space for them! There was also a White Stork but keepers removed it later so hopefully it is ok. Magpie Geese have replaced the Blue Crane in the old enclosure. Two Emu were in the first enclosure on the way into the passage thru asia.

Really like the Langur/Babirusa enclosure, saw a Babirusa outside and a Langur in the excellent inside area. Really nice to have these species on show.

Saw Malik (male African Lion) for the first time, has a lot of growing to go so really looking forward to seeing how the pride developes with the new three.

Low point was a grotesquely loud family who not only kept shouting about needing the toilets but were also making very loud crude comments. Real shame.
 
Another thing I forgot to mention is that there is now a hotwired area in the passage thru asia that looks like it can be used to split animals if needed. The Horses were in it yesterday.

I do have a question, the indoor Langur (previously sloth bear) area has obviously had the doors into it for quite sometime. Does anyone know what that house was used for before the Bears? I dont think the paddock existed before the sloth bears arrived. My memory is awful!
 
Had a lovely day out at Whipsnade today for the 2100hrs summer finish. Got there as it opened and was nearly the last out! Was pretty quiet as the weather was torrential rain and then some rain. It brightened up for an hour around 3 and then rained again. Made for a nice visit though with active animals and not too many people and as they say no such thing as bad weather just inappropriate clothing. I take my hat off to the education team doing the talks in the evening in the pouring rain.

The horses and foals were in the wired off area in the passage through asia paddock - I assumed it was a laminitis precaution with the grass and the weather as it has been, but it might be something else.

The blue cranes were showy in their new space.

Was lovely to see the new zebra foal out and about (2 weeks old tomorrow).

Enjoyed seeing the langurs indoors now the house is open again.

New wolverine (whose name is Bodie apparently though there is no sign yet) was out and about.

The bears were also play fighting and chasing around in the rain. The bear window is being progressively opened up.

The lions were also very active and in the morning all three were out together (though the sign still says they are rotating) with the new male on the mound and the females up the other end, staring at the waterbuck.

Was nice to see the animals near closing time
- all the wallabies out in various places particularly at the top of the hill near the rhinos with quite a few youngsters this year. Czar the tiger managed a few minutes out of the shelter and the elephants ventured out too.

All in all it’s a real treat to be able to stay in the zoo for the extra time. And while it would be nice to see the sun go down over the downs the lack of crowds was a plus.
 

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Meet our new arrival!

The most threatened zebra in the world has been born at Whipsnade Zoo, after an epic 13-month-long pregnancy. Look out for him when you visit this summer – or join us as a member and watch him grow up with unlimited visits for a whole year: Whipsnade Zoo Membership | Whipsnade Zoo

The future stallion has been named Zinabi, which means raindrop in the Ethiopian language of Amharic. He was born on a rainy day, which - unlike in the UK - would be cause for celebration in Ethiopia and other African countries where the species hails from.

His birth, which was part of a collaborative global breeding programme, marks the next generation of hope for the endangered species.

Mark Johnson
 
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