ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2023

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I was wondering if any members have ever had any luck with the zoo's free-ranging Reeve's Muntjac, or if there are any areas of the zoo where they are more likely to be seen?

I have only ever seen one once, in the outdoor seating for the Base Camp Restaurant, near the current Marabou aviary - but that was as part of the Lookout Lodge overnight experience, when there were few visitors around to scare them away, and I have never seen them during regular hours.

The mara are a guaranteed sighting, and can be seen everywhere from the tigers to the bongos, while the wallabies and water deer are easily seen if you know where to look (the stretches of woodland near the elephants and bears for the former and Passage through Asia and Spicer's Field for the latter), but I have no idea if there is such a thing for the muntjacs. Of course, the numbers play a big part in this (just 4 muntjacs left compared to 110 wallabies, for example).

On the topic of free-roamers, another error that I noticed with the new map is that it implies there are still free-ranging peafowls, which is sadly no longer the case, I believe.
 
@Kalaw I need to check my photographs but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a muntjac in the last couple of years. It was on the path behind what was the Congo Buffalo enclosure. It could have been longer ago but I remember being surprised as I hadn’t seen one for a while before then!
 
ajmcwhipsnade said:
@Kalaw I need to check my photographs but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a muntjac in the last couple of years. It was on the path behind what was the Congo Buffalo enclosure. It could have been longer ago but I remember being surprised as I hadn’t seen one for a while before then!
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Sorry for my ignorance, but where were the Congo Buffalo kept?
 
Kalaw said:
I was wondering if any members have ever had any luck with the zoo's free-ranging Reeve's Muntjac, or if there are any areas of the zoo where they are more likely to be
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I've generally found the most likely places to see muntjac are in the Indian rhino paddock and the area between the bongo house and white rhino house. However, in recent years, I've seldom seen the muntjac; although that's not surprising given there's so few left now.
 
Kalaw said:
Sorry for my ignorance, but where were the Congo Buffalo kept?
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The Congo buffalo were kept near the giraffes in, what used to be, the original Indian rhino accommodation. There are no animal exhibits there currently.
 
@Kalaw Ah my apologies, I should have given some context. Like Tim said it was the old Rhino enclosure.

The loop below the giraffe paddock in this photo.

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Kalaw said:
I was wondering if any members have ever had any luck with the zoo's free-ranging Reeve's Muntjac, or if there are any areas of the zoo where they are more likely to be seen?

I have only ever seen one once, in the outdoor seating for the Base Camp Restaurant, near the current Marabou aviary - but that was as part of the Lookout Lodge overnight experience, when there were few visitors around to scare them away, and I have never seen them during regular hours.

The mara are a guaranteed sighting, and can be seen everywhere from the tigers to the bongos, while the wallabies and water deer are easily seen if you know where to look (the stretches of woodland near the elephants and bears for the former and Passage through Asia and Spicer's Field for the latter), but I have no idea if there is such a thing for the muntjacs. Of course, the numbers play a big part in this (just 4 muntjacs left compared to 110 wallabies, for example).

On the topic of free-roamers, another error that I noticed with the new map is that it implies there are still free-ranging peafowls, which is sadly no longer the case, I believe.
Click to expand...

Super hard to see now but I’ve had a couple of sightings on quieter days - the stand of trees behind the Indian rhinos / in front of the elephants. The end with the stone turtle was the place I startled one the last time I saw it - didn’t get a photo as I jumped almost as high as it did.
 
Had a really nice day out at Whipsnade today - weather was mixed (well it’s the end of storm babet!) and it rained solidly from lunch time to closing but still lots to see. Super quiet visitor wise (which as usual was a bit of a treat!).

Highlight was seeing the red panda cubs out and about in the morning when the sun came out: such a lovely thing to see. Only the second time seeing young red pandas for me. Ruby the female brought the youngsters out across the enclosure to drink rainwater in the moat and then play around in the fallen tree at the far end, so they were visible for a good amount of time. Nilo the male also came down and wandered about. Great and worth the wait after a few previous visits where I missed them.

The two young yaks were dashing about in the paddock in the rain - nice to see them.

I don’t go into owl wood every visit but was pleased to find a red tailed laughing thrush and a Vietnamese pheasant in the middle enclosure. It is an area that could do with a bit of TLC though it looks quite natural - I do think they could make loads more of the birds.

I also enjoyed wandering around looking for older enclosures and hard standings (and even reminding myself about the gifted trough for the horses who couldn’t drink from the pond any more). Inspired by the B&W photos and subsequent discussion it certainly adds something to keep an eye out for the bits of whipsnade’s past you can find. Recommended! And thanks for the photos and discussions on them.
 
The ZSL Annual Report has just been released with some further information regarding Monkey Forest. As well as holding 4 new species, the redevelopment of the area will allow Passage thru Asia to be accessible on foot for the first time.

ZSL will also be expanding its operations in the Philippines, with an emphasis on conserving and improving the population of the Philippine dwarf buffalo, of which roughly 200 remain.
 
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Refering back to last weeks discussion about pelicans , I believe the male was moved to London earlier this year so they are have two males (he 10 year old from Whipsnade and much older existing one.
 
Panthera1981 said:
The ZSL Annual Report has just been released with some further information regarding Monkey Forest. As well as holding 4 new species, the redevelopment of the area will allow Passage thru Asia to be accessible on foot for the first time.

ZSL will also be expanding its operations in the Philippines, with an emphasis on conserving and improving the population of the Philippine dwarf buffalo, of which roughly 200 remain.
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Where did you find the annual report?
 
Today I had a nice day at Whipsnade, with the best weather of the half term so far.
Some notes:
-I went there largely to see the yaks - but unfortunately they were seemingly shut indoors. For some reason also they seemed in a different enclosure than what I last remember [the old onager enclosure]... so are there yaks in both? If not then what is in the other?
-A similar situation with aardvarks who seemed to be shut inside. The dark house allowed for a few reasonable aardvark pictures.
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-For some reason I thought Whipsnade had llamas [which apparently it does not anymore], but this idea was seemingly supported by some of the staff members who directed me to a field at Hullabazoo which had a few domestic animals including some alpacas.
I recall I saw one llama-ish one but in hindsight it was probably an alpaca too - as there were no signs for llamas.
-I did not check out the Monkey Jungle this visit... but maybe I should.
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Good day all around!
 

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