Best UK Pygmy Hippo enclosure Reboot

[felis silvestris]

his is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Pygmy Hippos in the UK. I have added a few photos from the gallery to make it easier for members to compare the different exhibits. If anyone wants to make an argument for a particular enclosure, please feel free to do so. Also, I would encourage people to list the enclosures in order of what they think is best.

If there are any outdated photos, collections that no longer hold them or people have photos for exhibits not in the gallery, share them here.

I am not making one for Hippopotamuses as West Midlands is getting a new enclosure soon, so it would be pointless to make the thread before it is complete.

Colchester

@TNT

@gulogulogulo

Whipsnade

@MagpieGoose

@MagpieGoose

Edinburgh

@felis silvestris

@felis silvestris

London

@Swanson02

@MagpieGoose

Marwell

@MagpieGoose

@gulogulogulo

 

[Kalaw]

This is the first poll in which I have seen all of the enclosures in person, and Whipsnade is the clear winner in my opinion. A large indoor area with an offshow portion and deep indoor pool, multiple outdoor enclosures with shade, pools and grass, as well as a considerable amount of space; the only issue is that it currently houses just one female, although there are plans to bring in a bull soon. It is also the best aesthetically by some margin, with the weeping willows above the stream being tremendously impressive, and the waterfall feature beneath the bridge that leads into the Common Hippo enclosure being a nice touch as well.

I would put London at second - not as large as Marwell, but along with Whipsnade (and maybe Edinburgh, as I can't fully remember?) is the only one to have two equally sized enclosures allowing the hippos to be separated, but unlike its sister collection this applies indoors as well with a very large heated pool in both stalls (it is worth noting that the attached photo of the indoors only shows the newer extension inhabited by the female, Amara). I also love it aesthetically with the original Cotton Terraces moat making for a very attractive and deep pool, and the use of large logs to hide fences in places being more than welcome. Marwell is the largest of the lot, and deserves credit for that fact alone, although the lack of an outdoor pool and poor indoor area (a nice pool but very limited land space with a concrete floor in the accessible areas) keeps it from first place. That said, I believe they have a fairly impressive breeding record, so maybe those issues aren't as severe as one would infer.

Edinburgh is decent, but not great. A good amount of space, but too much concrete and too little grass for my liking - the indoors, which I wasn't able to locate on my visit, also looks very poor from photos. Colchester has to be the worst of the lot though, due to the complete lack of grass and comical shallowness of the outdoor pool, with the excess of mock rock also being off-putting for visitors, although I doubt the hippos care! I have always found it odd how it is hidden at the very bottom of the 'Kingdom of the Wild' building, behind a series of aquaria and vivariums and below a staircase, with no other way to view it. The indoors is decent, with a good use of soil and mud to provide natural substrate, and a deep pool, but that is about it, sadly. Thankfully, the zoo's masterplan has this enclosure destined for an upgrade.

Overall, Whipsnade should easily win this in my opinion, with London and Marwell also very strong.

 

[cerperal]

I will always have a soft spot for the Marwell exhibit for nostalgia reasons, being a more terrestrial species it was always a highlight to see them grazing from one side of the zoo in the morning and then visit the house in the afternoon. But said house is truly dreadful by modern standards and has been for quite a while now, there's no outdoor pool and the breeding record @Kalaw mentions has been on ice for a reasonable while now. Still a very good exhibit but as with a lot of Marwell could do with some sprucing up.

I'd originally put London as my choice but having thought a bit more Whipsnade's is definitely better. But both have more than enough room, indoor and outdoor pools that are often used and great viewing for visitors. Whipsnade clearly has more space and a significantly less cluttered and obstructed enclosure, which obviously benefits the visitor more but I still think provides a better overall hippo experience. Whipsnade also cheats a little in having the common hippos next door in the same house, which is certainly very impressive to see when they're both in there.

London will be helped when the inevitable baby hippo pops out once Thug and Amara are introduced, but currently they do seem like very happy hippos indeed in their split exhibits.

I can't comment on Edinburgh or Colchester as I haven't visited but I feel confident in the quality of the other 3 of being sufficiently superior that it's not too misinformed to go Whipsnade.

 

[Tim May]

....the only issue is that it currently houses just one female, although there are plans to bring in a bull soon. It is also the best aesthetically by some margin

I agree with your description of the pygmy hippo exhibits; I would also make Whipsnade first, with London in second place.

However I think you'll find Whipsnade's solitary pygmy hippo is a male, not a female.

 

[Lafone]

I've only seen Whipsnade and Colchester, but agree with the above.

Whipsnade has a varied outdoor space and good indoor area and Tapon the pygmy hippo (who is a male as Tim mentioned, who sired three calves with Flora) is usually out and about in it, making use of all the space.

The shady spots under the trees are ideal hippo resting areas in the warmer weather, the outdoor water areas are well designed and the slope is ideal for rolling an 'ice lolly' treat of frozen fruit down and chasing it into the water, a regular summer experience for hippo and visitors alike.

In addition to well designed facilities for the hippos, the viewing is also excellent for visitors, so things are good all round.

Colchester has interesting indoor viewing from above on the walkway when the hippos are in the pool, however the outside viewing is a bit odd being so top down and the enclosure seems small in comparison to the Whipsnade space.

 

[Kalaw]

However I think you'll find Whipsnade's solitary pygmy hippo is a male, not a female.

Tapon the pygmy hippo (who is a male as Tim mentioned, who sired three calves with Flora)

Apologies for that mistake, and thanks for the correction. On my visit, a keeper told me that they planned to get a new bull to accompany Tapon, which I inferred as meaning that Tapon was a female, but it was likely just a slight slip of the tongue on the keeper's part, or that the new bull will be arriving for company and not breeding (which I highly doubt as pygmy hippos are usually kept solitarily in zoos unless breeding is the goal).

I hadn't realised that Tapon had sired three calves already - that's quite the impressive breeding record at Whipsnade.

 

[Fallax]

I knew Colchester had a thing for mock rock but that enclosure is horrifically ugly.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

I personally have only seen Colchester and Whipsnade, and I think it is difficult to argue against Whipsnade, for the reasons mentioned by other in addition to the fact they are presented alongside the Common Hippos inside and have a beautiful and functional outdoor space. Saying that I hope to visit London and Marwell for the first time this year who each have a newly formed breeding pair (the ZSL female born at Edinburgh and Marwell female born at Colchester in 2020), which will be nice to see and could possibly add another (adorable) factor to the exhibit at each.

Colchester has to be the worst of the lot though, due to the complete lack of grass and comical shallowness of the outdoor pool, with the excess of mock rock also being off-putting for visitors, although I doubt the hippos care! I have always found it odd how it is hidden at the very bottom of the 'Kingdom of the Wild' building, behind a series of aquaria and vivariums and below a staircase, with no other way to view it. The indoors is decent, with a good use of soil and mud to provide natural substrate, and a deep pool, but that is about it, sadly. Thankfully, the zoo's masterplan has this enclosure destined for an upgrade.

On the topic of Colchester I do think it is worth pointing out that these photos don't show more than half of the areas dedicated to the visit as they demonstrate the main/original indoor enclosure and the new outdoor enclosure (2022) built on the site of the old Patas Monkey outdoor space but there is also a second, smaller indoor enclosure (2019?) with great viewing and enrichment for the hippos built in the place of the old Patas Monkey indoor area. The original outdoor enclosure was revamped at the same time the new one was built, however was turned into an off show area for people doing experiences with the hippos as can be seen here: NEW Pygmy Hippo Experience! (youtube.com), so I am not 100% sure what it is now like but I don't think the animal space itself has changed significantly. The female Venus is now only Pygmy Hippo at the zoo, so now theoretically has all 4 main areas to herself (on my last visit she at least had access to both outdoor spaces). Arguably Colchester have the best indoors I would say but outdoors doesn't really stack up well to the likes of Whipsnade and Marwell.

 

[Kalaw]

I personally have only seen Colchester and Whipsnade, and I think it is difficult to argue against Whipsnade, for the reasons mentioned by other in addition to the fact they are presented alongside the Common Hippos inside and have a beautiful and functional outdoor space. Saying that I hope to visit London and Marwell for the first time this year who each have a newly formed breeding pair (the ZSL female born at Edinburgh and Marwell female born at Colchester in 2020), which will be nice to see and could possibly add another (adorable) factor to the exhibit at each.

On the topic of Colchester I do think it is worth pointing out that these photos don't show more than half of the areas dedicated to the visit as they demonstrate the main/original indoor enclosure and the new outdoor enclosure (2022) built on the site of the old Patas Monkey outdoor space but there is also a second, smaller indoor enclosure (2019?) with great viewing and enrichment for the hippos built in the place of the old Patas Monkey indoor area. The original outdoor enclosure was revamped at the same time the new one was built, however was turned into an off show area for people doing experiences with the hippos as can be seen here: NEW Pygmy Hippo Experience! (youtube.com), so I am not 100% sure what it is now like but I don't think the animal space itself has changed significantly. The female Venus is now only Pygmy Hippo at the zoo, so now theoretically has all 4 main areas to herself (on my last visit she at least had access to both outdoor spaces). Arguably Colchester have the best indoors I would say but outdoors doesn't really stack up well to the likes of Whipsnade and Marwell.

I was aware of the secondary indoors but hadn’t seen the new outdoor area before. I would still say that it is the weakest of the lot, however, simply as the others are better. The biggest issue (very small and shallow outdoor pool) is still very much apparent.The indoors is indeed the best bit, and as mentioned I like the substrate and the depth of the pool, and while it may be the best of the lot, there is ‘t much between it and the indoors of London and Whipsnade.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

I was aware of the secondary indoors but hadn’t seen the new outdoor area before. I would still say that it is the weakest of the lot, however, simply as the others are better. The biggest issue (very small and shallow outdoor pool) is still very much apparent.The indoors is indeed the best bit, and as mentioned I like the substrate and the depth of the pool, and while it may be the best of the lot, there is ‘t much between it and the indoors of London and Whipsnade.

The new outdoor area is in fact the one featured in the photos above that you will be familiar with, as the redevelopment of the old enclosure seemed to be more of a refresh with the visitor aspects being the main change. To be honest I was sort of surprised, almost unhappy with the new outdoor enclosure it when I first saw it, mainly for the pool that I hoped to be larger and deeper (instead it is pretty much the same as the original one in the older enclosure), also for the substrate that I think would have been to nice to see as more natural grass (like the other outdoor enclosure) and possibly allowed the growth of plants inside the enclosure too, such as protected trees to start with. Not sure the inhabitants mind though. The indoors is a lot stronger with a decent amount of land area, some varying substrates the pool which is a good size, unless London have more to show than it their photo. Either way as you said it will be cool to see what the masterplan has in store for them, maybe a more naturalistic exhibit in the style of Edge of Africa.

 

[rhinofan12]

Like most I voted for whipsnade, not sure the others can complete with the space and fact it is currently only for 1 hippo makes it even more impressive.
When I went to Marwel, I was hugely unimpressed with the hippo enclosure especially the tiny I door area.
Out of interest when was the last pygmy hippo birth as can't think of one in recent times at any collection.

 

[Rajang-GOAT]

Like most I voted for whipsnade, not sure the others can complete with the space and fact it is currently only for 1 hippo makes it even more impressive.
When I went to Marwel, I was hugely unimpressed with the hippo enclosure especially the tiny I door area.
Out of interest when was the last pygmy hippo birth as can't think of one in recent times at any collection.

I believe it was: Amara (female) was born at Edinburgh in April 2021 and is now at London, Zalika (female) was born at Colchester in May 2020 and is now at Marwell.

 

[HelloCrossy67]

Have personally seen Marwell, London & Whipsnade. Marwell being my local zoo, there's a slight bias as it is the enclosure that sparked my interest in animals.

However, it is a very dated enclosure, and I believe that it needs a major rehaul (note there was a plan to transform the entire area under a wetlands developed that was scrapped (presumably) due to COVID).

But, in the end I did vote Marwell as the hippos were most active and had the best viewing of the 3 I've seen!

 

[felis silvestris]

Poll closed. Congratulations to Whipsnade for retaining its title for the third time as the Best Pygmy Hippo enclosure in the UK. The large outdoor area gave it a healthy lead over Marwell and their sister park London.

Whipsnade: 58.1%
Marwell: 22.6%
London: 16.1%
Edinburgh: 3.2%