There were two present when I visited late afternoon on Sun 09 June; one lurking in the shadows on the far right of the exhibit, and this one centre-stage:
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2024
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Kalaw
Well-Known Member
That's very good to know. The log pictured in your image was one of the two spots that the keepers mentioned where they are most often seen. It is, of course, no reason to panic if you don't see an animal on the visit, but the clear concern shown by the keepers did have me worrying a little. Nice to know that my fears were misplaced.There were two present when I visited late afternoon on Sun 09 June; one lurking in the shadows on the far right of the exhibit, and this one centre-stage:
Dr. Loxodonta
Well-Known Member
When I visited last, the Crocodile Lizard was perfectly placed In the middle of the enclosure. I like how this enclosure has been styled, with the fish in the water area.There were two present when I visited late afternoon on Sun 09 June; one lurking in the shadows on the far right of the exhibit, and this one centre-stage:
FB link to the announcement and video of the new calf
She was born on Monday and is doing very well. Fingers crossed she carries on thriving
cerperal
Well-Known Member
I tried to get a look at him this week but he is currently off-show, presumably to settle in. His exhibit is a bit of a downgrade in terms of space but if they wish to breed them then the overall area is not bad at all. His prospective wife is a very pretty individual.
Hopefully Whipsnade acquires new tigers soon.
Hopefully Whipsnade acquires new tigers soon.
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Lafone
Well-Known Member
She is a pretty cat! Good to hear about his new home.
Hello, first post here!
Went to Whipsnade today and saw the new baby giraffe. Mum and baby are currently confined to the house, with access to an off-show area, but both were in the on-show area whilst we were there.
IMG_20240622_180513_415.jpg
Went to Whipsnade today and saw the new baby giraffe. Mum and baby are currently confined to the house, with access to an off-show area, but both were in the on-show area whilst we were there.
IMG_20240622_180513_415.jpg
I visited Whipsnade last week...my first visit in four years, the last one was literally the week that Covid struck but just before things actually started to shut down or change significantly though people were looking at each other rather oddly.... I partly expected that visit to be my last one so last week's was indeed a bonus, despite it being compromised by my reduced mobility, very small grandchildren in tow and, in the afternoon, some hot (yes, hot!) weather. This all meant some things inevitably got missed though I managed to see all/most of my iconic Whipsnade favourites.
Chief target was to see the new Monkey exhibits. Impressions; I liked the Langur one- a simple reversioning of the old Sloth bear enclosure. Nicely done and a good exhibit though I didn't see them outside. The Sulawesi macaque enclosure is huge(!)- much larger than I expected with the big grove of mature trees. I felt though that the new paths leading all around it meant an awful lot of extra walking for possibly not much successful viewing? I didn't venture along there at all and only viewed it, rather briefly, from the 'Camels' side. With the trees in full leaf the macaques were all but invisible (I did see a few) and I think may be better seen in winter months perhaps, while allowing the group to expand to say, even 40-50 macaques might be necessary to fill the area and really make this an effective exhibit. The house is a typical lavish ZSL construction, automatic doors etc, and I wonder just how much they spent on it all. But it (together with the Langurs) certainly fills the gap for larger/middle-sized monkeys at Whipsnade.
Elsewhere I saw most exhibits including my favourites the Common Hippos and Asian Rhinos. I missed the new Giraffe calf as I didn't know it was there (found out that same evening), I actually walked past the back of the Giraffe house and could have probably seen it had I looked through the windows, but never mind. I noticed the Barasingha and Hog(?) deer are now segregated in the paddocks just before the Asian drive-through though I don't know the reason for that. There were also still six Barasingha with the other deer in the main Plains drive through. Just a nitpick really but the signage artwork at the entrance also depicts Axis deer which they no longer have...
I missed- the Bears/Wolverines/Penguins- maintenance work in bear enclosure a.m meant they weren't out then and it was too hot to return later but seen them all many times previously.. Also Bongo/Sitatunga/Gaur and the central areas with Red Panda etc. Ditto. Also the two remaining blackbuck females- though I had forgotten about them completely...
The best memory of the day? The Bird Show!! I've never seen it before and thought it was excellent- educational, informative and fun- the 'performing' Kookaburras and Hornbills were great and with the show culminating in the spectacular riot of colour with nine free-flying macaws. Very well done IMO.
My last Whipsnade visit? Never say never...
Chief target was to see the new Monkey exhibits. Impressions; I liked the Langur one- a simple reversioning of the old Sloth bear enclosure. Nicely done and a good exhibit though I didn't see them outside. The Sulawesi macaque enclosure is huge(!)- much larger than I expected with the big grove of mature trees. I felt though that the new paths leading all around it meant an awful lot of extra walking for possibly not much successful viewing? I didn't venture along there at all and only viewed it, rather briefly, from the 'Camels' side. With the trees in full leaf the macaques were all but invisible (I did see a few) and I think may be better seen in winter months perhaps, while allowing the group to expand to say, even 40-50 macaques might be necessary to fill the area and really make this an effective exhibit. The house is a typical lavish ZSL construction, automatic doors etc, and I wonder just how much they spent on it all. But it (together with the Langurs) certainly fills the gap for larger/middle-sized monkeys at Whipsnade.
Elsewhere I saw most exhibits including my favourites the Common Hippos and Asian Rhinos. I missed the new Giraffe calf as I didn't know it was there (found out that same evening), I actually walked past the back of the Giraffe house and could have probably seen it had I looked through the windows, but never mind. I noticed the Barasingha and Hog(?) deer are now segregated in the paddocks just before the Asian drive-through though I don't know the reason for that. There were also still six Barasingha with the other deer in the main Plains drive through. Just a nitpick really but the signage artwork at the entrance also depicts Axis deer which they no longer have...
I missed- the Bears/Wolverines/Penguins- maintenance work in bear enclosure a.m meant they weren't out then and it was too hot to return later but seen them all many times previously.. Also Bongo/Sitatunga/Gaur and the central areas with Red Panda etc. Ditto. Also the two remaining blackbuck females- though I had forgotten about them completely...
The best memory of the day? The Bird Show!! I've never seen it before and thought it was excellent- educational, informative and fun- the 'performing' Kookaburras and Hornbills were great and with the show culminating in the spectacular riot of colour with nine free-flying macaws. Very well done IMO.
My last Whipsnade visit? Never say never...
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Lafone
Well-Known Member
Excellent visit to Whipsnade today, lovely weather and while it was busy for most of the day it wasn't too crowded.
Great to see Common Eider ducklings in the penguin / duck netted aviary, with 16 split between three broods of varying ages. Young rockhoppers were also on the 'nursery' rocks where they often leave the young ones to sit in the sun, all very fluffy.
The Barisinga with the hog deer had produced some more fawns.
The morning bird show was cut a bit short when Dolly the pied crow flew into a tree and refused to come back down, but it was still fun to watch the birds who were out, including the turaco now flying all the way to a perch and back; coming along nicely from the hopping I saw in pre season bird training.
Was also great to see a Chinese water deer fawn which looked like a very recent arrival along with the young Blesbok who looks to be doing well. The baby rhino dashing about disturbed the young deer who fled across the enclosure at speed.
Main highlight of the day for me was a new Red crowned crane chick. Looked to be a few days old. I thought it might be about now we could see an egg hatch, based on last years experience and so I was very excited to see a little yellow head in the long grass. Waited about an hour at the enclosure and was well rewarded with the parents eventually bringing the youngster into the open to feed it worms. Great result again for the pair and the zoo after the chick last year - lovely to see the adults doting on the chick. Some active defending was also going on with a crow charged down and a grey squirrel chased all round the enclosure after it came down the wrong tree. It's great to spend a bit of time at an enclosure as you see all sorts of behaviours going on.
After spending far too long crane gazing I thought I'd try and catch a sighting of the new warty piglets with 20 minutes left to closing, but some Mara proved too much of a distraction, with four very small new arrivals to admire.
Lovely day all round.
Great to see Common Eider ducklings in the penguin / duck netted aviary, with 16 split between three broods of varying ages. Young rockhoppers were also on the 'nursery' rocks where they often leave the young ones to sit in the sun, all very fluffy.
The Barisinga with the hog deer had produced some more fawns.
The morning bird show was cut a bit short when Dolly the pied crow flew into a tree and refused to come back down, but it was still fun to watch the birds who were out, including the turaco now flying all the way to a perch and back; coming along nicely from the hopping I saw in pre season bird training.
Was also great to see a Chinese water deer fawn which looked like a very recent arrival along with the young Blesbok who looks to be doing well. The baby rhino dashing about disturbed the young deer who fled across the enclosure at speed.
Main highlight of the day for me was a new Red crowned crane chick. Looked to be a few days old. I thought it might be about now we could see an egg hatch, based on last years experience and so I was very excited to see a little yellow head in the long grass. Waited about an hour at the enclosure and was well rewarded with the parents eventually bringing the youngster into the open to feed it worms. Great result again for the pair and the zoo after the chick last year - lovely to see the adults doting on the chick. Some active defending was also going on with a crow charged down and a grey squirrel chased all round the enclosure after it came down the wrong tree. It's great to spend a bit of time at an enclosure as you see all sorts of behaviours going on.
After spending far too long crane gazing I thought I'd try and catch a sighting of the new warty piglets with 20 minutes left to closing, but some Mara proved too much of a distraction, with four very small new arrivals to admire.
Lovely day all round.
Visited yesterday. First time in 24 years. They now charge £30 to bring your car in which on top of the entry fee is an absolute liberty so parked in the car park outside the zoo entrance. This meant we went through the subway (underpass not sandwich shop) which was a real treat. Decorated with murals of the zoo animals, it reminded me of the subway at London Zoo.
We had booked a meet the hippo encounter so were advised to start in Asia (the section of the zoo not the actual continent) and work our way round. Going round that way isn't the easiest as there aren't many signs and the map isn't the clearest in terms of where to go but we found the aquarium and butterfly house. Really enjoyed this building and it's use of multi layered exhibits (fish tanks with reptiles in the foliage above the water). There was a school trip in the butterfly section so it was very busy but still saw some lovely species.
Saw the elephants including Nang Phaya playing around their pool and covering themselves in sand with their trunks. She was also trying to drown the 8 year old Elizabeth by sitting on her while she was underwater. Zoo is currently empty of tigers as the one that was there has gone to Leipzig Zoo. They hope to display tigers again soon. Asia ended with Monkey Forest which as has been mentioned is good but difficult to spot the macaques. Saw a couple from a distance. Didn't see the Babirusa either but saw the Anoa and François Langurs which were inside.
Hippo encounter was great. The hippos took forever to come out and when they finally did, went off into the paddock to watch the maintenance man. Came back in, let the keeper and volunteer staff member feed them, waited for those booked on the experience to pick up our food then went back to their indoor pool to beg for food from the school trip kids. Eventually they came back out and we got to feed them which was great fun.
Saw most animals. The lynx were a no show, the bears were very relaxed and one was in a hammock but the wolverine and red pandas were out and feeding. The red pandas appear to be in what was the seal enclosure in 2000 where I remember watching two seals chase each other round a moat. Glad this exhibit has been repurposed.
All in all a great day, doable on foot if you are reasonably fit but a lot of walking.
We had booked a meet the hippo encounter so were advised to start in Asia (the section of the zoo not the actual continent) and work our way round. Going round that way isn't the easiest as there aren't many signs and the map isn't the clearest in terms of where to go but we found the aquarium and butterfly house. Really enjoyed this building and it's use of multi layered exhibits (fish tanks with reptiles in the foliage above the water). There was a school trip in the butterfly section so it was very busy but still saw some lovely species.
Saw the elephants including Nang Phaya playing around their pool and covering themselves in sand with their trunks. She was also trying to drown the 8 year old Elizabeth by sitting on her while she was underwater. Zoo is currently empty of tigers as the one that was there has gone to Leipzig Zoo. They hope to display tigers again soon. Asia ended with Monkey Forest which as has been mentioned is good but difficult to spot the macaques. Saw a couple from a distance. Didn't see the Babirusa either but saw the Anoa and François Langurs which were inside.
Hippo encounter was great. The hippos took forever to come out and when they finally did, went off into the paddock to watch the maintenance man. Came back in, let the keeper and volunteer staff member feed them, waited for those booked on the experience to pick up our food then went back to their indoor pool to beg for food from the school trip kids. Eventually they came back out and we got to feed them which was great fun.
Saw most animals. The lynx were a no show, the bears were very relaxed and one was in a hammock but the wolverine and red pandas were out and feeding. The red pandas appear to be in what was the seal enclosure in 2000 where I remember watching two seals chase each other round a moat. Glad this exhibit has been repurposed.
All in all a great day, doable on foot if you are reasonably fit but a lot of walking.
Glad you had a great time! The red pandas are actually in what was the squirrel monkey island. The otters are in the old Seal enclosure
@ZooNut23 thank you for confirming there used to be a seal enclosure as I tell my OH this every time we go (both mid 30s, both lived within 15 mins of the zoo our whole lives, so we both have a lot of childhood memories of it) and he repeatedly tells me I'm getting confused and the zoo had sealions! I am so vindicated!
(Obviously they also had sealions!)
(Obviously they also had sealions!)
Glad you had a great time! The red pandas are actually in what was the squirrel monkey island. The otters are in the old Seal enclosure
Am I right in thinking the little empty enclosure between the otters and pandas is where the pandas used to be?
That’s right!
That seems crazy now!