ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2024

Lafone said:
I guess it might also have something to do with how the different sides were constructed for the penguins that used to be there (King, Gentoo, Humboldt) but someone who knows more about the history of which penguins were mixed or not will probably know more as I remember different penguins as a kid, but not if they were all or ever mixed together.
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The mix I remember before the second pool was added was Humboldt, King and Rockhopper. Gentoo were tried later after the area was refurbished but sadly didn’t last long.
 
ZSL Whipsnade is spearheading a conservation effort to save the Boxer pupfish (Cyprinodon simus) after learning that the zoo held the world's last remaining population. The species was recently estimated to have gone extinct in the wild.
Keepers at Whipsnade Zoo were told the world's last remaining Boxer pupfish resides in their care. The species' official IUCN status classifies the fish as Near Threatened until a recent survey by its partners in Mexico. It suggested that the wild population has been completely decimated - likely caused by the introduction of invasive fish species such as the Mayan cichlid.

Aquarists at Whipsnade were told by conservation partners it had the world's last remaining Boxer pupfish and it started an an urgent plan to safeguard the species.

Found only in Lake Chichancanab in Mexico, Boxer pupfish (Cyprinodon simus) are one of seven pupfish species endemic to this specific habitat.

Alex Cliffe is Assistant Curator of Fish at ZSL - the conservation charity which runs Whipsnade Zoo -and the European programme coordinator for pupfish. He said: "Finding out that the last remaining wild Boxer pupfish could be extinct was a really sobering moment, but we knew we didn't have time to dwell and had to act quickly to safeguard the future of this species.

"As a world leader in managing and reintroducing extinct-in-the-wild species, and the founders of the Extinct-in-the-wild Alliance, ZSL has a responsibility to drive forward the recovery of the worlds most threatened species."

In a bid to ensure that not every Boxer pupfish egg was in one basket, Whipsnade's team began the delicate process of moving 50 Boxer pupfish eggs to Bristol Zoo Project, which is run by conservation and education charity Bristol Zoological Society, to start a new population in the conservation breeding programme.

"Thanks to the fast response of the keepers at Bristol Zoological Society, and the skillful care of our aquarists at Whipsnade, within just four days we had collected and transported the precious eggs to be hatched, reared and cared for by our fellow conservationists," said Alex.

The tiny, translucent pupfish eggs were carefully collected by keepers from bundles of wool, which replicate the plants and algae where the fish would usually lay their eggs, placed in the pupfish tanks. The eggs were extracted and transferred to pots filled with water, ready to be transported to new homes where they will hatch.

Boxer pupfish are vital to the ecosystem of Lake Chichancanab, and their extinction puts other animals in that ecosystem, such as species of bird and reptiles that feed on them, at risk.

Whipsnade Zoo will work with partners in Mexico and the IUCN to confirm the status of the Boxer pupfish, but in the meantime as part of ZSL's work to halt human induced species extinction, they will co-ordinate breeding efforts to ensure the protection and continuation of the species.
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World's loneliest fish to be saved from extinction by British Zoo
 
Lafone said:
I guess it might also have something to do with how the different sides were constructed for the penguins that used to be there (King, Gentoo, Humboldt) but someone who knows more about the history of which penguins were mixed or not will probably know more as I remember different penguins as a kid, but not if they were all or ever mixed together.
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Whipsnade currently houses African and Rockhopper penguin. The waterfowl are a relatively recent addition, introduced to make the exhibit look more “full”

Over the last 30 years, the zoo has also housed King, Humboldt and Gentoo. I’m not sure what happened with the King (natural die-off?) but the Humboldt were swapped with London’s African when Penguin Beach opened, whilst the 4 Gentoo that arrived were quickly picked off by the local fox population (hence the exhibit now being completely enclosed and undercover!)

Of further interest, London’s Penguin Beach was also meant to hold Macaroni and Blue penguin. The Macaroni didn’t last long before they were transferred (I never found out the reasons why) whilst the plan to bring in Blue never got going.
 
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Great to have a day off to spend at Whipsnade today - chilly and few people around and lots of activity on the animal front which felt perfect. I had particularly wanted to grab some pictures of animals in the snow and was lucky to get a few before it melted away.

The bears are now signed as off show in torpor as usual at this time of year.

whip22ndnovember2024bear.jpg

The otters are back on show in their enclosure and were busy moving the bedding from their brand new house to their old wooden hut, but they did all pile into the new accommodation just before closing.

Had some fantastic sightings of wild Kestrels today, including some super close up views of one hunting in the red panda enclosure at the end of the day, including sitting in a tree just above where I was standing. Amazing moment and shows off alll the things you can see out and about at the zoo. One of my favourite bird encounters this year and a real wow. I had to rush back to the car parked the other side of the yaks to ensure I didn't leave much beyond closing and was chased along the fence by Miron the tiger - quite a moment too in the fading light and certainly made me jump!

The lions, tiger, cheetahs, anoa and chimps all spent time outside offering great views and the Pere David deer youngsters were running and playing about in A Passage through Asia which was fun to watch. The Scimitar Horned Oryx were in the paddock behind the main enclosure - they were kept in there over last winter so it may be the last we see of them close up over the cold months.
 

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Lafone said:
Great to have a day off to spend at Whipsnade today - chilly and few people around and lots of activity on the animal front which felt perfect. I had particularly wanted to grab some pictures of animals in the snow and was lucky to get a few before it melted away.

The bears are now signed as off show in torpor as usual at this time of year.

View attachment 749361

The otters are back on show in their enclosure and were busy moving the bedding from their brand new house to their old wooden hut, but they did all pile into the new accommodation just before closing.

Had some fantastic sightings of wild Kestrels today, including some super close up views of one hunting in the red panda enclosure at the end of the day, including sitting in a tree just above where I was standing. Amazing moment and shows off alll the things you can see out and about at the zoo. One of my favourite bird encounters this year and a real wow. I had to rush back to the car parked the other side of the yaks to ensure I didn't leave much beyond closing and was chased along the fence by Miron the tiger - quite a moment too in the fading light and certainly made me jump!

The lions, tiger, cheetahs, anoa and chimps all spent time outside offering great views and the Pere David deer youngsters were running and playing about in A Passage through Asia which was fun to watch. The Scimitar Horned Oryx were in the paddock behind the main enclosure - they were kept in there over last winter so it may be the last we see of them close up over the cold months.
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Pertinax said:
I guess they go around checking no one is left inside the park after closing time. You are lucky to be able to visit on a regular basis...;)
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There were still a few people as I was leaving - there's about 20-30 mins grace I think but I feel bad after about 5! There was no one around the tiger though and so it was a bit of 'holy crap' moment. It's great to be able to visit often, worth a day's leave to go on a weekday too.
 
Clear, bright day visiting on Tuesday, with good views of the new rhino baby, Khulu, running around outside with mother.

Highlight was watching the hippos, Lola and Hodor, vigorously play fighting in the indoor pool for almost an hour. Having exited the pool at one point they ran back in, sending jets of water high into the air, and then play fighting again.

Close views of the wallabies next to the reindeer enclosure and entrance to the Christmas grotto.

Wildlife highlight was a long view down onto a feeding green woodpecker from the hillock over the rhino enclosure, whilst watching the rhinos.
 
ChiChi said:
do we know why Karishma and Elizabeth are separated from the rest of the elephants?
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Karishma doesn't get along well with Kaylee, the park's matriarch. Kaylee and Lucha (the other older adult cow) were imported together from Burma in 1989 so obviously share a close bond and I imagine would be quite dominant over Karishma who is a dominant personality herself.

It's notoriously difficult to integrate unrelated cows, and this seems to be a recurring issue especially at Whispande. Karishma is unrelated to the rest of the elephants (besides her own daughter), and Whipsnade did previously experience issues with another cow, Mya, who also didn't get along with Kaylee and Karishma to an extent. She was sent to France as a result back in 2019.
 
Jambo said:
Karishma doesn't get along well with Kaylee, the park's matriarch. Kaylee and Lucha (the other older adult cow) were imported together from Burma in 1989 so obviously share a close bond and I imagine would be quite dominant over Karishma who is a dominant personality herself.

It's notoriously difficult to integrate unrelated cows, and this seems to be a recurring issue especially at Whispande. Karishma is unrelated to the rest of the elephants (besides her own daughter), and Whipsnade did previously experience issues with another cow, Mya, who also didn't get along with Kaylee and Karishma to an extent. She was sent to France as a result back in 2019.
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Correction: Mya was transferred to a zoo in Naples, Italy.

Regarding Karishma, I remember her being difficult when she first arrived from Twycross. She was regularly paired with Mya, and would rarely go out with the rest of the group when Whipsnade publicly walked their elephants. However, this did seem to change upon her having calves. Mya seemed to be the only one who could individually impose herself upon Karishma and Emmett (now at Blackpool)
 
Thank you, that is indeed very recent - I heard that Karishma and Beth are permanently separated from the other 4 since a few weeks, but if you have seen them all together just a few days ago, it seems that has changed again.
 
Yassa said:
Thank you, that is indeed very recent - I heard that Karishma and Beth are permanently separated from the other 4 since a few weeks, but if you have seen them all together just a few days ago, it seems that has changed again.
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I've seen them regularly in different combinations across the herd inside and outside over time, perhaps it is situational in reaction to something, or just about who is moving to be near the male etc. It's hard to say what the permanent situation is without Whipsnade saying so themselves.
 
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