I visited YWP today - it was only second visit, and as my first was in 2018, there were a lot new things to see. My principal target was the red howlers, as they are a different species from the ones I saw at Twycross many years ago. They were very active in the morning, stuffing themselves with hawthorn leaves and mayflowers and made a wonderful show. I was really impressed to see such a nice group with several youngsters, although I couldn't even attempt to count them amog the foliage. The cottontops and the Roloways were also well worth watching in their trees.
Of course I also enjoyed seeing the polar bears and the giant otters making good use of their enclosures.
The real surprise was the giraffes. A Rothschild was in the main paddock with the eland and lechwe, but the small paddock in front of the house (beside the Masai cafe) held two young reticulated bulls, who were having a fight. The preliminaries of each round were some stately pacing, keeping head to tail, then they swung their heads to hit each other with their ossicones, generally in the flank. Each impact made a clear thump, but did not seem to do much damage as giraffes have very thick skin. But it was more alarming when one of the males swung his head at a low level to lift his opponent's nearside back leg off the ground, which I thought might result in a fall or a fracture, particularly if a wire or a post from the fence got involved. I think the keepers eventually separated the combatants, after I had retreated to the cafe having taken far too many photos. Is this a familiar spectacle at YWP, or was I very lucky to arrive at the giraffe house when I did?
