ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2025

Cat-Man said:
I flat out refuse to be drawn into a debate about this. It is not true that Capybara are more popular than Hippos with the general public.
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I'm sorry but as much as I agree with your general sentiment this is completely wrong. Capybaras have been a literal craze especially among young people for years now. Whether in a couple of years that will still be the case I don't know but as much as it hurts to say, the general public will make a bigger song and dance over capybaras - especially families with kids
 
cerperal said:
I'm sorry but as much as I agree with your general sentiment this is completely wrong. Capybaras have been a literal craze especially among young people for years now. Whether in a couple of years that will still be the case I don't know but as much as it hurts to say, the general public will make a bigger song and dance over capybaras - especially families with kids
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I'm not saying they aren't popular, or even extremely popular, but they do not draw people to zoos like common hippos do. As somebody else pointed out, there are 53 British zoos which hold the species. Nobody is making the trip to Whipsnade specifically to see them.
 
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FBBird said:
I suspect it’s quite easy to go out and buy a Capybara……smaller, hairier and let’s face it, considerably less dramatic than a Hippopotamus. ZSL have a long and distinguished history with the latter
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Exactly. If this is indeed what is going in the hippo exhibit (and I stress that this has not been confirmed), it's because it's convenient, not a well calculated move based on the supposed popularity of either species.
 
Cat-Man said:
I'm not saying they aren't popular, or even extremely popular, but they do not draw people to zoos like common hippos do. As somebody else pointed out, there are 53 British zoos which hold the species. Nobody is making the trip to Whipsnade to see them.
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Happy to see the evidence about draw. I assume you can quote some stats showing visitors are drawn specifically to zoos with hippos vs zoos with animal x, specifically capybaras. I’m prepared to believe that visitors might want to go to places with hippos of course, but you’re being particularly definitive on the matter so to avoid ‘debate’ as you don’t want one, can you link the numbers?

I can’t say personally Capybaras are more exciting than hippos for me and it’s a poor replacement in the round, but as the hippos are leaving and that isn’t changing I’d rather have something using the exhibit. Given it’s not official these are the users or only ones though I can’t see the drama at this stage.a

You’ve also suggested ZSL makes no planned moves - you really do think so little of the collection it’s hardly surprising I guess but then if you don’t ever go to Whipsnade then you are putting your money where your mouth is.
 
Lafone said:
Happy to see the evidence about draw. I assume you can quote some stats showing visitors are drawn specifically to zoos with hippos vs zoos with animal x, specifically capybaras. I’m prepared to believe that visitors might want to go to places with hippos of course, but you’re being particularly definitive on the matter so to avoid ‘debate’ as you don’t want one, can you link the numbers?

I can’t say personally Capybaras are more exciting than hippos for me and it’s a poor replacement in the round, but as the hippos are leaving and that isn’t changing I’d rather have something using the exhibit. Given it’s not official these are the users or only ones though I can’t see the drama at this stage.a

You’ve also suggested ZSL makes no planned moves - you really do think so little of the collection it’s hardly surprising I guess but then if you don’t ever go to Whipsnade then you are putting your money where your mouth is.
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I didn't want to get into a debate in order to not derail this thread. Happy to have the discussion elsewhere, same with all the other points you've made. Please note that I stated at the beginning that I am not criticising until it has been confirmed in an official announcement, I was simply responding to other users who commented on the situation.

That last part is a flat out lie, though. I did not state that ZSL makes no planned moves. I also resent the suggestion that I think little of Whipsnade as a collection, I've already stated that I love both London and Whipsnade. I would ask that you please refrain from making things up, and frankly being so rude, but this wouldn't be the first time on this thread you've claimed things about other users which were not correct.
 
Cat-Man said:
I didn't want to get into a debate in order to not derail this thread. Happy to have the discussion elsewhere, same with all the other points you've made. Please note that I stated at the beginning that I am not criticising until it has been confirmed in an official announcement, I was simply responding to other users who commented on the situation.

That last part is a flat out lie, though. I did not state that ZSL makes no planned moves. I also resent the suggestion that I think little of Whipsnade as a collection, I've already stated that I love both London and Whipsnade. I would ask that you please refrain from making things up, and frankly being so rude, but this wouldn't be the first time on this thread you've claimed things about other users which were not correct.
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You said the arrival was a move of convenience not a well planned move.

The move of any animal is simply not going to be done casually for convenience in reputable collections.

As for whether you like the collections or not that’s down to you. Your comments rather suggest otherwise. As for being rude it seems that really only goes one way and it’s fine if people want to be critical but not if they have a different view and calling people liars when they respond to what you directly say isn’t really that polite. But I get it when you believe you are right and I am not.

In the meantime quote the stats - it’ll help the discussion to have some evidence to back up the assertions made in my view.
 
A brief search for stats here finds the detail of a you gov survey on zoos which ranks peoples favourite zoos animals.

If popularity equates to draw neither hippos or capybara featured in the top 10 but oddly enough Capybara had a few more votes than hippos.

https://ygo-assets-websites-editorial-emea.yougov.net/documents/Internal_Zoos_250310.pdf

I guess there are stats the other way.

And of course this might be about frequency of seeing something where capybaras would have the edge. But initially it appears the assertion that hippos are a greater draw in and of themselves may have some challenges.

I still think Whipsnade should have kept hippos. And if it was a zoo specific survey they’d probably be mentioned I would think given a reason to visit a zoo would often be about a specific collection.

Interested to see these stats that show the other way though.
 
From the moment I saw the news about the capybara, I could tell this thread was going to get heated.

I can't see that capybara will be more of a draw than hippos at all, but certainly they will fill an empty exhibit well - with the possibility to mix with tapirs further down the line not out of the realms of possibility (or to move the capybara and use the exhibit for something more exciting).

One of the major complaints about ZSL collections, from the general public (via online reviews etc) and from members and fellows, is that there is a lot of empty space with no animals. This at least remedies that.

I do believe the public would rather see hippos than capybara generally. I also believe that most people visit a zoo for a day out with children rather than to see a specific species, unlike most of us on this forum. I also believe that anything is better in an empty exhibit than nothing.
 
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Lafone said:
You said the arrival was a move of convenience not a well planned move.
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I really don't want to derail this thread any further, nor have any personal animosity, so I'll just say that I stated that I do not believe this was a well calculated move, and to reiterate what I meant by this that I don't think it was calculated based on the popularity of the animals. I did not say that ZSL never makes calculated moves, nor wished to imply that the moves were not done in a professional manner.
 
JoB198 said:
I've got a suspicion if you stood inside the gates of the zoo and asked the average visitor for the top 3-5 animals they were looking forward to seeing that day, hippos wouldn't feature. No evidence, just a hunch.
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Ask them after and I'm sure there is far more likelihood hippos would get a mention.
Bears, Elephant and penguins possibly, but there wouldn't be much else ahead of them I would think. Certainly not Capybara for a start
 
pipaluk said:
Ask them after and I'm sure there is far more likelihood hippos would get a mention.
Bears, Elephant and penguins possibly, but there wouldn't be much else ahead of them I would think. Certainly not Capybara for a start
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Lions. Tigers. If it's kids: lemurs, meerkats. Giraffes.

I just think there's quite a list before hippos.
 
Cat-Man said:
I really don't want to derail this thread any further, nor have any personal animosity, so I'll just say that I stated that I do not believe this was a well calculated move, and to reiterate what I meant by this that I don't think it was calculated based on the popularity of the animals. I did not say that ZSL never makes calculated moves, nor wished to imply that the moves were not done in a professional manner.
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You are not derailing the thread, this is a major change for Whipsnade and needs debate. I have said very little so far and don't really see the need at the moment.
I predicted the Capybara so I am not shocked by this and whatever went in the hippo enclosure would not be an adequate replacement for Common Hippo in my opinion.
 
JoB198 said:
Lions. Tigers. If it's kids: lemurs, meerkats. Giraffes.

I just think there's quite a list before hippos.
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This is all conjecture but I suspect all these animals would get a reasonably similar number of responses.
 
On the topic of hippos though, the meet the hippo experience is closed from 13th June, so presumably they leave at some stage soon after that.
 
JoB198 said:
Lions. Tigers. If it's kids: lemurs, meerkats. Giraffes.

I just think there's quite a list before hippos.
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I think it depends whether they've seen an animal before to an extent. If they have been to other zoos they will have seen most of them before. For most the only place they would have seen a hippo would probably be Whipsnade
 
pipaluk said:
You are not derailing the thread, this is a major change for Whipsnade and needs debate. I have said very little so far and don't really see the need at the moment.
I predicted the Capybara so I am not shocked by this and whatever went in the hippo enclosure would not be an adequate replacement for Common Hippo in my opinion.
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Yes, I think it's worth having the debate. I'll wait until the official announcement has been made before making further comment, god forbid I be accused of hating ZSL.

And I agree, I don't think their replacements will have the same star power as hippos have!
 
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