Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park 2025

Skukuza said:
Looking her age earlier this week when i visited. But she was actually using her outdoor enclosure which i haven't seen her do on a few previous visits which was nice and she can still shift at a reasonable pace as she demonstrated when a sudden rain downpour landed. No sign of any companion animals with her either, think she used to have some goats mixed in with her. View attachment 798449
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I do feel sorry for her being on her own. It might well be for her own good, but I would like to know whether it was considered bringing in one or two other elderly females for company.

cerperal said:
They started in effect end-of-life care for her around 2 years ago, so I would guess if the goats are gone they were removed in relation to that (as was floated as an idea previously) but equally they could just have been hidden or temporarily removed I suppose.

She does look very old indeed, but it's a credit to the fantastic work Longleat have done that she still looks healthy and as you say still maintains most of her mobility. She's aged very quickly I'd say, as only a few years ago when I last saw her she was far fuller in her build. Hopefully she still has some good time in her yet, surely she must be nearing the oldest elephant in the world?

Not bad for an arthritic circus elephant
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Yes, it's a bloody good innings. I don't think anybody would have expected her to last this long when she first arrived all those years ago. They've done marvellous work with her, and deserve every credit.
 
Cat-Man said:
I do feel sorry for her being on her own. It might well be for her own good, but I would like to know whether it was considered bringing in one or two other elderly females for company.
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It was considered around the same time they were thinking of sending her to Whipsnade (back when she was held in the current rhino house as a temporary measure) and then looked at again around 2016 off the top of my head. The conclusion was she'd lived most of her life either alone or with a single other elephant, and was far too frail to risk mixing with other cows. I agree it's a shame she's alone, but equally they made the right decision in my opinion and she has so much human interaction that she can't feel totally alone.
 
Anne is surely looking old and frail now… thank you for the picture! I don‘t believe she is really over 70 - circusses are notoriously bad at keeping records, and she may as well be 10 (or even more) years younger then the circus claimed. She is certainly very old now, but late 50‘th to early 60‘th is way more realistic then 71.
 
Yassa said:
Anne is surely looking old and frail now… thank you for the picture! I don‘t believe she is really over 70 - circusses are notoriously bad at keeping records, and she may as well be 10 (or even more) years younger then the circus claimed. She is certainly very old now, but late 50‘th to early 60‘th is way more realistic then 71.
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I agree, .... just I think her end of life care is now Longleat's main concern and realistically she may not have 2-5 years left in her. Good on her ... she stay alone.

I wonder what longterm plans Longleat Safari have for this pachyderm species?

NOTA BENE: I would really love to see big import of African elephants from South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini or Botswana and rejuvenate an BIAZA effort for ex situ conservation breeding of African savannah elephants.

Think Knowsley, Blair Drummond ..., even Africa Alive!
 
Yassa said:
Anne is surely looking old and frail now… thank you for the picture! I don‘t believe she is really over 70 - circusses are notoriously bad at keeping records, and she may as well be 10 (or even more) years younger then the circus claimed. She is certainly very old now, but late 50‘th to early 60‘th is way more realistic then 71.
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Surprisingly, Anne is a bit of an exception - there are records of her export and images believed to show her or her then companion in the early 60s. Obviously nothing concrete and her being 70, though a possibility, is more unlikely than not. Longleat holds the records now regardless, but she is a very old elephant indeed. I'm not going to pretend it's an exact science but the vets that assessed her in 2012 seemed to think she was at the youngest early 50s.

Kifaru Bwana said:
I agree, .... just I think her end of life care is now Longleat's main concern and realistically she may not have 2-5 years left in her. Good on her ... she stay alone.

I wonder what longterm plans Longleat Safari have for this pachyderm species?

NOTA BENE: I would really love to see big import of African elephants from South Africa, Namibia, Eswatini or Botswana and rejuvenate an BIAZA effort for ex situ conservation breeding of African savannah elephants.

Think Knowsley, Blair Drummond ..., even Africa Alive!
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In the 2023 summer series of Animal Park they said as much, given she was slowing down. I don't think there's a chance Longleat loses elephants again for good - the plans for an elephant sanctuary never quite made it to fruition but I could see them learning from Anne's complex and expanding it for a herd of rescue elephants. They are undoubtedly the experts in caring for geriatric elephants now so it would be a shame for that expertise to go to waste.

A breeding herd of African elephants, however, is just as much a possibility. Given Longleat's funds and doubling down on the hippos, anything is possible
 
cerperal said:
Surprisingly, Anne is a bit of an exception - there are records of her export and images believed to show her or her then companion in the early 60s. Obviously nothing concrete and her being 70, though a possibility, is more unlikely than not. Longleat holds the records now regardless, but she is a very old elephant indeed. I'm not going to pretend it's an exact science but the vets that assessed her in 2012 seemed to think she was at the youngest early 50s.


In the 2023 summer series of Animal Park they said as much, given she was slowing down. I don't think there's a chance Longleat loses elephants again for good - the plans for an elephant sanctuary never quite made it to fruition but I could see them learning from Anne's complex and expanding it for a herd of rescue elephants. They are undoubtedly the experts in caring for geriatric elephants now so it would be a shame for that expertise to go to waste.

A breeding herd of African elephants, however, is just as much a possibility. Given Longleat's funds and doubling down on the hippos, anything is possible
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Thanks for providing the information regarding bringing in other elephants. I was sure they considered it, but wanted to know for sure. It’s interesting to know this was the case.

And yes, I very much agree. Given the expenditure and ambition shown by Longleat in recent years (which is very refreshing to see, I might add), I’m confident in assuming that they won’t be out of elephants for long whenever she does go. Let’s hope there’s life in the old cow yet!
 
cerperal said:
Admittedly not exactly news for the zoo itself, but it did make me smile to see this earlier. They seem to be going all-out on the advertising, can't really blame them.
View attachment 800578
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I will miss them at Whipsnade as much as the next person, but dear me that's great! What a lovely picture and great advertising too. If that was to scale they would need a new lake!
 
Yassa said:
Anne is surely looking old and frail now… thank you for the picture! I don‘t believe she is really over 70 - circusses are notoriously bad at keeping records, and she may as well be 10 (or even more) years younger then the circus claimed. She is certainly very old now, but late 50‘th to early 60‘th is way more realistic then 71.
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I saw her n circus 1965. She was at least 10 then.
 
FBBird said:
Longleat of course handled a lot of elephants back in the day. I remember seeing several in a woodland setting there in the late 80s. Both the late Paignton elephants came from there
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They would have presumbly been the African girls who were sent to Cabarceno Zoo Obregon in 1990. The Paignton girls arrived from Longleat back in 1977.
 
2nd Secretary chick born

It may not look like it now, but this chick will soon grow into one of the most fabulous birds in the animal kingdom, with long eyelashes, legs and quill-like feathers
This endangered secretary bird chick was born five weeks ago and is being hand-reared by its dedicated keepers. The egg was artificially incubated after its parents, Janine and Kevin, had difficulties doing it themselves, and unfortunately the chick could not be returned as intended as they had already abandoned the nest.
According to its keepers, this little one is currently thriving and we're all hoping it will be our second successful addition to the breeding programme ❤️
 
MennoPebesma said:
I also found the names of the two sisters in Dvur Kralove who will soon be moving:

0,1 Matylda (07-08-2020, Safari Park Dvur Kralove) (Mike x Mona)
0,1 Manon (06-12-2021, Safari Park Dvur Kralove) (Mike x Mona)
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Nisha said:
The first Common Hippo's arrived from Dvur Kralove yesterday - 0.2, Manon and Matylda.
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Interesting to see that the father of the 0:2 that have just arrived at Longleat has sired a calf with Hula last year.
Hula is a full sister to Longleat new breeding bull Hodor.

Zoologicka zahrada Dvur Kralove: 1.5.1

1.0 Mike - 6/20/85 - Gino x Hermien

0.1 Hula - 9/14/11 - Hoover x Lola

0.1 Mona - 11/10/12 - Polo x Maren III

0.1 unnamed - 8/7/20 - Mike x Mona

0.1 unnamed - 12/00/21 - Mike x Mona

0.1 unnamed - 1/00/24 - Mike x Mona

0.0.1 unnamed - 8/23/24 - Mike x Hula
 
Embu said:
Interesting to see that the father of the 0:2 that have just arrived at Longleat has sired a calf with Hula last year.
Hula is a full sister to Longleat new breeding bull Hodor.

Zoologicka zahrada Dvur Kralove: 1.5.1

1.0 Mike - 6/20/85 - Gino x Hermien

0.1 Hula - 9/14/11 - Hoover x Lola

0.1 Mona - 11/10/12 - Polo x Maren III

0.1 unnamed - 8/7/20 - Mike x Mona

0.1 unnamed - 12/00/21 - Mike x Mona

0.1 unnamed - 1/00/24 - Mike x Mona

0.0.1 unnamed - 8/23/24 - Mike x Hula
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Does that make them related to the whipsnade bull incoming?
Longleat have been very good in that the transporter which brought these two over will now head to whipsnade and collect the next two hippos and bring them. Since it worked once why not use it again.
 
Lafone said:
I will miss them at Whipsnade as much as the next person, but dear me that's great! What a lovely picture and great advertising too. If that was to scale they would need a new lake!
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Perhaps Whipsnade can "upgrade" or rebuild its current hippo exhibit and obtain them again in the future?
 
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