Unfortunately it looks like Tapir and Capybara will be replacing them at least for the foreseeable future. Whipsnade still have their male Pygmy Hippo though - and should be actively looking for a mate for him.
Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park 2025
- Thread starter Dr. Loxodonta
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- 2025 longleat safari park news
Taken from social media
Hip, hip, hippo-ray! Two more hippos have arrived here at Longleat
Mother-son duo Lola and Hodor have moved from Whipsnade Zoo to join Matylda and Manon in our new state-of-the-art hippo complex. It has been purposefully designed to house a family group as we're hoping that Hodor and the two ladies from the Czech Republic will hit it off and eventually contribute to the breeding programme for this vulnerable species.
For now, these new arrivals will be enjoying plenty of their favourite food (cabbage!) and settling in. If you're lucky, you may spot them exploring their paddock in the coming weeks.
Hip, hip, hippo-ray! Two more hippos have arrived here at Longleat
Mother-son duo Lola and Hodor have moved from Whipsnade Zoo to join Matylda and Manon in our new state-of-the-art hippo complex. It has been purposefully designed to house a family group as we're hoping that Hodor and the two ladies from the Czech Republic will hit it off and eventually contribute to the breeding programme for this vulnerable species.
For now, these new arrivals will be enjoying plenty of their favourite food (cabbage!) and settling in. If you're lucky, you may spot them exploring their paddock in the coming weeks.
Ab fab! I do hope more open range zoos in Europe refocus on common hippo and in larger groups (just like a certain Dutch zoo did ... yes, in their city environment and still has at their new location - Emmen Noorder Dierpark to Wildlands - Emmen).
Anyhow, it is great to learn that effectively Longleat now has "herd" with potential for breeding with common hippo. A species - that admittedly - is actually also threatened in the wilds ..., but which seems to have gone lost on most European - and alas also - and North American zoos.... Glad that Longleat and earlier Dvur Kralove have broken the trend ... here!
Yet still no mention of what they intend to do with Lola? Unless her bloodlines over-represented and she’s now effectively ‘retired’ (which is a shame considering she’s not particularly old!)
Assuming it’s on the footprint of the old house? Has the boat route been altered to accommodate views of the house?
Samuel Carter
Active Member
I saw a video earlier its next to the gorrilla enclosure, I don't know if that is the old site .
They seem to airbrush the fact she is mother of Hodor. i think acquiring the larger number is probably more important than the genetics plus Whipsnade evidently wanted them both to go. Can you contracept a hippo?
I hope they film them when they first go into the main lake, if that is the plan.
cerperal
Well-Known Member
Quite correct, the new house is built entirely on top of the previous one (well, the old one was probably demolished first). Funnily enough the sea lion area was originally built as part of the hippo complex, but once the hippos moved to living almost entirely outdoors it was repurposed for the sea lions.
She's not really that 'over represented' so to speak - but her two other daughters are both in breeding situations in the Czech Republic and have already birthed calves. With Hodor breeding too, she can likely expect a wealth of grandchildren within the next decade or so.
You can contracept a hippo, but it's certainly not as 'effective' as in other species.
The social media announcement very clearly refers to them as mother and son.
Certainly. The most commonly used forms of female contraceptive in hippopotami are synthetic progestins (administered via their feed) and levonorgestrel implants, with the latter being suitable as a long term option.
Recently did the gorilla experience and the same keepers will look after the hippos. They confirmed that the plan IS to put the hippos into the lake.
But… they needed to ensure safe access to colobus island as well so that is either;
- reliable methods of recall to the house for all four hippos
-a bridge
- vacate the island of colobus.
So suspect it will be some time before they are in the lake.
Supposedly the previous hippos were habituated to the small boat used for access previously? I don’t know. But the four new hippos present an unknown in how they would react to this. I would not be volunteering to go first and test it!
In other news the boat tour confirmed there were beavers using half mile lake itself and over 30 individuals recorded across the estate. Wonder what the sea lions make of the beavers and vice versa.
That’s an episode of Animal Park right there! Which presenter are you putting forward?
Well I hope she doesn't become pregnant by Hodor for their sake. Not that an inbred calf is a disaster in itself, it isn't really, and would add to their herd but they would get bad publicity like those recently inbred Lions somewhere else. Press and public don't like that sort of thing.
Those new hippos are likely to be jumpy and excitable at first until they get used to this newfound 'freedom' and are trained to a routine. It will be interesting to see how they proceed with it all.
30 Beavers at Longleat? If the censusing method is even roughly accurate that indicates they have already been there for some years now, perhaps previously undetected. Unless there has been some recent 'beaver bombing'.