Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park 2025

I will set up a thread about the Beavers in the Wildlife Conservation section. I read the BBC article 'god's work' and saw exactly the same report on the local TV news the same day. I recently visited Littlesea in Dorset where there have been, firstly illegal, and then legal releases ( the only legal wild release so far) which are sort of intertwined as the former evidently stimulated the latter. Also this spring I walked a section of the River Otter in Devon. Beaver sign e.g. gnawed trees and even a little dam, were quite easy to spot and most interesting.

Regarding the Longleat sealions. They are a great attraction but must also go against current management guidelines because they live in a freshwater environment I don't know which one wins in a case like that.
 
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Pertinax said:
I don't imagine they will ever have more than one pod/group. The talk about being a 'matriarch' may be just publicity talk. Many years ago they put out somewhere that the initial male gorillas would be 'followed by females for breeding'- never happened... I could imagine she might be swapped with another unrelated female from elsewhere in time though it would probably require export- unless (speculation here) she went to Flamingo Park and rejoined Hoover there. They do have the young homebred female that could be used in exchange though as she is Hodor's halfsister relatedness would still be an issue....
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I don’t think it’s completely ludicrous for this to happen, depending on the time frame, Lola may go to flamingo land before aurora (the juvenile hippo) reaches maturity and then hoover could move to a different collection

If I’m not mistaken Godzilla (the adult female at flamingo land) is the oldest hippo in the uk or the oldest mother in the uk so she wouldn’t be viable to breed from again so I think Lola going to flamingo land is possible but not swapping for aurora
 
Charles said:
If I’m not mistaken Godzilla (the adult female at flamingo land) is the oldest hippo in the uk or the oldest mother in the uk so she wouldn’t be viable to breed from again so I think Lola going to flamingo land is possible but not swapping for aurora
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She was just the oldest first time mother. She absolutely should still be able to breed again if desired.
 
I find it a bit odd that there is all this focus on breeding hippos at Longleat and the need to move the Whipsnade male there to breed etc, while 'up the road' you have the Hippos at West Midlands just languishing with no attempt to breed from them over many years now. All are females and have shrunk from around nine to the current four(?). Doesn't quite send the same message somehow.
 
Embu said:
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.
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Now that is really exciting. I'll be at Longleat very soon for my 20th Anniversary as it's 20 years since I first came to Longleat in 2005 so I'll look forward to see the hippos really soon once they have settled in to their new home
 
Pertinax said:
I find it a bit odd that there is all this focus on breeding hippos at Longleat and the need to move the Whipsnade male there to breed etc, while 'up the road' you have the Hippos at West Midlands just languishing with no attempt to breed from them over many years now. All are females and have shrunk from around nine to the current four(?). Doesn't quite send the same message somehow.
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From what I gather on the European Nile Hippo thread that more non-breeding holders are required.
 
I’m not fully sure on the guide lines but I know not all penguins and sealions are kept in salt water and instead receive salt tablets in their fish, perhaps this is how some collections get around the guidelines? (I’m by no means an expert on the subject so this is just from my vague understanding)
 
Pertinax said:
I find it a bit odd that there is all this focus on breeding hippos at Longleat and the need to move the Whipsnade male there to breed etc, while 'up the road' you have the Hippos at West Midlands just languishing with no attempt to breed from them over many years now. All are females and have shrunk from around nine to the current four(?). Doesn't quite send the same message somehow.
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I absolutely agree ..., it is equally mind boggling like zoo management at WSMP is asleep...?!

Embu said:
From what I gather on the European Nile Hippo thread that more non-breeding holders are required.
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Yes, fine ... but WSMP has A) the space and B) the numbers in terms of hippo held. There is absolutely no reason to let that go to waste.

When being cynical: It almost seems like management want to see the species go out..from WSMP.
 
SealionLDN said:
I’m not fully sure on the guide lines but I know not all penguins and sealions are kept in salt water and instead receive salt tablets in their fish, perhaps this is how some collections get around the guidelines? (I’m by no means an expert on the subject so this is just from my vague understanding)
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Pinnipeds can experience Hypomatemia (low sodium levels) ,to counteract this, they are fed fish eater tablets (usually hidden within the fish, I used push them into the gills) . Also, pinnipids fed on frozen fish that have been thawed are prone to Vitamin E deficiency. The other main deficiencies are Thiamine and Vitamin D. Hope this helps.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
I absolutely agree ..., it is equally mind boggling like zoo management at WSMP is asleep...?!


Yes, fine ... but WSMP has A) the space and B) the numbers in terms of hippo held. There is absolutely no reason to let that go to waste.

When being cynical: It almost seems like management want to see the species go out..from WSMP.
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I agree with the fact that WMSP allowed their pod of hippos to go to waste(shame really) but on my only visit here, which was in the last 3 years, they were in their old enclosure and i was shocked at the state of it.
However from what I believe they have now moved to a new purpose built enclosure so while this current pod are non breeding, it surely does hold a positive future even if they stay as just a non breeding holder?

Apart from Longleat does anywhere else have a recently developed habitat for Common hippos?
 
Embu said:
I agree with the fact that WMSP allowed their pod of hippos to go to waste(shame really) but on my only visit here, which was in the last 3 years, they were in their old enclosure and i was shocked at the state of it.
However from what I believe they have now moved to a new purpose built enclosure so while this current pod are non breeding, it surely does hold a positive future even if they stay as just a non breeding holder?

Apart from Longleat does anywhere else have a recently developed habitat for Common hippos?
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There were rumours of flamingo land building a new one but that was years ago now
 
cerperal said:
I don't doubt the findings that sea lions should be held in saltwater, but equally they are evidently healthy at Longleat and have been for literally decades. I am also sure the staff at Longleat are aware of the impacts of freshwater, and I would be interested to know if they have anything in place to counteract the negatives of it. I think it's a good example that not everything is black-and-white...although that may admittedly be nostalgia for the exhibit doing the talking
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IIRC they give them sodium tablets as part of their diet, but I may well be wrong on this one.
 
Kr15 said:
Son visited today and were told on their tour that all 4 Hippos are on site now, but haven’t all been introduced to each other. He saw 2 in the water part of their ‘house’ when on the boat.
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They will probably rotate between the two girls and mother son out in the outside and then slowly start introductions soon when they feel it’s time. I’m going Longleat Monday anything I should ask?
 
Went to Longleat today and had a great day, even with some school groups visiting. The four hippos are now there and will be slowly integrated, depending on their reaction to the boats and sea lions. If not, a water area may be built on the land. I saw all six koalas, though I couldn't confirm if one was a joey. The fennec fox cubs are doing well but are still off-show due to concerns about a virus. I only saw three female rhinos; has anyone seen the male? The zebras and giraffes have been arguing, so one species is in the main paddock and the other on the left side of the road. I couldn't find a capybara or tapir despite searching their enclosure. The sloth didn't fit in the bat cave and stayed outside in a small pen. It felt like the bats might crash into you as it's so dark in there. Finally, the tree porcupine in Animal Adventure spent the day hiding in the corner and didn't move around the enclosure.
 
Rosie183 said:
Went to Longleat today and had a great day, even with some school groups visiting. The four hippos are now there and will be slowly integrated, depending on their reaction to the boats and sea lions. If not, a water area may be built on the land. I saw all six koalas, though I couldn't confirm if one was a joey. The fennec fox cubs are doing well but are still off-show due to concerns about a virus. I only saw three female rhinos; has anyone seen the male? The zebras and giraffes have been arguing, so one species is in the main paddock and the other on the left side of the road. I couldn't find a capybara or tapir despite searching their enclosure. The sloth didn't fit in the bat cave and stayed outside in a small pen. It felt like the bats might crash into you as it's so dark in there. Finally, the tree porcupine in Animal Adventure spent the day hiding in the corner and didn't move around the enclosure.
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Can you clarify what you mean about the sloths?They were inside the bat cave in February when it opened and fitted in well / were very active. They weren’t out in the main cave area as such but their enclosure was in the main building (before you reached the exit door corridor) and were out and about with the bats around them then.
 
Maybe I saw something different but the sloth today was outside in the rain and was climbing to go back inside but then stopping and coming back out like he/ she wasn’t keen on being indoors ( unsure why) but outside they had no shelter from the rain!
 
Rosie183 said:
Maybe I saw something different but the sloth today was outside in the rain and was climbing to go back inside but then stopping and coming back out like he/ she wasn’t keen on being indoors ( unsure why) but outside they had no shelter from the rain!
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Cheers. I’m guessing that they have access to both inside and out, as I think the previous residents did too. Don’t think there’s anything to worry about, she was probably just enjoying the rain!
 
Come to think about it. Don’t forget the sloth were in shop/ back enclosure previously so never had any access to the outdoors… so this would have been a change from that to a dark bat cave and bright outdoors..
I was more wondering if the male rhino was ok?as no sign of him despite driving the safari 3x today at different times.
Was hoping to see Anne the elephant but no luck,
Saw red in the pen and all the tigers exploring their enclosure. With the lions 2 in a pen ( looked female could have been castrated male) the rest 5 let free and second lion 1 in a pen ( again looked female I think) and 1 Male and 5 female around him, is this common? So not cohesive groups but separation amount the lions.
Also no sign of meg/ terry wolves? Wondered if they have had any pups yet
 
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