Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park 2025

I wonder if Hodor is not a "Mummy's Boy" but rather sees his mother as his mate.
It might be that, if he can't be moved on to prevent distress, he has to be castrated instead, and a new male brought in.
It will be interesting to see if he is more amenable to the girls when they are in season, and if he can be kept with them then, rather than his mother?
 
GaryA said:
I wonder if Hodor is not a "Mummy's Boy" but rather sees his mother as his mate.
It might be that, if he can't be moved on to prevent distress, he has to be castrated instead, and a new male brought in.
It will be interesting to see if he is more amenable to the girls when they are in season, and if he can be kept with them then, rather than his mother?
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It seems the intention is to group all of the hippos together, but it's quite well known that it can be difficult to introduce unrelated adult cows.
 
Jambo said:
It seems the intention is to group all of the hippos together, but it's quite well known that it can be difficult to introduce unrelated adult cows.
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How does a male take up a harem when he's pushed out of the herd by the dominant bull, that being the case? Surely he WANTS to find unrelated cows to mate with as a biological imperative? Otherwise, hippos would be massively inbred.
 
GaryA said:
How does a male take up a harem when he's pushed out of the herd by the dominant bull, that being the case? Surely he WANTS to find unrelated cows to mate with as a biological imperative? Otherwise, hippos would be massively inbred.
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Hippos do inbreed in captivity if given the opportunity. Hodor wasn't in with his father at Whipsnade, so that natural pushing out never occurred.
 
GaryA said:
How does a male take up a harem when he's pushed out of the herd by the dominant bull, that being the case? Surely he WANTS to find unrelated cows to mate with as a biological imperative? Otherwise, hippos would be massively inbred.
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In the wild Hippos live in large groups so the calves grow up used to associating with many other hippos from an early age. The zoo situation is somewhat unnatural in allowing a pair bond to develop between individuals that often don't see any other hippos. I suspect that's the Hodor/Lola problem, too long spent together with no other hippos. I think they will adjust eventually.
 
Pertinax said:
In the wild Hippos live in large groups so the calves grow up used to associating with many other hippos from an early age. The zoo situation is somewhat unnatural in allowing a pair bond to develop between individuals that often don't see any other hippos. I suspect that's the Hodor/Lola problem, too long spent together with no other hippos. I think they will adjust eventually.
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Purely speculative, but I also don’t think the situation was helped by restrictions on movement associated with Brexit and the COVID lockdowns. Whipsnade had a well managed habit of moving their calves on quite quickly and, personally, Lola and Hodor seemed to stay together for overly prolonged period. I’m surprised Whipsnade didn’t use the second pool that housed his father to separate Hodor once he was old enough if they couldn’t move him on.
 
pipaluk said:
May have been easier if Lola had just stayed at Whipsnade?
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In an ideal world I think that would have been the solution, but the combination of not wanting her to be on her own and ZSL deciding to go out of the species anyway probably forced their hand somewhat.

For what it's worth, it sounds like things aren't going terribly with the introductions and given they're happily grazing (and presumably using the indoor space) they're all acclimatised to the area now. Though especially given how unseasonably warm it's been, I think they're going to have to get used to a bit of chilly lake water in the future...Spot and Sonia were only ever kept out of it in the dead of winter (or when it froze over)
 
Small Mammal Fan said:
Apologies if I have missed this news already, but Zootierliste lists nine banded armadillo in Longleat’s holdings. Does anyone know if this is true please and if so where are they in the zoo. Thanks
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I'm assuming they still hold them, but they've had them for as long as I can remember. Zootierliste says that they've been held since 2024, but this is definitely false - I saw one on my last visit back in 2023, and multiple times over the past decade. It used to be held in Animal Adventure and then the sloth room (in the first enclosure on the left), but since that room has now been renovated I'm not sure where it is held. If Zootierliste is accurate for the location if not the date, then it's used in the displays and may not have a permanent on-show enclosure anymore
 
Thanks all for your comments. I went to Longleat on Wednesday and managed to see him! Amazing! Is Longleat the only UK zoo to hold this species? Seeing one was a highlight for me as I knew they did have six-banded. I have not been to Longleat since 2022, so they were new for me. I had to go back to the enclosure a second time, around 5ish and he was out. As we were there for Festival of Light we had time. It was interesting to see the young fennec fox held in a room by the koala area near where they keep the eucalyptus etc. As much as I like Animal Adventure and Jungle Kingdom, I do think some of those enclosures are a bit small and too open to viewing without animals having enough privacy. I was happy to see the aviary they have built for the macaws and parrots in the old butterfly house and the revamped bat house with sloth included! African wild dogs were a new sighting for me too and I feel work well at African village. The new hippo house looked well but no hippos. Unpopular opinion but I prefer the walking safari to the road safari! Thanks everyone for the comments.
 
Small Mammal Fan said:
Thanks all for your comments. I went to Longleat on Wednesday and managed to see him! Amazing! Is Longleat the only UK zoo to hold this species? Seeing one was a highlight for me as I knew they did have six-banded. I have not been to Longleat since 2022, so they were new for me. I had to go back to the enclosure a second time, around 5ish and he was out. As we were there for Festival of Light we had time. It was interesting to see the young fennec fox held in a room by the koala area near where they keep the eucalyptus etc. As much as I like Animal Adventure and Jungle Kingdom, I do think some of those enclosures are a bit small and too open to viewing without animals having enough privacy. I was happy to see the aviary they have built for the macaws and parrots in the old butterfly house and the revamped bat house with sloth included! African wild dogs were a new sighting for me too and I feel work well at African village. The new hippo house looked well but no hippos. Unpopular opinion but I prefer the walking safari to the road safari! Thanks everyone for the comments.
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Pleased you saw it.

I do wonder what the future of the hippo area is. Seems a big investment for little viewing benefit to the visitor. Same with the gorilla house. Time will tell.

This place also has one Get To Know Our Animals ~ Get to know animals

Looks like you are already familiar with ZTL but it’s listed on there also
 
Skukuza said:
Pleased you saw it.

I do wonder what the future of the hippo area is. Seems a big investment for little viewing benefit to the visitor. Same with the gorilla house. Time will tell.
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I’ve always why the park hasn’t invested in a pathway up to the gorillas (and now the hippos). Perhaps it’s something to do with the landscaping but their hand may be forced if there are irreversible issues with the hippos or the rumours of a new gorilla troop materialise. There’s only so much you can view from a boat!
 
Panthera1981 said:
I’ve always why the park hasn’t invested in a pathway up to the gorillas (and now the hippos). Perhaps it’s something to do with the landscaping but their hand may be forced if there are irreversible issues with the hippos or the rumours of a new gorilla troop materialise. There’s only so much you can view from a boat!
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The problem at Longleat is nowadays much of the estate is a 'no go' area with no public access. I remember when you could wander all over the park but nowadays there are 'no entry' signs on some of the roads and paths, and visitors are channelled into a much stricter route which is kind of understandable given the volume they get. Could they develop a pathway along that side of the lake and make it accessible to pedestrians? Not sure but I agree it would vastly improve viewing experience if the gorillas(and hippos?) could be seen on foot but then would it also reduce or even remove entirely the revenue they get from the boats?
 
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Pertinax said:
The problem at Longleat is nowadays much of the estate is a 'no go' area with no public access. I remember when you could wander all over the park but nowadays there are 'no entry' signs on some of the roads and paths, and visitors are channelled into a strict route which is kind of understandable given the volume they get. Could they develop a pathway along that side of the lake and make it accessible to pedestrians? Not sure but I agree it would vastly improve viewing experience if the gorillas(and hippos?) could be seen on foot but then would it also reduce or even remove entirely the revenue they get from the boats?
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The boats are free to go on as included in the entry price. People pay to feed the sealions, which may be the revenue you refer to, but if someone really wanted to feed them they would still go on.
 
polarbear said:
The boats are free to go on as included in the entry price. People pay to feed the sealions, which may be the revenue you refer to, but if someone really wanted to feed them they would still go on.
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Ah, okay. I haven't been for a very long time, at least not on the boat. I think we paid for the boat seperately way back then, while now its all inclusive. In which case its not really a consideration.
 
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