Yorkshire Wildlife Park A visit to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park

S

Sand Cat

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I spent a very enjoyable afternoon at Yorkshire Wildlife Park today; my second visit since the park opened in April this year. A bit has changed since I was there, so I'll report on a few of the things I saw and heard.

*The Lemur walk-through wasn't open all day; it was closed for about 90 minutes at lunchtime, then re-opened at about 2:00pm. Unfortunately when I got there most of the lemurs had been shut in for the night - one Black & White Ruffed Lemur called Lucy was, however, refusing to budge from the top of a very tall tree. The keeper supervising them said if she didn't want to come back in they'd leave her outside overnight, and probably let her mate Dice out as well.

*A couple of young Red Deer which have been hand-reared were housed at the front of the wallaby area. They came from a nearby park and will go back there when they're a bit older.

*Also new for me were the two Red River Hogs in a wooded enclosure near the Lemur Woods. The hogs were having a great time rooting around and generally trashing the whole area! Got a really good close view, the fence is nice and low with a hot wire around it.

*The lions are expected to arrive next year and should hopefully be on show in time for Easter. The appeal has gone incredibly well, and an update on the project is going in the News of the World soon. Apparently some of the oldest lions will not be brought over as they are considered too frail to travel. Some other very well known animal welfare charities were asked to help support the 'Lion Rescue' but refused (not sure if I should say who, but think of a charity associated with lions and you'll probably guess right!).

*The same place where the lions are housed apparently has European bears and Wolves in similarly grim conditions, and YWP is hoping that these may follow the lions to England if funds permit. It is planned to have both species together in a large wooded area near the lemurs, if this comes off.

*My Dad asked a member of staff about the alleged visit of the 'Lion Man', but there seems to be some uncertainty as to whether it's happening or not. Personally I hope he isn't.

*Most animals were active today; my personal highlight was the Raccoon Dogs which seemed very responsive to admiring visitors. The Guayquil Squirrels and the Hunting Dogs were also very showy.

*Oh and finally, some branded souvenirs have started to appear: things like mugs, pencils, rubbers etc. so far, but it's a good start. YWP have also published a very nice guide book - mainly aimed at children as is so often the case these days, but it has some excellent photos in it and also includes the animals' scientific names.
 
I was going to ask if they had started work on the lion enclosure yet? I read it is going to be 7 acres!

ps dont mention the Lion man visit :rolleyes: we don't want them to invade again lol :p :eek:
 
ZooLeopard said:
Sounds cool sandcat

Any ideas on how big the lion enclosure will be?
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Not sure. I have a feeling its a couple of acres or so, but not entirely certain. One thing I'm sure of, is that it will be a MASSIVE improvement on where those poor lions are now... apparently 7 of them are housed in a cage that's smaller than the YWP gift shop. And it's a pretty small gift shop. :(
 
Sand Cat said:
*The lions are expected to arrive next year and should hopefully be on show in time for Easter. The appeal has gone incredibly well, and an update on the project is going in the News of the World soon. Apparently some of the oldest lions will not be brought over as they are considered too frail to travel. Some other very well known animal welfare charities were asked to help support the 'Lion Rescue' but refused (not sure if I should say who, but think of a charity associated with lions and you'll probably guess right!).

*The same place where the lions are housed apparently has European bears and Wolves in similarly grim conditions, and YWP is hoping that these may follow the lions to England if funds permit. It is planned to have both species together in a large wooded area near the lemurs, if this comes off.
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First and foremost: I do not condone the lion move from Romania. It does not address the root cause, namely the lack of local funds for proper animal management. For the amount paid up to relocate, the entire zoo under consideration could be refurbished ... full stop. Besides, it is the EU guidelines that have put it and others out of business and on the line.

Second and major: it does not serve any (conservation) purpose. I can imagine that the lion conservation charity you do not care to mention, but implicitly accuse refused support.

Euthanasia of the eldest, worst affected lions and redevelopment of the entire zoo under an sub-standard zoo support programme (see D. Tropeana EAZA/Central and Eastern Europe zoo support programme) would have been much much better.

Last questions: what will the impoverished country of Romania learn from this entire episode, where animal welfare and proper zoo/animal management is concerned. Absolutely nothing. It will continue ... so no substantive results, other than media hype and an new UK zoo getting lions on the expensive ***

I do find this rather deplorable (to put it mildly).
You are welcome to disagree, but I stand by the above (full stop) :eek::cool::D
 
ZooLeopard said:
Will they get any other big cats?
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Not sure. Last time I was there they did mention some long-term ambitions; I think Tigers and Snow Leopards were mentioned. It probably depends on what they can get, but I'm sure Tigers will be reasonably easy to obtain if they don't mind which subspecies they get.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
First and foremost: I do not condone the lion move from Romania. It does not address the root cause, namely the lack of local funds for proper animal management. For the amount paid up to relocate, the entire zoo under consideration could be refurbished ... full stop. Besides, it is the EU guidelines that have put it and others out of business and on the line.

Second and major: it does not serve any (conservation) purpose. I can imagine that the lion conservation charity you do not care to mention, but implicitly accuse refused support.

Euthanasia of the eldest, worst affected lions and redevelopment of the entire zoo under an sub-standard zoo support programme (see D. Tropeana EAZA/Central and Eastern Europe zoo support programme) would have been much much better.
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You may not condone the lion move, but isn't it better for the lions that they live the rest of their lives in a large, clean, more natural environment instead of some barren concete zoo? Yes, they may not be pure breed lions or making a contribution to breeding programmes, but is this the answer to everything? No! The Yorkshire zoo wants to exhibit lions, which will be a crowd puller for them, so they set out to get them, and i think its honorable that they have decided to rescue these lions from the pathetic existance they are currently living in. Just because the lions are not breeding doesn't mean they are not contributing to anything, they are ambassadors for their species, and are lions in a zoo, many zoo go-ers may not understand the difference between lion subspecies, and think of a lion as what it is... a lion. They may not know that they are inbred, or have genetic deformities, like what we all know, but to the average zoo go-er, they are lions, which is what they expect to see.
 
Also, the money spent COULD refurbish the zoo, but it wouldn't keep it running for years to come which was the problem in the first place.
 
The lions story won't be forgotton either, when they do arrive at YWP the zoo will probably tell of their horrific time in their last home and how their lives are now much more enriched now. It is important for the public to hear and see for themselves that there are some incredibly horrible places in the world which keep their animals in terrible conditions. Zoos should add it to their campaigns against poaching.
 
Ash said:
Also, the money spent COULD refurbish the zoo, but it wouldn't keep it running for years to come which was the problem in the first place.
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Great to see this point made so simply and yet it totally sums up the situation. I agree with this 100%!
 
ZooLeopard said:
The lions story won't be forgotton either, when they do arrive at YWP the zoo will probably tell of their horrific time in their last home and how their lives are now much more enriched now. It is important for the public to hear and see for themselves that there are some incredibly horrible places in the world which keep their animals in terrible conditions. Zoos should add it to their campaigns against poaching.
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Another excellent point. I personally feel that all this emphasis on conservation, as good as it is, sometimes means that individual animals are cast aside if they are regarded as not being 'useful'. Why should animals have to serve any purpose? Do elderly people in retirement homes claiming benefits serve a purpose? Thankfully, the attitude towards humans is not to have them put down once they're past a certain age or are no longer capable of breeding - but I think these lions also deserve a decent retirement home. In any case, they will be ambassadors for their species and I'm sure that many people will be greatly touched by their story. If this encourages people to care about wildlife, then this must a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
 
Sand Cat said:
Another excellent point. I personally feel that all this emphasis on conservation, as good as it is, sometimes means that individual animals are cast aside if they are regarded as not being 'useful'. Why should animals have to serve any purpose? Do elderly people in retirement homes claiming benefits serve a purpose? Thankfully, the attitude towards humans is not to have them put down once they're past a certain age or are no longer capable of breeding - but I think these lions also deserve a decent retirement home. In any case, they will be ambassadors for their species and I'm sure that many people will be greatly touched by their story. If this encourages people to care about wildlife, then this must a good thing as far as I'm concerned.
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Like I expected those that do write in on this thread are all missing the entire point of my expose and even misconstrueing it at times for their own good.

For what it is worth I am saying again; Romania needs and deserves better zoos and wildlife conservation prospects. Really that is not some far flung zoo 1,000s of miles away in the UK with dons of cash to throw around. The Romanian zoo in question has native bears and wolves and - outside - wildlife in the near vicinity. The potential for human-wildlife conflict is not a potential one, it is there now.

This zoo would have more meaning operating successfully inside the Romania of today and for improving the local environment and for the benefit of educating the local public than closing it down thanks to a bunch of EU bureaucrats and a mixed set of extremist animal welfarists abroad. Both categories are not contributing, they are just taking and taking ... till there is nothing left to take.

Once again; to put in so much cash into a relocation is like throwing water into the Danube to keep it afloat. And it is damn easy to judge from an armchair and PC and without any notion whatsoever of locale/people + lack of finance to rectify the issues and an all mod cons ... comfort!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Like I expected those that do write in on this thread are all missing the entire point of my expose and even misconstrueing it at times for their own good.

For what it is worth I am saying again; Romania needs and deserves better zoos and wildlife conservation prospects. Really that is not some far flung zoo 1,000s of miles away in the UK with dons of cash to throw around. The Romanian zoo in question has native bears and wolves and - outside - wildlife in the near vicinity. The potential for human-wildlife conflict is not a potential one, it is there now.

This zoo would have more meaning operating successfully inside the Romania of today and for improving the local environment and for the benefit of educating the local public than closing it down thanks to a bunch of EU bureaucrats and a mixed set of extremist animal welfarists abroad. Both categories are not contributing, they are just taking and taking ... till there is nothing left to take.

Once again; to put in so much cash into a relocation is like throwing water into the Danube to keep it afloat. And it is damn easy to judge from an armchair and PC and without any notion whatsoever of locale/people + lack of finance to rectify the issues and an all mod cons ... comfort!
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Well said I agree with you 100%.
 
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