ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade; 2012 and beyond

They are expensive sheds and are situated in the trees to the right of the reindeer (looking towards the reindeer) as the road from the penguins merges with the road!

Some of them have a lovely view, and they will all have privacy from the road as the doors I assume will point towards the view.

We looked at booking one to try it out but Premier Inn £29 (19) pound rooms are slightly more tempting, can fit in a load more visits then for the price of one night there!!
 
karenZOO said:
They are expensive sheds and are situated in the trees to the right of the reindeer (looking towards the reindeer) as the road from the penguins merges with the road!

Some of them have a lovely view, and they will all have privacy from the road as the doors I assume will point towards the view.
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Whipsnade goes Centre Parcs then?;)
 
Knowing Escarpment Avenue as I do I'd want a weather forecast from the Met Office before committing to a night there, heater or not....;)
 
Yes, if I was booking in- which I won't be- I would take arctic clothing as an essential element of my stay.
 
AdamD601 said:
I presume you are talking about the sealions? :p A new filtration system apparently, though I've been thinking about that enclosure recently since they've been doing the work and thinking about how not very nice it actually is... It would be nice to have a more landscaped, natural look like, for example, Colchester's sealion pool. What does everyone else think?

The lodges are expected to be finished during March. Apparently the actual cabin's come pre-made so it's only the foundations and base stuff that needs to be done building-wise, as well as toilet/shower facilities as you mentioned and probably some landscaping too.
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Yep! Thanks. Yeah it is a bit dated. It's not absolutely terrible but could do with maybe the addition of a more naturalistic pool to the side of the house (like what has been done at Knowsley or Blair Drummond.) However, as both of these pools are the second pools, and Whipsnade technically has two I guess it is not a necessity.
 
Made my first visit for nearly 3 months today and not much has changed. Checked out the sealion area & at first not a lot seemed to have been done, the indoor area & tunnel to underwater viewing were shut for painting & outside has been repainted, but how long has the fake sandstone cliff face behind the extended performing platform been there? That sort of thing doesn't normally bother me as much as some & at Colchester I don't even notice it! But against the newly painted bright white building it doesn't look right!

Highlight of todays visit for me was seeing Lanka,the eldest sloth bear making use of much more of her enclosure & even almost sprinting after an enrichment ball, in about 20 visits i've only ever seen her shuffling about 5 yards forward & back by the entrance to the indoor area.

All the female elephants apart from one were in the main paddock with the 3 youngsters. George & Donna were entertaining an enthusiastic crowd with a mud wrestle in the near corner of the paddock,plenty of rolling around together,chasing & kicks to the head!
 
Pertinax said:
Whipsnade goes Centre Parcs then?;)
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Be careful what you wish for :rolleyes: just seen on our local news that work on centre parcs at Woburn Woods? has just started!!

Wonder if all big drive thro zoos are going to get one?? :D Tut more Chelsea tractors at Whipsnade in 2014 :eek:
 
karenZOO said:
Be careful what you wish for :rolleyes: just seen on our local news that work on centre parcs at Woburn Woods? has just started!!

Wonder if all big drive thro zoos are going to get one?? :D Tut more Chelsea tractors at Whipsnade in 2014 :eek:
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my hubby has actually been on site of the woburn c.p and he said its not really near enough to be classed as woburn as its nearer millbrook.
 
stulch said:
The youngest member of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s elephant herd put his best foot forward as he took part in his first official walkabout.

Elephant calf Scott joins jumbo walkabout - News - ZSL Whipsnade Zoo - ZSL
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Good to see young Scott out and about in the grounds at Whipsnade, as far as I am concerned there is not a finer sight than seeing the Whipsnade elephants on their walks at this zoo. The elephants are walked trunk to tail,although I realise that is not what they do in the wild I always thought this practice was harmless as this is how elephants paraded in circuses for many years. I recall reading that elephants, however, should not be walked trunk to tail as it can cause stress on the spine which could result in back trouble, don't know if this is indeed the case or if it is completely harmless, I have no problem with elephants being walked trunk to tail but I would not condone it if it could cause spinal problems for the animals.
 
TARZAN said:
Good to see young Scott out and about in the grounds at Whipsnade, as far as I am concerned there is not a finer sight than seeing the Whipsnade elephants on their walks at this zoo. The elephants are walked trunk to tail,although I realise that is not what they do in the wild I always thought this practice was harmless as this is how elephants paraded in circuses for many years. I recall reading that elephants, however, should not be walked trunk to tail as it can cause stress on the spine which could result in back trouble, don't know if this is indeed the case or if it is completely harmless, I have no problem with elephants being walked trunk to tail but I would not condone it if it could cause spinal problems for the animals.
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I always feel anxious about it as they are such huge and potentially unpredictable animals. I appreciate the enrichment it can provide but have very mixed feelings about walking the elephants and in general am more in favour of a protected contact approach to elephant husbandry.
 
Shirokuma said:
I always feel anxious about it as they are such huge and potentially unpredictable animals. I appreciate the enrichment it can provide but have very mixed feelings about walking the elephants and in general am more in favour of a protected contact approach to elephant husbandry.
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I agree. It's also very time-consuming for the keepers. I wonder if there would be enough man-hours available to bring back Black Rhino if Whipsnade's elephants were kept on a protected contact basis?

Having said that, does the design of the present cow barn, which was never specifically designed for elephants, allow for any other form of handling?
 
i visited yesterday, the wild boar have 10 little humbug piglets.
but what i would like to ask is,
i only saw 3 of the 4 hippos. lola and baby hula indoors and one outside in the pool. i spent around 15-20 mins at the outside pool but there was only one.
i really hope nothings happened to nigna....
 
kaz said:
i visited yesterday, the wild boar have 10 little humbug piglets.
but what i would like to ask is,
i only saw 3 of the 4 hippos. lola and baby hula indoors and one outside in the pool. i spent around 15-20 mins at the outside pool but there was only one.
i really hope nothings happened to nigna....
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I cannot give any definite information, but all I can say is that it was the same situation on my 2 visits in March, but what I will say is that the signs for Nigna were still up then, and normally they are taken down if theyve left/died. Were the signs still there? Nigna was mixed with Hoover from around the time hula was born on at least 2 visits I made in the autumn.
 
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