Yorkshire Wildlife Park Yorkshire Wildlife Park News 2012

OrangePerson

OrangePerson

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Apart from the big leopard unveiling and the ongoing (hopefully) preparations for giraffe

The ringtail lemur had a baby
Goes without saying the lechwe have babies
The zebra father has resigned himself to being an ankole as he doesn't seem welcome with the 3 bachelor boys.
The new squirrel moneys are in with the 2 young males, the old females have been retired off-show. The boys are all confined until they learn to get along.
There's a young mara
There are more young marmosets, I'd hate to be the person who has to try & check they are all in at night when the weather gets warmer there's LOADS of them.
The little sitatunga that was born at the end of the year didn't survive the winter.
The old raccoon dog girls are still both around!

New eating facilities not ready yet.
 
OrangePerson said:
Apart from the big leopard unveiling and the ongoing (hopefully) preparations for giraffe

The ringtail lemur had a baby
Goes without saying the lechwe have babies
The zebra father has resigned himself to being an ankole as he doesn't seem welcome with the 3 bachelor boys.
The new squirrel moneys are in with the 2 young males, the old females have been retired off-show. The boys are all confined until they learn to get along.
There's a young mara
There are more young marmosets, I'd hate to be the person who has to try & check they are all in at night when the weather gets warmer there's LOADS of them.
The little sitatunga that was born at the end of the year didn't survive the winter.
The old raccoon dog girls are still both around!

New eating facilities not ready yet.
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Last time I was there the marmoset numbers were quite high, about night or ten. It maybe another mara has been born unless it was the same one I saw as it was quite small. Nice to hear about the raccoon dogs. Two questions;

1. Do all three Amur leopards share the enclosure or are they all kept separate and rotated?

2. Which male lion has been kicked out of the pride by his sons? Was it Cezar? Any news on him at present?
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
Last time I was there the marmoset numbers were quite high, about night or ten. It maybe another mara has been born unless it was the same one I saw as it was quite small. Nice to hear about the raccoon dogs. Two questions;

1. Do all three Amur leopards share the enclosure or are they all kept separate and rotated?

2. Which male lion has been kicked out of the pride by his sons? Was it Cezar? Any news on him at present?
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1) The leopards were together at first but started to squabble so were separated before any damage was done. I assume they will be rotated, Drake was in the main enclosure earlier in the week I believe, I think Sunday was Dimitri's first time, he was a bit miserable according to the staff because they are not used to lots of people yet, but not so miserable he wasn't tempted by a meaty treat! We saw one or both the others outside, one on top of a climbing frame above the top of the main enclosure and that one or the third one from by the tigers/camels.

2) Cezar was separated from the boys because he was not doing well, they were certainly starting to dominate him and even being fed separately wasn't enough, he was looking very skinny, so now he alternates outside with them and his condition has improved. He was out on Sunday with Alis and the boys were roaring inside when I got there - very loud!
Johnny Senior still seems to be the master of his domain and has been seen telling his boys off when necessary, they seem to be a close family. Dani seems quite keen to make his presence known to Johnny Junior next door and doesn't seem held back by his disability. He's developing a good mane.

I think you missed a few marmies, they had 14 some time last year and I think there's been more since then!

The mara may be the one you saw, someone was saying last time I was there that they'd been talking about how many they can actually have in there, as they breed like lechwe ;)
 
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OrangePerson said:
Yes, the leopards were together at first but started to squabble so were separated ebfore any serious damage was done.
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Thanks, I thought that was the case, looking at your photo it was 'Dimitri' who was out when you visited, brothers won't tolerate each other until there after two or three in leopards not humans. ;)
 
Just a little extra snippet picked up. A ranger told me that Arthur was the original (?) zebra - and that he bosses the other boys - they tolerate him but then he starts and they take off out his way! And there I was thinking poor thing he is always alone!!............. still feel sorry for him!

Thanks for the bit about the sitatunga - I thought it looked very frail for too long. Sad. it was not the worst winter ever - guess he wasn't a truely healthy animal
 
smiler01 said:
Just a little extra snippet picked up. A ranger told me that Arthur was the original (?) zebra - and that he bosses the other boys - they tolerate him but then he starts and they take off out his way! And there I was thinking poor thing he is always alone!!............. still feel sorry for him!

Thanks for the bit about the sitatunga - I thought it looked very frail for too long. Sad. it was not the worst winter ever - guess he wasn't a truely healthy animal
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Your correct - Arthur and his mate arrived from Cricket St Thomas, one of the three bachelors is his son. Originally it was 1.1 plus the 1.0 foal, the female died leaving 2.0. I believe YWP's plan was to set up a bachelor group with two males arriving from Africa Alive and Marwell in the Spring/Summer of last year.
 
The Leopards

Went Saturday when Drake was in the main enclosure. Was told that they have done blood tests on all three brothers and Drake's is so pure he may even be returned to Russia for breeding!

He looked a bit lost in the main enclosure but it reminds me of when the lions first arrived, unsurprisingly derelict of vegetation.

The Giraffe House isn't taking shape as yet. It looks as if everything is in place to do so and it is being advertised on the upper viewing platform of Leopard Heights.

Dimitri and Denzil looked quite at home in the smaller area at the back. There are some cracking pictures of them all on the YWP's Facebook site for anyone interested.

PS. I have no idea how you can count the marmosets but they do seem to love their tree.:)
 
I was told 2 of them might be sent to Russia. Not sure how far down the line they are with that part of the project though (breeding in Russia for reintroduction)
 
The Leopards

Thanks for that. No, I don't think we are talking next week.

How old are they all, incidentally? Am not very good at guessing leopard ages ;)
 
I think they were born Dec 09. The mother had another cub last spring which was the stimulus for them to find a new home quickly.

The three part outdoor enclosure stands YWP in very good stead for housing a breeding pair with lots of possible permutations!
 
Looks as if there's an area cleared and some footings down in the area earmarked for the Giraffe - but whole area being used as storage for timber etc...Does seem that Leopard Heights will provide elevated views of the giraffes when they arrive.

The South American village eatery looks very impressive. Work is still going on but you can see how it's going to be and they've planted various tropical looking plants and palms around to add to experience.

Noticed aswell that they've added 3 groups of trees in the african plains exhibit. I assume to provide shade once they've matured.
 
Rough guide to big cats reaching sexual maturity (cats have the right to misbehave at any age and I'm not responsible for that ;) )


Tigers - female 3 to 4 years; males 4 to 5

Lions - females approx 4; males between 3 and 5

Jaguars - females can be as early as 2; males 3 to 4

Leopards - same as jaguars.

Cheetahs - same as jaguars

snow leopards - 2 to 3
 
Leopards - I watched a documentary a year or a so ago and when I was watching it was mentioned a female (African) could have up to 22 cubs during a lifetime. Most Leopards die at the age of about 10-15 in the wild, however, they can live up to 15-22 years in captivity with Lisa the female at Linton turning 20 in December. ;)

Also a Bactrian Camel calf was born recently (1st May) to Lottie (Born in 2009) and Khan (Ex Longleat male) this is the first since 2011 when a single calf was born but dns very long (a week?). (Source; Facebook)
 
Jordan-Jaguar97 said:
Leopards - I watched a documentary a year or a so ago and when I was watching it was mentioned a female (African) could have up to 22 cubs during a lifetime. Most Leopards die at the age of about 10-15 in the wild, however, they can live up to 15-22 years in captivity with Lisa the female at Linton turning 20 in December. ;)

Also a Bactrian Camel calf was born recently (1st May) to Lottie (Born in 2009) and Khan (Ex Longleat male) this is the first since 2011 when a single calf was born but dns very long (a week?). (Source; Facebook)
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There was a second camel calf born last year, which thankfully did survive and has done very well. Seemed to be a real favourite with the crowds but is of course being upstaged now by the new arrival.
 
tw2310 said:
There was a second camel calf born last year, which thankfully did survive and has done very well. Seemed to be a real favourite with the crowds but is of course being upstaged now by the new arrival.
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Thanks - any idea when he/she was born? I don't know and don't think YWP released it's birth that's why I was unaware. :)
 
I think it was not very long after the first one. If you want to really search I think people actually saw it born and there may even be pics of Flickr.

<searches>

May 8th. Sorry for the black-Flickr-hole

[ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/davemhuntphotography/5704136349/in/photostream/"]Yorkshire Wildlife Park | Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame]
 
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Visited again yesterday and was, once again, impressed with the work that's being done.
The "i caramba" cafe was open and looks great. Area's at the side and rear are fenced off and I believe they're earmarked for giant anteaters.
Path ways around the park are being improved - especially through lemur wood.
The path around the leopards is now open which eases the congestion through Tiger land as you now go full circle. Don't know if they plan to landscape the area along the leopards and allow visitors to view both enclosures closer than at the momment. There's a lovely single tree that just crys out Red Panda enclosure ;)
Sign posts are going up, directing visitors to the various attractions.

Animal wise - the baby camel was out in the paddock. Baby lemur hanging on to mum - seemed tail less?
 
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