Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News

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Recent News (March & April).

Births
2 Congo buffalo - male & female
Penguin chicks
Magellan geese (3)
female giraffe (hybrid)
1 Gentle Lemur
Roan Antelope
Ring-tailed Coati
Meerkats


Arrivals
Male Rothschild giraffe, Kizmet from Flamingoland (they have 1 pure female - mother of the recent calf)
Marabou stork
Male Ground hornbill from Linton zoo

Departures
female Hartmann zebra to Paignton zoo
Male Okapi on breeding loan to Chester

Developments

Restaurant still progressing - there are some walls and a bit of roof

Frog centre - old wire from lion enclosure removed and new windows have been installed. There is a Preview day at the end of June for Pass holders - so should be complete by then!

Play area near Ocelots has been replaced with new climbing frames and houses for kids
 
SWA said:
Recent News (March & April).

Births
2 Congo buffalo - male & female
Penguin chicks
Magellan geese (3)
female giraffe (hybrid)
1 Gentle Lemur
Roan Antelope
Ring-tailed Coati
Meerkats


Arrivals
Male Rothschild giraffe, Kizmet from Flamingoland (they have 1 pure female - mother of the recent calf)
Marabou stork
Male Ground hornbill from Linton zoo

Departures
female Hartmann zebra to Paignton zoo
Male Okapi on breeding loan to Chester

Developments

Restaurant still progressing - there are some walls and a bit of roof

Frog centre - old wire from lion enclosure removed and new windows have been installed. There is a Preview day at the end of June for Pass holders - so should be complete by then!

Play area near Ocelots has been replaced with new climbing frames and houses for kids
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what is the current giraffe situation?

i know chris passed away, so is kizmet the new breeding male? and what are the subspecies of giraffe kept at marwell, i always thought it was just rothchilds. thanks
 
Re Giraffe

There are currently 9 giraffes, including the new calf. Of these only Kismet (new breeding male) and Matilda are pure Rothschild. The rest are hybrids (as was Christopher). This is confirmed on the ISIS website.

Over the last year a couple of the younger females went to Flamingo land (around the same time Kismet arrived) and a couple of females have died.

There are now 3 young males born in 2005/06/07, two older females (including Matilda) and 3 younger females (2002 onwards, sired by Christopher). And of course Kismet.

When the website announced the birth of Christa it mentioned Matilda and Kismet were Rothschild and that they hoped to breed from them in future. I don't know if they will continue to breed from the hybrid females.
 
The move towards Rothschild's giraffes must be welcomed. Bear in mind ISIS also lists the Roan antelope at Marwell as hybrid generic animals.
 
SWA said:
Re Giraffe

There are currently 9 giraffes, including the new calf. Of these only Kismet (new breeding male) and Matilda are pure Rothschild. The rest are hybrids (as was Christopher). This is confirmed on the ISIS website.

Over the last year a couple of the younger females went to Flamingo land (around the same time Kismet arrived) and a couple of females have died.

There are now 3 young males born in 2005/06/07, two older females (including Matilda) and 3 younger females (2002 onwards, sired by Christopher). And of course Kismet.

When the website announced the birth of Christa it mentioned Matilda and Kismet were Rothschild and that they hoped to breed from them in future. I don't know if they will continue to breed from the hybrid females.
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thanks

what subspecies were mixed to produce the hybrids is what i meant, sorry!

and for the new african paddock are new giraffes being brought in or are they going to divide the group?
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
thanks

what subspecies were mixed to produce the hybrids is what i meant, sorry!

and for the new african paddock are new giraffes being brought in or are they going to divide the group?
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I believe they were Rothschilds and Reticulated Hybrids,and possibly a bit of Masai in their some where.
 
zoogiraffe said:
I believe they were Rothschilds and Reticulated Hybrids,and possibly a bit of Masai in their some where.
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Marwell's original giraffes were imported from Africa, so would have been purebred- from memory, Rothschild's probably. I believe the current group are descended down the female line from these, but over the years, after the original purebred males died off, several other 'mixed race' males have also been used to breed from. One (Victor) came from Whipsnade and possibly another from London too- in which case they contain at least an admixture of Reticulated blood as well nowadays.
 
Pertinax said:
Marwell's original giraffes were imported from Africa, so would have been purebred- from memory, Rothschild's probably. I believe the current group are descended down the female line from these, but over the years, after the original purebred males died off, several other 'mixed race' males have also been used to breed from. One (Victor) came from Whipsnade and possibly another from London too- in which case they contain at least an admixture of Reticulated blood as well nowadays.
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ok thanks, i was just bieng nosy, LOL!

does anyone know whats happening with the new enclosure, are they spliting the group up or getting new giraffes?
 
Can someone list the entire current listing of giraffes (sex and their d/of/birth) at Marwell Zoo?

They have 2 (1.1) pure-bred Rothschildt's giraffe G.c. rothschildi? Is Marwell making a conscious switch from generic giraffes to pure-breds and has gone for the rothschildi ssp.?

Will they now slowly phase out their generics?
Have any generics already left the collection and where to (may have been answered already, but thought to check again)?
 
does that mean no-one knows whats happening about the giraffes for the new enclosure?
 
jelle said:
Have any generics already left the collection and where to ?
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I think the original imported group were probably Baringos. They've bred a number of Giraffe over the years so I think the answer would be yes(particularly males). I think one male went a while back to be the breeding male at 'Africa Alive'/Suffolk W.P.
 
Hi

Here is the information I believe to be correct (I am a visitor, not employee of Marwell so apologies for any errors)

Current Giraffes

Males
New - Kismet (born 1998) - Rothschild. Arrived from Flamingolnd in March
Jaja - born in 2005 to Christopher & Mary
Taharqa - born 2006 to Christopher & Matilda
Khama - born 2007 to Christopher & Grace


Females
Mary - born 1993 @ Marwell to Harry and Glenda
Matilda - born 1997 @ Marwell to Harry & Dribbles Rothschild
Isabella - born 2002 to Bruce & Biffa
Makeda - born 2005 to Christopher & Biffa
Christa - born 2008 to Christopher & Matilda

All the mothers were born at Marwell. Harry was born at Marwell. Bruce was from Suffolk, and Christopher was from West Midlands


From speaking to keepers and reading the news on the website I believe that only Kismet and Matalida are pure-bred Rothschild. I don't know what their future planning policy is - although they are keen to breed from this pair.

Giraffes born at Marwell have gone to Suffolk (Harry) and more recently to West midlands and Flamingoland.

The long term plan is to put Giraffe in the new African Valley - but I doubt this will happen for a few years. They may have 2 groups (1 pure & 1 hybrid) but the cost of providing additional housing makes it seem unlikely. When I last spoke to a keeper about this nothing firm had been decided.
 
im pretty sure that some of the giraffes have been sent to more collections than listed, maybe germany or denmark, i know someanimals have moved form marwell to there
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
im pretty sure that some of the giraffes have been sent to more collections than listed, maybe germany or denmark, i know someanimals have moved form marwell to there
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you are probably correct - I don't have a full listing. I think some went to Spain and France in the late 90's.

I know 2 males sent to Flamingoland in 2003 are no longer there - but don't know what happened to them. They could have very well been sent aboard.
 
SWA said:
Matilda - born 1997 @ Marwell to Harry & Dribbles Rothschild
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Not sure how 'Matilda' can be pure- if her father was born at Marwell during the period when they had only 'mixed race' giraffes?

Unless that is 'Harry' was born before any new 'mixed race' bulls were added to the original pure group (though I'm not sure whether these were indeed Rothschild's).
 
Pertinax said:
Not sure how 'Matilda' can be pure- if her father was born at Marwell during the period when they had only 'mixed race' giraffes?

Unless that is 'Harry' was born before any new 'mixed race' bulls were added to the original pure group (though I'm not sure whether these were indeed Rothschild's).
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According to my records (taken from data in the newsletters) Harry was born in 1985 to Arabesque and Eric. Arabesque was one of the orginal females (wild caught) and Eric was from Windsor. I assume these must have both been Rothschild.

Matildas' mother (Dribbles) was another of the wildcaught original giraffe.

The news on the website definatley states Matilda is a Rothschild.
 
SWA said:
According to my records (taken from data in the newsletters) Harry was born in 1985 to Arabesque and Eric. Arabesque was one of the orginal females (wild caught) and Eric was from Windsor. I assume these must have both been Rothschild.

Matildas' mother (Dribbles) was another of the wildcaught original giraffe.

The news on the website definatley states Matilda is a Rothschild.
Click to expand...

Dribbles and Arabesque were in the original group. I wonder how sure they are that the male Eric(from Windsor) was also a pure Rothschilds? (and for that matter the original Marwell group too?) Still, 'on paper' I can see how Matilda could be pure in that case.;)
 
Pertinax - I am glad my posting made sense:)

I am not sure when the Rothschild giraffe studbook was set up and how they guarantee that the the founding members were all pure-bred. So that was an interesting point to make. I am fairly new to all this and (wrongly) tend to accept things at face value;)
 
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