The only reason I would have to visit Longleat would be to see their Siberian Weasel, if they are still extant - and this is not reason enough on its own.
Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park News 2013
- Thread starter mazfc
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Longleat was amazing when I was younger, being able to walk amongst hoofstock including giraffe, gazelle and zebra was amazing... Even if they did stay well away from the people. Now it's not so great, a theme park without the thrill rides or the obligatory aquarium.
I haven't been since they redeveloped the walk round section and I'm not looking to go back at any point in the near future.
I haven't been since they redeveloped the walk round section and I'm not looking to go back at any point in the near future.
The Wylye Codge
Member
Longleat Unveils Plans For New Elephant Sanctuary... Longleat News, Events, Vouchers - Warminster Web
From the plans this will look very much like Woburn's current Elephant facility I think. It also means there will be two new Elephant facilities in the area, with the Noah's Ark development going ahead.
On another tack, do you (or anybody) know if the male Gorilla 'Boulas' now lives with the other three males, or is he still seperate?
On another tack, do you (or anybody) know if the male Gorilla 'Boulas' now lives with the other three males, or is he still seperate?
The Wylye Codge
Member
I saw the main group about a month ago and Boulas wasn't with them, but they were still hopeful.
Warminster Web
Well-Known Member
Obviously a lot of interest in the plans for the proposed new elephant sanctuary at Longleat so I've added more photos/map to put it in context, along with the planning application reference number to examine the plans in more detail. Longleat News, Events, Vouchers - Warminster Web
Warminster Web
Well-Known Member
Warminster Web
Well-Known Member
Lion Cub Kindergarten
I've completely lost track of how many lions there are now at Longleat, but both prides are looking like large kindergartens, with this photo showing a couple of the cubs born to Little Jas and Nibalo at the end of October, also photographed this morning. I've asked Longleat for the numbers and when they reply I'll let you know (if I remember!).
I've completely lost track of how many lions there are now at Longleat, but both prides are looking like large kindergartens, with this photo showing a couple of the cubs born to Little Jas and Nibalo at the end of October, also photographed this morning. I've asked Longleat for the numbers and when they reply I'll let you know (if I remember!).
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It is very difficult(impossible?) to get strange Silverbacks to live together. If they can't get him with the other males he may be destined to live alone longerterm, either at Longleat or elsewhere, as moving him would not solve the problem of integration either.
Not sure how much the presence of the other gorillas might stress him but at least he has not got people staring at him from close quarters now, think he might like that.
In his case this may be true, but some apes appear to like interaction with the visitors, so in certain situations surely removing this from their daily routine as well as moving them to a new home might simply add to the stress?
Of course some do and would really miss it but I didn't feel Boulas liked being stared-at at all.
Most normal adult Gorillas, particularly adult males that haven't been humanised in infancy, hate being stared at. Its a threatening gesture and makes them feel uneasy.
So the spaciousness and distance from people, of Longleat's enclosure might suit him a lot better in that respect. I doubt he actually wants to be with other males though, but he might be missing his former female companions. Having said that, I still think Twycross made a sensible decision to move him and consolidate their Gorillas into one small group. I also think Oumbie (at Twycross)is probably less stressed without Boulas so closeby.
But plucking his arms/hair is a sure sign of some sort of stress, particularly when he never did it previously. As I said above, I know of no instance where two adult stranger silverbacks have ever been successfully integrated together- male groups are normally formed with one adult and several juvenile males, or a group of same-aged males that have grown up together- and even these arrangements don't necessarily work when they reach full maturity.
So if Longleat succeed in adding him to the others it may be a first, though a solitary life in sight and sound of other Gorillas, as with Nico, may now prove the only option for him.
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I agree that Twycross did the right thing placing Biddy in with the other gorillas when Bongo died, and thus allowing this building to provide much needed new accommodation for some of their chimps. As you have stated, which I am sure without doubt to be 100% correct, the chance of Boulas being integrated with Keisho and his brothers are very slim, therefore I question the decision to pack Boulas off the Longleat, no matter how good the new facilities are, when there is a very strong possibility, almost a certainty that he will not be able to live in the company of the others gorillas, a collection of coarse which had a group of females would have been much better, although I think I am correct in saying that Boulas had never fathered babies himself,there would therefore appear to be no alternative for him at present, I do wonder what Boulas is thinking, leaving the company of females at Twycross to live at Longleat with three other males which he will probably never socialise with
IMO Twycross should never have accepted Boulas from Belfast- who needed to move him out as he is apparently infertile. Without him Twycross could quite possibly have consolidated the others into a single group when Oumbie first arrived, and also avoided yet another move for Boulas.
I imagine Boulas is still owned by Howletts(where he was born) but they didn't need him either and the group of males he used to live with at Port Lympne has since been dispersed, as the other males were sent to different Zoos abroad.
So the Longleat option probably mirrors what would have happened if he had gone back to PL. Unfortunately males in his situation are difficult to house satisfactorily, he could well end up as another Nico which is rather sad given he has been a group leader until now. But I don't see any other realistic option for him at present.
I imagine Boulas is still owned by Howletts(where he was born) but they didn't need him either and the group of males he used to live with at Port Lympne has since been dispersed, as the other males were sent to different Zoos abroad.
So the Longleat option probably mirrors what would have happened if he had gone back to PL. Unfortunately males in his situation are difficult to house satisfactorily, he could well end up as another Nico which is rather sad given he has been a group leader until now. But I don't see any other realistic option for him at present.
Longleat...
One could argue that Boulas could have ended up in a similar social situation if he had been a wild living gorilla -- unsuccessful silverback gets ejected from group by another male, ends up alone or on the peripery of a group. Not all wild animals are alpha males, not all alpha males stay that way. So, evolution ought to have set him up, psychologically, for his current situation. Appropriate interaction with keepers and enrichment ought to redress some of the loss of a social group.
One could argue that Boulas could have ended up in a similar social situation if he had been a wild living gorilla -- unsuccessful silverback gets ejected from group by another male, ends up alone or on the peripery of a group. Not all wild animals are alpha males, not all alpha males stay that way. So, evolution ought to have set him up, psychologically, for his current situation. Appropriate interaction with keepers and enrichment ought to redress some of the loss of a social group.
Probably at the time Boulas arrived at Twycross there were no plans to convert the gorilla house into chimpanzee accommodation and they were going to continue with two groups, this is before it became obvious that the new "state of the art" chimp facility was not going to materialise, looking back, yes I would agree that it was bad long term planning by Twycross to take him in the first place, only to move him on after a relatively short time at this zoo.
I think you are probably right there. I was told EEP had recommended his transfer there because he could form a 'retirement group' with the two older females(Biddy & Bongo) who had no male after SamSam died, and obviously Twycross went along with it. With a bit more foresight they could have turned him down though and emptied that house of Gorillas much earlier- freeing it up for Chimps from the dreaded Green Mile,- but as you say maybe the new Chimp complex was closer on the Horizon then than it is now.
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Agree to an extent, except in the wild the innate ability or skill of each individual male would be a factor which governs whether they become successful group leaders and how long they stay that way. In zoos its far more artificially organised and they tend to join or leave groups for quite different reasons e.g. genetic importance, ability or failure to breed etc.
Apart from the elderly Nico also at Longleat, Port Lympne also have had two or three adult males recently which live alone though in sight/sound of others- one of them, 'Timbou' has lived like that for the best part of a decade now.
I am also not sure they actually suffer from living on their own in these situations-it is presumably less stressful to them than being forced to co-habit with other males if they fight.