Howletts Wild Animal Park Howletts Wild Animal Park News 2013
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
I'm very surprised at the Tiger birth. I thought 'Nika' wasn't recommended to breed any more? This is also probably 'Malchek' (the male) last litter too, he is approaching 17 (I think) and I've no records of a male Tiger breeding after 17 years old.
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
That will be 'Ingrid' then. Her current 'cubs' are now over two years old however, they're on contraception.
Brief description of the new leopard enclosure mentioned in post number two:
Leopards Spotted in Canterbury!
Leopards Spotted in Canterbury!
Three elephants have died between the two parks in recent weeks in separate incidents....
Three elephants die in bizarre separate tragedies at Port Lympne and Howletts
Three elephants die in bizarre separate tragedies at Port Lympne and Howletts
hakuna matata
New Member
Full response from PR team
This is the response from the management team to a customer post on 02/04/2013 - they responded on 04/04/2013
Howletts, the Aspinall Wild Animal Park
Hi Katharine,
African Elephant, Swana
B. 2nd July 1985, D. 2nd April 2013
Female African elephant, Swana, was born at Howletts on 2nd July 1985. Only the second elephant born at the park, she had something of a privileged upbringing and her mother ‘Masa’, as leader and matriarch of the Howletts elephant herd ensured that no harm would come to her as the calf grew from infancy to adulthood.
As time went by however Swana did receive a number of injuries from one of the other elephants who was vying for a more dominant role within the herd.
On 2nd April 2013, Swana was knocked to the ground by another herd member, sustaining severe muscle damage to her back legs. Kent Fire Brigade Animal Rescue Unit, who have a history of providing help and expertise to both Howletts and Port Lympne, were immediately summoned to site. For more than seven hours zoo staff and fire crew fought to try and bring Swana to her feet, and although at one point this was achieved, Swana later collapsed and it was apparent that she was exhausted and beyond further help. At this point the decision was made to humanely put her to sleep.
We would like to pay tribute to all of the twenty or so people that took part in the marathon rescue attempt that took place yesterday over a prolonged period of time. Keepers, vets, maintenance and office stall all played their part. I would however particularly like to thank the Animal Rescue Unit of Kent Fire Brigade. Without their help, expertise, professionalism and equipment, a slim chance to help rescue Swana would have been no chance whatsoever. So for this, despite the outcome, we say thank you.
Amur Tiger Cub, Kazimir.
B. 17th August 2012, D. 2nd April 2013
Along with his sister, Arina, Kazimir was born at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on 17th August 2012. His mother, Ingrid, took no interest in the cubs so they were transferred to Howletts where a “nursery” area was available for hand rearing. Although Kazimir was an energetic and extremely lively cub, it was obvious from the outset that something was not quite right with his behaviour. Occasional bouts of “vacancy” and what later turned out to be epilepsy soon became evident. Doses of anti-seizure medication used to control human epileptic fits were administered twice a day, however as the severity of the fits increased, so did the amounts of the drug required to control them. An MRI scan at North Downs Specialist Referral Hospital in mid March 2013 confirmed beyond doubt that an area of Kazimir’s brain was indeed malfunctioning, resulting in ever increasing bouts of epilepsy both in terms of their frequency and severity. Keeping staff and vets at Howletts worked tirelessly around the clock to give Kazimir the best chance in life. He received around the clock attention from his keepers and nothing was spared in terms of providing the best possible care for the rare Amur tiger cub.
On the morning of 2nd April 2013, after suffering yet another massive epileptic seizure, vets and keepers at the park decided to humanely put Kazimir to sleep as nothing more could be done for him. He will be sorely missed.
This is the response from the management team to a customer post on 02/04/2013 - they responded on 04/04/2013
Howletts, the Aspinall Wild Animal Park
Hi Katharine,
African Elephant, Swana
B. 2nd July 1985, D. 2nd April 2013
Female African elephant, Swana, was born at Howletts on 2nd July 1985. Only the second elephant born at the park, she had something of a privileged upbringing and her mother ‘Masa’, as leader and matriarch of the Howletts elephant herd ensured that no harm would come to her as the calf grew from infancy to adulthood.
As time went by however Swana did receive a number of injuries from one of the other elephants who was vying for a more dominant role within the herd.
On 2nd April 2013, Swana was knocked to the ground by another herd member, sustaining severe muscle damage to her back legs. Kent Fire Brigade Animal Rescue Unit, who have a history of providing help and expertise to both Howletts and Port Lympne, were immediately summoned to site. For more than seven hours zoo staff and fire crew fought to try and bring Swana to her feet, and although at one point this was achieved, Swana later collapsed and it was apparent that she was exhausted and beyond further help. At this point the decision was made to humanely put her to sleep.
We would like to pay tribute to all of the twenty or so people that took part in the marathon rescue attempt that took place yesterday over a prolonged period of time. Keepers, vets, maintenance and office stall all played their part. I would however particularly like to thank the Animal Rescue Unit of Kent Fire Brigade. Without their help, expertise, professionalism and equipment, a slim chance to help rescue Swana would have been no chance whatsoever. So for this, despite the outcome, we say thank you.
Amur Tiger Cub, Kazimir.
B. 17th August 2012, D. 2nd April 2013
Along with his sister, Arina, Kazimir was born at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park on 17th August 2012. His mother, Ingrid, took no interest in the cubs so they were transferred to Howletts where a “nursery” area was available for hand rearing. Although Kazimir was an energetic and extremely lively cub, it was obvious from the outset that something was not quite right with his behaviour. Occasional bouts of “vacancy” and what later turned out to be epilepsy soon became evident. Doses of anti-seizure medication used to control human epileptic fits were administered twice a day, however as the severity of the fits increased, so did the amounts of the drug required to control them. An MRI scan at North Downs Specialist Referral Hospital in mid March 2013 confirmed beyond doubt that an area of Kazimir’s brain was indeed malfunctioning, resulting in ever increasing bouts of epilepsy both in terms of their frequency and severity. Keeping staff and vets at Howletts worked tirelessly around the clock to give Kazimir the best chance in life. He received around the clock attention from his keepers and nothing was spared in terms of providing the best possible care for the rare Amur tiger cub.
On the morning of 2nd April 2013, after suffering yet another massive epileptic seizure, vets and keepers at the park decided to humanely put Kazimir to sleep as nothing more could be done for him. He will be sorely missed.
Port Lympne has no females left now (just 3 bulls) and Howletts has a herd with females from 2 matriachal groups (Massa`s family and Tammi`s family). If anything they should keep Tammi`s group permanently seperated from Massa`s group now since Swana`s death was the result of aggression between the different subgroups. They have the space to do that in Howletts, or they could send the Tammi-family to P.L.
The 2 deaths at Howletts leave the Howletts herd with 2 young orphans - Imby, Swana`s son, who is a bit under 2 old, and Juluka, Stavit`s daugther, who is a little over 2 years. That should be old enough to survive without milk, but it`s still a terrible situation for these calves who still depend on support and protection from their mother. Do we have a member who will visit Howletts soon and can report how they are doing?
When I went to Howletts last year I felt the elephants were at pretty much capacity as far as the sanded yards go. Perhaps after these unfortnuate events they will look at sending one subgroup to Port Lympne, at least they have the space, though I don't much like the open and exposed hillside site there for Elephants.
Hexaprotodon
Well-Known Member
The sand paddock and original concrete yard at Port Lympne do have a reasonable amount of shelter from the prevailing wind. The original grass paddock is also ok in places, but the bottom paddock leading down from the bull house and yards is quite exposed. They've not had a lot of luck at Lympne with elephants over the years, and perhaps moving a breeding family group of African elephants from Howletts might finally break the jinx? They could perhaps link the two grass paddocks in the summer months and make more use of the concrete yard and sand paddock in the winter?
Two weeks from now I will be visiting both parks on the same day (Howletts from 9am to noon and Port Lympne from noon-thirty to close). However, as my time will be limited and I will likely be with cats the whole time, I doubt my visit will be of much help for this discussion.