The organisation is still Marwell Wildlife but the park itself is back to Marwell Zoo. The Desert Carnivore House will only temporarily house the 2 female Meerkats until the new species is acquired, then the Meerkats will go back to the smaller enclosure behind the hall- I agree I would rather see a more obscure species of Mongoose than the previously held Yellow or Banded. The old Coati enclosure will hold a large species of Tortoise during the summer- for this year at least....
Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News 2013
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
I won't hold my breath unduly regarding the prospect of an unusual mongoose species arriving; the only real glimmer of hope that this may happen is the fact that the other three possible species found in the UK - Kusimanse, Banded and Yellow - are not exactly in short supply, so if they were trying to get one of those species I would not have thought there would be delays!
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
I am in great danger of spontaneous self-combustion of reading another piece about Meerkats. It really does seem that Marwell needs to let its curatorial staff claw back some clout from its marketing people
They certainly don't need another meerkat enclosure; when I visited the other month I'm pretty sure I counted a total of 7 enclosures!
What 7 meerkat enclosures in 1 zoo?, unbelievable!
If they wanted to keep so many meerkats, it makes me wonder why they demolished the old enclosure, they could've put the surplus in there. It has been said the ones in the desert carnivore house will move to the enclosure by the lawn which has held dwarf mongoose or meerkats in the recent past. There is still i assume the red panda enclosure behind the snow leopards (no access in recent years) which has since held meerkat (& cusimanse) for a while. What is currently in the old yellow mongoose enclosure at entrance to lemurs? More meerkats? I wouldn't mind betting that's what ends up in the coati enclosure! Surely some imagination is required?!
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
Not to mention vasectomising their male Meerkats.
It really isn't.
Got it in one. Basically any small vacant enclosure dotted around the zoo has been filled with meerkats; hopefully this is just an interim measure to ensure that any enclosures which have become vacant are filled whilst they source new acquisitions.
I hope you're right and these really are just temporary arrangements to avoid all those enclosures being empty over the summer! Even if they were filled by dwarf mongoose or yellow or banded or cusimanse, at least there'd be a bit of variety. Shame they didn't get more sand cats or maybe Fennec Fox for the desert carnivore house.
If they got Sahara Striped Polecat - which they won't - I'd start walking from Darlington to Marwell now! 
If they got Sahara Striped Polecat - which they won't - I'd start walking from Darlington to Marwell now!
I don't think you'll need a new pair of boots anytime soon!!
Nor I though considering how much walking to and from collections I already do it's only a matter of time before I will, no matter what species come into the UK.....
though considering how much walking to and from collections I already do it's only a matter of time before I will, no matter what species come into the UK.....It really isn't.
It definitely is an exageration, at no point have they had 7 enclosures with meerkats in at the same time- I know that when the new lot turned up from other zoo's they temporarily housed them in all sorts of places- for like a day or two before mixing them together, but even that would have been like 4 at most. I agree with the sentiment here but let's not just make up numbers!
Got it in one. Basically any small vacant enclosure dotted around the zoo has been filled with meerkats; hopefully this is just an interim measure to ensure that any enclosures which have become vacant are filled whilst they source new acquisitions.
That's what it is- they only intend to ever have 2 separate groups of Meerkats- like most zoo's, and as i said in an earlier post the 2 that will be in desert carnivores will be there instead of the enclosure behind the hall, not as well as.
And no the old yellow mongoose enclosure will not have meerkats in, it is going to be renovated for the Alaotran Gentle Lemurs..
For the new mongoose species my money would sadly have to go on Banded, but I hope I'm wrong
They currently have an all male group in the big enclosure by the cafe (9) and 2 females separate- so there shouldn't be any breeding any time soon!
*Will not* is not the same thing as *does not* - that enclosure has meerkats in now! Or at least, it did in June when I visited.
I am not so pessimistic on Marwell Zoo given the recent new arrivals:
08/02/13 - Lowland Anoa - arrived from Berlin
08/02/13 - Giant Anteater - arrived from Warsaw
13/04/13 - Marabou Stork - arrived from Amsterdam
15/04/13 - Scops Owl - arrived from Chester Zoo
04/06/13 - Arabian Oryx - arrived from Montpellier, France
05/06/13 - Amur Tiger "Kushka" - arrived from Paradise Wildlife Park12/06/13 - 2 Dumeril's Boas - arrived from Newquay Zoo
Especially, some of the mammal arrivals are good (to make up breeding pairs). Bird- and reptile- wise MZ has a long way to go ...
08/02/13 - Lowland Anoa - arrived from Berlin
08/02/13 - Giant Anteater - arrived from Warsaw
13/04/13 - Marabou Stork - arrived from Amsterdam
15/04/13 - Scops Owl - arrived from Chester Zoo
04/06/13 - Arabian Oryx - arrived from Montpellier, France
05/06/13 - Amur Tiger "Kushka" - arrived from Paradise Wildlife Park12/06/13 - 2 Dumeril's Boas - arrived from Newquay Zoo
Especially, some of the mammal arrivals are good (to make up breeding pairs). Bird- and reptile- wise MZ has a long way to go ...
It would be good to see the occasional NEW mammal species arrive though, to make up for all the losses of the last 5-10 years! It still has a long way to go mammal wise too!
I may be wrong, but i think both tigers are female?
Jordan-Jaguar97
Well-Known Member
Yes, the tigers are both female - Marwell reported that 'Kushka' is only at Marwell on-loan as a companion for Milia.