TheTimidTapir
Member
Most likely! my memory isn't the best haha
South Lakes Wild Animal Park South lakes 2014 news
- Thread starter alfiethetortois
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Most likely! my memory isn't the best haha
Fair enough; thought it worth checking if you had heard it from Gill or his staff, as - assuming that as zoogiraffe notes above it is incorrect - had you heard the information via that route this would imply the staff of SLWAP were claiming potentially slanderous things about the prior collections which held the two hybrids
SmallestGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Well i have certainly never heard anything of the sort from any of the staff at SLWAP.
In fact i couldn't even tell you which collection the hybrids came from
I will vouch for the fact that TimidTapir has the worst memory ever haha!
I can't speak for Gill as i have only recently begun following his facebook page and i'm aware he writes quite a few things on there which are far from professional.
In fact i couldn't even tell you which collection the hybrids came from
I will vouch for the fact that TimidTapir has the worst memory ever haha!I can't speak for Gill as i have only recently begun following his facebook page and i'm aware he writes quite a few things on there which are far from professional.
TheTimidTapir
Member
no I think I'm just getting mixed up, just ignore the part about the whole rescuing part cause I can't remember where I read it, so its definitely not valid
I blame the uni work I've been doing, got my brain fried and muddled haha
I blame the uni work I've been doing, got my brain fried and muddled haha
TheTimidTapir
Member
I've edited the post as it was clearly wrong and me confusing myself, sorry guys 
my bad!
my bad!
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
We can all make mistakes,I do it all the time its a human thing we all do it!I've edited the post as it was clearly wrong and me confusing myself, sorry guys
hippophilic
Member
what happens if the baby is rejected after all this interference from owner, children keepers and whoever else has been in with it? How likely is it that it could happen? and is it feasible to hand rear a giraffe if it came to it?
and also is it standard practice to separate mum and calf this early on in their relationship? (Just going off the video(s) on fb for this one, seems to be very close to Belle in an area too small for mum with an adult the other side of a fence)
and also is it standard practice to separate mum and calf this early on in their relationship? (Just going off the video(s) on fb for this one, seems to be very close to Belle in an area too small for mum with an adult the other side of a fence)
SmallestGiraffe
Well-Known Member
I also thought it looked as if Mum had been seperated due to the fact that the kids had the baby in the corner reaching to pat it and then the video where the baby looks unsure and looking around.
Knowing the enclosure i'm sure that they'd have shut Mum into the other section which in my opinion shouldn't have been done especially not this early on!! I can only hope that there are no consequences from this stupid act.
SmallestGiraffe
Well-Known Member
It seems as if Gill wants to have a respectable zoo and have people to respect his decisions etc and he will even go to lengths of insisting he holds sub-species which he doesn't in order to make his "zoo" stand out but then at times like this he seems to treat the animals as if they are simply his pets and like he has got a new puppy. Somebody on the status actually said that the children needed to be put in with the baby as it had to get used to people just like you'd socialise a puppy *shakes head*
We should have expected this really considering he also handed his children a newborn tiger cub to hold and play with...
We should have expected this really considering he also handed his children a newborn tiger cub to hold and play with...
I'll deal with these point by point.....
1) How likely is it that it could happen? Pretty likely; the tiger cub Kadi who was rejected by her mother at SLWAP some years ago underwent the same treatment of being repeatedly removed from her mother so that Gill and his children could play with her and take photographs of her - in fact Gill used one of the photographs obtained thus as the cover for his autobiography!
In any case, the first few days are pivotal in ensuring a bond between calf and mother, and ensuring the calf successfully feeds from the mother.
2) and is it feasible to hand rear a giraffe if it came to it? This is something which even well-established large collections have had only intermittent success with - high failure rates are combined with shorter life expectancies for those animals which *are* successfully reared. One very obvious reason for this, of course, is that it is damn tricky to effectively hand-rear an animal which is taller than the majority of keepers long before it is anywhere near old enough to be weaned.
3)and also is it standard practice to separate mum and calf this early on in their relationship? Nope! Or to put it another way, not unless there are pressing reasons to do so, such as a failure to feed from the mother - but in this case it rather appears the calf was removed from the mother pretty much straight away for photo opportunities, so in a situation like this..... nope
A newborn tiger cub which was then promptly rejected by her mother, and lived a short and very humanised life as a result, ending in murky - to put it tactfully - circumstances!
SmallestGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Yes!
I would absolutely hate to see anything bad happen to the calf due to absolute stupidity and selfish reasons. Would it kill him to do something the right way for once?!
Gill's official word from FB on such complaints, posted here before he removes it again.....
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My zoo, my rules.
~Thylo
~Thylo
Being as we know he reads this site, you have to wonder whether he includes David Brown among those he refers to as "so-called experts who know nothing" -I imagine he will, considering Brown is among those who have openly stated on Zoochat there are no West African giraffes in captivity outside the native range
Being as we know he reads this site, you have to wonder whether he includes David Brown among those he refers to as "so-called experts who know nothing" -I imagine he will, considering Brown is among those who have openly stated on Zoochat there are no West African giraffes in captivity outside the native range
Of course David Brown is a "so-called expert who knows nothing", it's not like he was the one that discovered giraffes were multiple species or anything. Even if Gill claims the only distinct giraffe is the one that he claims he has.
And hello Yorik, my name is Thylo, very nice to meet you.
~Thylo
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Out of interest, how was it discovered/why was it suggested that there are no West African giraffes in captivity?
SmallestGiraffe
Well-Known Member
*shakes head*
how does he get away with things like this?
how does he manage to become above the rules of a zoo?
and why is he under the impression that these animals are his pets who he can treat in whatever way he wants and allow his kids to treat them as if they were puppies or kittens?
i am not going to lie i enjoy my trips to south lakes for the animals that are there and i enjoy chatting to the keepers who do not come across to me as being anything like Gill but i time and time again find myself completely astounded at the things he can do/say and therefore get away with. i know a lot of you on here are completely against the place because of him but i like the place/animals and dislike him (if that's a fair enough statement to make) :/
how does he get away with things like this?
how does he manage to become above the rules of a zoo?
and why is he under the impression that these animals are his pets who he can treat in whatever way he wants and allow his kids to treat them as if they were puppies or kittens?
i am not going to lie i enjoy my trips to south lakes for the animals that are there and i enjoy chatting to the keepers who do not come across to me as being anything like Gill
but i time and time again find myself completely astounded at the things he can do/say and therefore get away with. i know a lot of you on here are completely against the place because of him but i like the place/animals and dislike him (if that's a fair enough statement to make) :/- Status