Hippo grazing in the paddock beside Half-Mile Lake, which in the past has housed Cape Buffalo (who consequently swam the length of the lake and ended up grazing on Lord Bath's lawn) and a dug-out island for Chimps. Taken June 2008.
Hippo grazing in the paddock beside Half-Mile Lake, which in the past has housed Cape Buffalo (who consequently swam the length of the lake and ended up grazing on Lord Bath\'s lawn) and a dug-out island for Chimps. Taken June 2008.
I think there's a trench/ditch behind the rough area the Hippo is on. Otherwise the grass sward behind would be a lot messier-looking if the Hippos had access?
Literally all of the grass behind them up to the tree line is open to the hippos; it's huge! On one of my visits they were just blobs grazing in the distance.
They were locked in the Hippodome at night when they were young (you can still see it next to sea lion beach), but they're now left alone and with all that space, are as close to a wild animal as you can get. The most keeper care they get is checking to see if they're still on the lake and feeds in the winter.
Ideal conditions then- and free access to it 24/7, even better. A big contrast with the much bigger group at West Midlands then- who have no grazing area available.
I'd be interested to see if Longleat have plans to replace them, given Spot and Sonia are getting on a bit. They have an ideal lifestyle, but I wonder whether you could achieve the boat/sea-lion mix second time round.
there is a ditch going all the way round the field as the fence isnt strong enough for the hippos. in the winter they use the mud wallow for warmth and only rearly leave it 2 feed. they actually only used the house when they first arrived. they did have 5 hippos in the very early days what happened to them im afriad i dont know.
perhaps when the time comes they'll be able to have a couple from West Midlands which really has more than it needs. It would be nice if somewhere in Uk was breeding them again too( a new male would be needed in that case).
