That is a good size. I think the largest enclosures in Australian zoos would be at Monarto. From what I have seen even at Dubbo most enclosure are well under 10 acres.
What I think we need in Australia is a place with several large (over 100 acres) pens with mixed exhibits. One Asia, one Africa another Europe and so on.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford to build it myself.
Whipsnade don't have a huge herd of these- maybe thirty or so at most. As others said, they have a large area and are mixed with Yak and Camels.
But just up the road at Woburn they still have several hundred of these deer- the 'parent' herd that saved the species from extinction. IMO they present one of the best wildlife spectacles you can see in the UK.
Whipsnade don't have a huge herd of these- maybe thirty or so at most. As others said, they have a large area and are mixed with Yak and Camels.
But just up the road at Woburn they still have several hundred of these deer- the 'parent' herd that saved the species from extinction. IMO they present one of the best wildlife spectacles you can see in the UK.
That's probably about right for adults, though with this year's babies I think it's at around 48 give or take a couple. Nowhere near 'several hundred' though, that must be very impressive indeed!
If you live in Bedfordshire(?) you should certainly see them at Woburn- it is an enormous deer park (not the Safari Park which is entirely seperate) and the Pere David's are its crowning glory.
My guess is Whipsnade have a fixed maximum for all their deer herds because of the 'carrying capacity' of the enclosures/grazing levels in the paddocks etc, so excess are either culled or removed and sent elsewhere.(that would apply at Woburn too, but on a much bigger scale.)
