The enclosure beside the musk oxen held cape buffalo when I visited Whipsnade for the first time, 40 years ago. I think that part of the reason may have been that both species are large and aggressive so they require similar fencing and similarly skilled handling.
The musk ox enclosure now houses the bull elk (he is not a moose, he is a European elk) and the buffalo enclosure holds European bison, so that's not bad zoo-geographically; unfortunately their next nearest neighbours are the chimps
I don't know the origin of the specimens of Alces alces kept in the present Reindeer paddock, until the mid 1980s, but ZSL has labelled the species "Moose" throughout my lifetime. When Cervus canadensis was kept at Whipsnade (and I think that I can remember them in 1973, kept on Bison Hill), they were labelled "Wapiti". Somebody must have decided that "Elk" was too confusing.
The Musk-ox/Moose paddock is one of Whipsnade's oldest, predating World War II; look at that ironwork. It used to be called Warren Paddock, and I think that it may once have held White-tailed Gnu.
And the paddock that Maguari describes was Whipsnade's original rhino enclosure, again created in the 1930s. It was here that ZSL's first rhino calf and the country's first captive-bred Indian Rhino, "Manik", was born in 1957. It would be good to think that the area will be put back to use as the trees planted there mature.
It was here that ZSL's first rhino calf and the country's first captive-bred Indian Rhino, "Manik", was born in 1957. It would be good to think that the area will be put back to use as the trees planted there mature.
'Manik'(male) was the second calf born. The first was 'Mohinija'(female) which was sent to Milwaukee with the first born Basel calf (male) but they never bred. 'Manik' stayed on at Whipsnade with his mother as a pair after his father 'Mohan' died.
The musk ox enclosure now houses the bull elk (he is not a moose, he is a European elk) and the buffalo enclosure holds European bison, so that's not bad zoo-geographically; unfortunately their next nearest neighbours are the chimps
The Chimps are the only non-European species in this whole area now which is given over to the European fauna display- if you discount the Lemurs, that is.
The Chimps are the only non-European species in this whole area now which is given over to the European fauna display- if you discount the Lemurs, that is.
Agreed and the European area has to start/end somewhere. Apart from the odd species remaining in its traditional are e.g penguins, american bison, flamingo and the area from the entrance along the lawns to the station, Whipsnade would be entirely geographically based, certainly more so than most!
That is not something that should be done, the reason I say that is because North American and European moose may actually be their own seperate species with North American being Alces americanus ANC European being Alces alces, that may actually be like putting a picture of a tiger on the enclosure sign or a lion exhibit
