Taken 29th December 2015
Common Hippos on the right and Pygmy Hippos on the left. This is the worst part of the zoo in my opinion and really is pretty awful.
Taken 29th December 2015
Common Hippos on the right and Pygmy Hippos on the left. This is the worst part of the zoo in my opinion and really is pretty awful.
Taken 29th December 2015
Common Hippos on the right and Pygmy Hippos on the left. This is the worst part of the zoo in my opinion and really is pretty awful.
There are several photos on here showing Hippos using the indoor pools. I've never seen a common Hippo indoors myself, only Pygmies, but presume usage is quite high e.g. in colder weather. Worth noting there is still much older housing(offshow) behind this as this building was 'bolted on' to what was there already. I don't think they can ever keep the two adult(male/female) hippos in one of these display pools together, simply not enough space. At least one of them has to use the old offshow quarters.
At the time when the above picture was taken, there was one common hippo and two pygmy hippos in the indoor on-display area. There were none outside so presumably the other hippo was in the off show area.
(the common hippo's back is visible in the picture and you can just see one of the pygmies on the land area on the left)
I should have mentioned that there are often three common Hippos at Whipsnade as the pair regularly breed and each calf is usually nearly adult before leaving the Zoo. Not sure if the latest calf is still there but there is at least one photo I think that shows the mother and her large calf together in this indoor area. I think the male is always kept behind though in the old 'shed', which presumably has some sort of small pool also.
I should have mentioned that there are often three common Hippos at Whipsnade as the pair regularly breed and each calf is usually nearly adult before leaving the Zoo. Not sure if the latest calf is still there but there is at least one photo I think that shows the mother and her large calf together in this indoor area.
Unless there has been a change recently, there are four common hippos at Whipsnade: the male “Hoover” and three generations of females: the female “Nigna”, her daughter “Lola” and her daughter “Holly” (born December 2013).
Presumably 'Holly' will leave the Zoo if they can find a new home for her- they seem very difficult to place. Leaving Hoover/Lola as the breeding pair and Nigna as a retiree though even she might well still breed again if allowed.
