News of very significant species in private UK collections keeps cropping up on this site, and it might be interesting to collect that data in a loose way to build up a picture of species being conserved outside a (public)zoo environment in this country. I was suprised to learn of False Gharial being kept privately, and that Gayal are still maintained in the UK. Heythrop may still have several bear species, anyone know of anything else?
Animals in private collections
- Thread starter Hadley
- Start date
Privately-held rarities.
I think that most of the big cats mentioned in the list are held by just about a dozen private keepers. I would also like to add that I think there may be some innacuracies in the list.
Heythrop Zoological Gardens.
Santago Rare Leopard Project.
The Cat Survival Trust.
Martin Lacey.
These are the main holders of big cats. There are one or two private keepers with individuals or pairs (a bloke in Northampton got Martin Lacey's young leopard, there's someone in Norfolk with Lynx and Snow Leopard and a football manager neighbouring Paradise Wildlife Park who got two of their previous litter of cheetahs). Not sure if the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent operates under a DWA License or Paradise's Zoo Licence. That place would account for a lot of the big cats on the list if it is indeed DWA Licensed.
But the cats are no surprise. More significant are the smaller mammals - some of which are seldom represented or completely unrepresented in any of our zoos. A few examples would include Malayan and Lyle's Fruit Bats, Streaked and Tailess Tenrecs, Common Palm and Malayan Civets, Brush-tailed Possums, Virginian Opossums, Arabian Camels, Amazon Tree Pocupines and Tantalus Monkey.
Heythrop, by the way, has 1.0 Asiatic Black Bear and 0.1 Polar Bear. A young Brown Bear is due to arrive next week.
Regards.
I think that most of the big cats mentioned in the list are held by just about a dozen private keepers. I would also like to add that I think there may be some innacuracies in the list.
Heythrop Zoological Gardens.
Santago Rare Leopard Project.
The Cat Survival Trust.
Martin Lacey.
These are the main holders of big cats. There are one or two private keepers with individuals or pairs (a bloke in Northampton got Martin Lacey's young leopard, there's someone in Norfolk with Lynx and Snow Leopard and a football manager neighbouring Paradise Wildlife Park who got two of their previous litter of cheetahs). Not sure if the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in Kent operates under a DWA License or Paradise's Zoo Licence. That place would account for a lot of the big cats on the list if it is indeed DWA Licensed.
But the cats are no surprise. More significant are the smaller mammals - some of which are seldom represented or completely unrepresented in any of our zoos. A few examples would include Malayan and Lyle's Fruit Bats, Streaked and Tailess Tenrecs, Common Palm and Malayan Civets, Brush-tailed Possums, Virginian Opossums, Arabian Camels, Amazon Tree Pocupines and Tantalus Monkey.
Heythrop, by the way, has 1.0 Asiatic Black Bear and 0.1 Polar Bear. A young Brown Bear is due to arrive next week.
Regards.
one more thing...
I may be wrong here, but wasn't Dartmoor Zoological Park operating under a DWA License during the period it was closed? And wasn't this at the time the survey was conducted?
I may be wrong here, but wasn't Dartmoor Zoological Park operating under a DWA License during the period it was closed? And wasn't this at the time the survey was conducted?
Not sure what happened to the link: was working yesterday morning then stopped in the afternoon. Seems to be back on again now.
That makes sense. It would account for the Jaguars, Pumas some of the Lions and the Siberian Tigers. Do you still have Ocelots? I don't remember seeing them last time I was there (about 2 years ago).
Cheers,
Sam.
That makes sense. It would account for the Jaguars, Pumas some of the Lions and the Siberian Tigers. Do you still have Ocelots? I don't remember seeing them last time I was there (about 2 years ago).
Cheers,
Sam.
Wow, that's quite a big deal that there is still a Polar Bear in England. Is it a trained individual like most of the stock at Heythrop? They also have a breeding addax group I think. Do heythrop have elephants? I know they had an elderly pygmy hippo for a while. The small mammal species also are really interesting.
OK. Heythrop no longer has an elephant. The one that was kept here (besides Chipperfield's on the adjacent property) was a female Asian called Tina. She actually belonged to Fossetts and was with Heythrop late 70s, early 80s.
The Polar Bear "Zara" is trained, yes.
Currently 1.2 Striped Hyenas. A total of 9 litters have been bred but not for quite a few years now. They were the first ones to be bred in this country for many decades.
The breeding group of Addax moved to West Midland's Safari Park about 4 years ago, most of them originally came from Marwell (an unrelated male from elsewhere was successfully introduced soon after the others arrived). There is now only a single hand-reared male left.
The elderly Pygmy Hippo, "Emma", died about 4 years ago. She nearly matched the world longevity record (and was, as I understand it, the most docile Pygmy Hippo you could ever have met). There is currently a pair that haven't yet been successfully introduced though it is hoped to breed from them in the future. They are both trained.
White-tailed Gnu are available from Europe but it is not faesible to house any at Heythrop just yet. There is currently a castrated male Brindled Gnu though.
Again, Gharial have been offered to the owner but there is no facility yet to house any. There are currently 2.2 American Alligators, 0.1 Nile Crocodile, 1.0 West African Dwarf Crocodile and a young Spectacled Caiman in the collection.
Hope this info is helpful.
The Polar Bear "Zara" is trained, yes.
Currently 1.2 Striped Hyenas. A total of 9 litters have been bred but not for quite a few years now. They were the first ones to be bred in this country for many decades.
The breeding group of Addax moved to West Midland's Safari Park about 4 years ago, most of them originally came from Marwell (an unrelated male from elsewhere was successfully introduced soon after the others arrived). There is now only a single hand-reared male left.
The elderly Pygmy Hippo, "Emma", died about 4 years ago. She nearly matched the world longevity record (and was, as I understand it, the most docile Pygmy Hippo you could ever have met). There is currently a pair that haven't yet been successfully introduced though it is hoped to breed from them in the future. They are both trained.
White-tailed Gnu are available from Europe but it is not faesible to house any at Heythrop just yet. There is currently a castrated male Brindled Gnu though.
Again, Gharial have been offered to the owner but there is no facility yet to house any. There are currently 2.2 American Alligators, 0.1 Nile Crocodile, 1.0 West African Dwarf Crocodile and a young Spectacled Caiman in the collection.
Hope this info is helpful.
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Is Heythrop the collection owned by Jim Clubb? If so he had most of the Mandrills from Southport (and had about three already). I believe that he also had a polar bear which would indicate they are one and the same place.
Does anyone have a full list of species and numbers held here?
Yes, Jim Clubb is the Co-director of Heythrop Zoological Gardens.
There were three Mandrills (2.1, one of the males a castrate) already in the collection before the Southport animals arrived (one of the two groups at Southport with the dominant males swapped over). The other group went to Trotter's World of Animals.
e-mail me privately for a more detailed list of species.
There were three Mandrills (2.1, one of the males a castrate) already in the collection before the Southport animals arrived (one of the two groups at Southport with the dominant males swapped over). The other group went to Trotter's World of Animals.
e-mail me privately for a more detailed list of species.
The Male Lion at Dartmoor did indeed come from Heythrop but I think he was bred elsewhere.
Heythrop has 2.0 Rothschild's Giraffes. They are about 7 years old and came from Swizerland about 5 years ago.
Heythrop has 2.0 Rothschild's Giraffes. They are about 7 years old and came from Swizerland about 5 years ago.
Basic training has been done with both Giraffes. One is unmanageable but the other can be led freely on a collar and lead. They'e appeared in Harry Potter, League of Gentlemen Appocalypse, A Touch of Frost, Jeckyll and Hyde and been guests at Elton John's House.
oh, i've seen these giraffes on a few occasions then. Not in person obv. but these were the giraffes seen in Frost, Elton's Party and Harry Potter. Speaking of Frost, in the episode Endangered Species which featured the giraffes, it also featured a Polar Bear, Penguins, Mandrills (the Southport Animals??) and many others. Would all these animals have come from Heythrop then.