Best UK Babirusa Enclosure

Best UK Sulawesi Babirusa Enclosure

  • Chester Zoo

    Votes: 53 96.4%

  • ZSL London Zoo

    Votes: 2 3.6%
  • Total voters
    55
ZooNut23 said:
Sad that so few zoos have Babirusa these days.
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I agree that is a shame, although seeing as the number of UK holders has tripled over the past three years after nearly vanishing from the continent entirely, and there is a chance for further holders seeing as Chester still breeds multiple groups, its difficult for me to complain.

When seeing new species became a priority of mine, Chester was the only UK zoo to hold the species, and I became somewhat nervous that I would never get to see them in my lifetime. Now, both my local zoos hold them, and should I wish to see one it is just an hour's cycle ride away. Hopefully London and/or Whipsnade can also breed the species in the near future!
 
Kalaw said:
I've never seen them using it, and on most days it is drained. The enclosure was designed for elephants, and has more recently held tapir, who did use it occasionally.Not denying that Chester's is far superior (which would be wrong, as its clearly the better of the two), but I think London's Babirusa enclosure is excellent. Plenty of grass, mud wallows, tree stumps and a good variety of vegetation, as well as a decent indoor area within a historic building which has recently been made onshow - seeing as this enclosure was designed for elephants, I think the repurposing deserves some applause.

This thread might be quite a bit more interesting now that Whipsnade has their new Babirusa enclosure, which they share with Francois' Langurs. A former sloth bear enclosure, it is far larger than any of the Chester's habitats, similarly well-landscaped, with plenty of foliage and varying terrain, a good amount of privacy, and very good separation options (both from each other and the langurs), in the shape of a forested, semi-offshow enclosure, not to mention a series of indoor stalls. I would say that, as an enclosure, Whipsnade is better than Chester here, but Chester deserves credit for having a genuine breeding group, with a great record over the years, as their work was crucial in this species' continued survival in European zoos.

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@Lafone
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@ajmcwhipsnade
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It is very hard to tell from the pictures that London’s is that good, and since I have not visited any of these zoos, my opinion is entirely based off the pictures.
 
Gibbonsagainstgravity said:
It is very hard to tell from the pictures that London’s is that good, and since I have not visited any of these zoos, my opinion is entirely based off the pictures.
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Nothing wrong with voting when you haven't seen certain enclosures in person (I do it fairly often), but if you leave comments claiming that one enclosure is drastically, objectively better than the other, then people will naturally assume that you have seen them in person. In my opinion, it's probably best not to leave such comments, and if you do, it's worth specifying that you haven't seen the enclosure in question in said comment. :)
ZooNut23 said:
In terms of pig species it feels like there have been trends in zoos as follows:

Early 90s - Collared Peccary
Late 90s/early 2000s - Babirusa
Late 2000s/early 2010s - Red River hog
Mid 2010s - present - Visayan Warty Pig
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Its difficult for me to imagine that there was ever a time when peccaries and babirusa were more common than red river hogs and warty pigs! To be fair, I am also somewhat surprised by how common warty pigs have become lately, and they still feel like something of a rarity to me even though I know full well which that is not the case!
 
Kalaw said:
Its difficult for me to imagine that there was ever a time when peccaries and babirusa were more common than red river hogs and warty pigs! To be fair, I am also somewhat surprised by how common warty pigs have become lately, and they still feel like something of a rarity to me even though I know full well which that is not the case!
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Remember there were no warty pigs in Europe at all until 2005 - I remember going to Rotterdam in 2004 and seeing a sign saying the enclosure (same one they are in today) was being made ready for them and being slightly frustrated we were there a year early for them - so I had to wait a couple of years until Chester got them in 2007 to see the species.

I feel like there was a little warthog wave as well, between the Red River Hogs and warty pigs. ;)
 
Kalaw said:
Its difficult for me to imagine that there was ever a time when peccaries and babirusa were more common than red river hogs and warty pigs! To be fair, I am also somewhat surprised by how common warty pigs have become lately, and they still feel like something of a rarity to me even though I know full well which that is not the case!
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Thinking about it this is an interesting point. For example my local zoo growing up was Marwell and so seeing peccaries was something I took for granted, and babirusa always turned up in documentaries and the international collections I've visited (notably both Berlin collections). Warty pigs have come out of absolutely nowhere for someone who wasn't aware of their general arrival in the mid-late 00s, and I still haven't seen a red river hog (despite my new local, Wild Place, holding them).
I think the point I'm trying to very poorly make here is that species often seem more or less popular depending on what you've always seen and also what appears in popular culture - that applies more to warthogs, but Longleat's always held those so again it's weird to think they're not universally held. I'm glad babirusa are becoming more popular anyway; as interesting as peccaries are to watch and as strong my nostalgia for that part of Marwell, babirusa and warty pigs are ultimately more important and just as interesting.

In relation to the thread...I saw the new babirusa exhibit under construction at Whipsnade and while it held the legendary Colombo and I can't imagine there being a superior exhibit for them. But I also haven't visited Chester yet and from the photos and discussion babirusa have a very good time with exhibits in the UK.
 
Maguari said:
Remember there were no warty pigs in Europe at all until 2005
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I had no idea that they arrived so recently! Fascinating how quickly they took off, and it gives me hope that European rarities that are more common in zoos in other continents might yet have a bright future in our zoos.
dillotest0 said:
If I had heard correctly from another thread there are plans for Marwell to go into this species again at some point or other... but no-one is sure exactly when
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It would be very exciting if that does happen! Where in the zoo were they kept back when Marwell did hold the species?
 
Kalaw said:
It would be very exciting if that does happen! Where in the zoo were they kept back when Marwell did hold the species?
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They held the species until 2009; where they were kept in one of the enclosures at the South Road [now empty]. In the years after it became an anoa enclosure until the anoas moved as well.
 
Feels like Edinburgh Zoo have been trailblazers for pig species. First place I saw Peccary, Babirusa, Warthog and Red River Hog. Also feels like they were at the front of the queue when it came to Painted Dogs, Giant Anteater (after London) and Sun Bears, and they also had Takins and Goral before I saw them anywhere else. Add to that Koalas and Pandas and they've been pretty good at getting animals in ahead of the curve. Would be great if they got a unique species in to replace the Pandas that nowhere else has...
 
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