I suspect the situation with SWC is still rather precarious at HWP and that for some time we will have to struggle with weeding out the hybrids from the population.
Highland Wildlife Park Highland wildlife park 2013
- Thread starter kiang
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Article about Przewalski wild horse birth :
An Endangered Przewalksi's Horse Joins the Herd at Highland Wildlife Park - ZooBorns
An Endangered Przewalksi's Horse Joins the Herd at Highland Wildlife Park - ZooBorns
Article about Przewalski wild horse birth :
An Endangered Przewalksi's Horse Joins the Herd at Highland Wildlife Park - ZooBorns
An Endangered Przewalksi's Horse Joins the Herd at Highland Wildlife Park - ZooBorns
From the blog:
Up at the Highland Wildlife Park, keepers have managed to sex the Przewalski’s foal born last week as male and have named him Saqi. Saqi is proving to be a very strong, robust little fellow! The Park also said farewell to Orc, last year’s European elk calf, on Wednesday. Orc is headed for his new home at Wildwood in Kent and the Park will shortly be receiving two female elk from Alladale Wilderness Reserve. These movements are part of a coordinated effort to manage breeding and genetic diversity among elk populations within Britain.
Up at the Highland Wildlife Park, keepers have managed to sex the Przewalski’s foal born last week as male and have named him Saqi. Saqi is proving to be a very strong, robust little fellow! The Park also said farewell to Orc, last year’s European elk calf, on Wednesday. Orc is headed for his new home at Wildwood in Kent and the Park will shortly be receiving two female elk from Alladale Wilderness Reserve. These movements are part of a coordinated effort to manage breeding and genetic diversity among elk populations within Britain.
Good family day out at the HWP yesterday, the weather was great (even with a fresh dusting of snow on the mountain tops) and we saw all the animals with the exception of the beaver (no surprise!) and the yak which are in a side paddock at the moment.
The Przewalski’s Horses were keeping well way from the roads both times we went through the main reserve, so didn't get a good look at the new foal, but we did get a really good view of the 4 bison calves (the youngest, no more than 2 metres away). Even the elks were close to the road for a change!
Walker was playig in his pond with a hard hat, but Archtos was quite subdued and was lurking in the secure/cage area - he wasn't locked in as he occasionally stuck his head out the door, but didn't seem interested in going out.
Managed to see the tiger cubs, Lynx and Wildcat kittens and Red Panda cub all being active. The red panda is still perfecting his balance and had a few wobbles! It was good to see the three Snowy Owl chicks fully fledged as well.
On the downside, the male Arctic Fox had to be euthanised last week - problems with his legs and back apparently.
The new elevated walkway is slightly puzzling - it's in the front (entrance) Reserve - but I'm sure they know what they are doing!
The Przewalski’s Horses were keeping well way from the roads both times we went through the main reserve, so didn't get a good look at the new foal, but we did get a really good view of the 4 bison calves (the youngest, no more than 2 metres away). Even the elks were close to the road for a change!
Walker was playig in his pond with a hard hat, but Archtos was quite subdued and was lurking in the secure/cage area - he wasn't locked in as he occasionally stuck his head out the door, but didn't seem interested in going out.
Managed to see the tiger cubs, Lynx and Wildcat kittens and Red Panda cub all being active. The red panda is still perfecting his balance and had a few wobbles! It was good to see the three Snowy Owl chicks fully fledged as well.
On the downside, the male Arctic Fox had to be euthanised last week - problems with his legs and back apparently.
The new elevated walkway is slightly puzzling - it's in the front (entrance) Reserve - but I'm sure they know what they are doing!
That is a damn shame; with luck they will be able to source a new male to pair with the existing female, as this is a species which it would be a shame for HWP to lose.
Jackwow
Well-Known Member
I was there yesterday as well, although I have had better days there. However just popped in for a couple of hours late in the pm on my way to Inverness, so will go back for a longer visit on Monday I hope. Saw one of the wolverines briefly and always assumed they would be bigger?!
Went back yesterday and although the weather wasn't very nice, with drizzly rain most of the afternoon, it was actually a better day than Friday for seeing the animals. Best of all the Pallas cats were moving about briefly and I managed a few decent pics.
I'm looking forward to your Pallas cat pictures, they are especially photogenic little critters.
Wildcat kittens are both female and have been named Ness and Einich after the Scottish Lochs.
Highland Wildlife Park ?
Highland Wildlife Park ?
Jackwow
Well-Known Member
Does anyone else think the money spent constructing the wolverine enclosure could have been better spent on something else? I was delighted when I saw it being constructed earlier in the year, however over six visits in the last two months I have only had a brief glimpse of the wolverines once. I'm someone who will hang around an exhibit for a while and if I don't see anything I'll return to an exhibit at least once more during a visit to give myself the best chance of seeing something, so if I have only seen them once in six visits I suspect that the majority of visitors who only stop briefly at an exhibit if they can't see anything will likely never have seen them?
Big question: are these then purebreds?
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
The perennial problem with smaller carnivores. Neither Whipsnade's Wolverines, nor Cotswold Wildlife Park's, have been very good at putting on a show when I've looked for them. Having said that, this is a species of conservation importance well and truly within the Park's remit.
My knowledge of HWP's chief leads me to feel certain that if Gulo gulo departs the park it won't be down to him.
Are any of them?
I believe HWP revised their number of 'purebreds' downwards to about three adults, and they received a young orphaned cat more recently that was deemed 'pure' also.
I would think these kittens are from some of those parents.
You say that, but on my one and only visit to Whipsnade I found the wolverines to be incredibly showy, and the HWP pair was always pretty visible at Edinburgh - possibly they are just trickier to see whilst they are still settling into a new enclosure?
The species is a fantastic one, hopefully HWP will get them breeding soon.
Something which seems to have gone unnoticed; the pedestrian walkway allowing full access from the ticket kiosks to the visitor centre for anyone arriving on foot or by bicycle opened on St Andrew's Day something I could sorely have done with when I visited last year, and which will be incredibly useful when next I visit.
something I could sorely have done with when I visited last year, and which will be incredibly useful when next I visit.