lechweoryx
Well-Known Member
To prevent inbreeding couldn't they just bring new animals in or send some away?
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Hoof-stock at Whipsnade
- Thread starter kiang
- Start date
The kudu (and oryx) in the UK have been treated in the past as having been (potentially) exposed to BSE during the early 90s. Consequently most of these animals have been left in non-breeding situations, or moved to smaller collections. Since then new stock and species, particularly bongo, have been imported and bred.
Some species that have been mentioned have very difficult husbandry. Many people on this forum have mentioned musk ox (also at Highland). While the adults could probably cope well with the climate, they drop calves in winter. In the Arctic, conditions are dry and cold. In the UK, well... look outside! Young calves are very susceptible to pathogens.
Also moose have been bandied around. Space and diet must be spot on for them to thrive. We haven't exactly seen a population explosion with the animals in Scotland.
Gazelles like the musk ox are susceptible to pathogens under wet conditions. Obviously some species would work better then others, but care must be taken.
As has been mentioned above Whipsnade doesn't appear to be concentrating on their hoofstock collection. In fact I have always looked at Whipsnade as a generalised open-range park, as they have kept chimps, bears, tigers, sealions and a range of smaller stock. To me Marwell was the hoofstock specialist.
Some species that have been mentioned have very difficult husbandry. Many people on this forum have mentioned musk ox (also at Highland). While the adults could probably cope well with the climate, they drop calves in winter. In the Arctic, conditions are dry and cold. In the UK, well... look outside! Young calves are very susceptible to pathogens.
Also moose have been bandied around. Space and diet must be spot on for them to thrive. We haven't exactly seen a population explosion with the animals in Scotland.
Gazelles like the musk ox are susceptible to pathogens under wet conditions. Obviously some species would work better then others, but care must be taken.
As has been mentioned above Whipsnade doesn't appear to be concentrating on their hoofstock collection. In fact I have always looked at Whipsnade as a generalised open-range park, as they have kept chimps, bears, tigers, sealions and a range of smaller stock. To me Marwell was the hoofstock specialist.
Yes they could. The simplest way is to bring in new males but to then ensure they breed successfully entails either seperating or culling the other existing males in the group. But unrelated animals may not be readily available in the UK so might have to be imported.
Because of these husbandry problems you can see why it is not high on their list of priorities, and I suspect some of their herds may not have had any fresh blood since they were first established.
Though they also had bears, big cats, chimps etc, Whipsnade did have a very comprehensive collection of Ungulates long before Marwell was even in existence. Quite a few of Marwell's early species were derived from Whipsnade stock too..
But whereas Marwell gained ungulate species and became specialist, Whipsnade was shedding theirs and became more generalised, particularly during the 'bottleneck' period when ZSL nearly closed in the early 1990's. I feel it has never regained its former glory,collectionwise, though it still remains one of my favourite UK collections.
I'd like to see more emphasis on temperate species at Whipsnade - many of the paddocks are rather too exposed for smaller tropical species to my mind. European bison and Przewalski horses have always made good displays and I like the idea of kiang and more species of deer, perhaps including tufted and musk deer. I'd also like to see some of the smaller dogs and cats return or arrive - leopards, lynx, Pallas' cat, dhole, raccoon-like dogs and even some of the foxes might all be accomodated.
Alan
Alan
That does seem like fair judgement.
What interest me amongst all this is what the Masterplan for Whipsnade really is. Due to open range conditions, they do have plenty of capacity to develop hoofstock as a cornerstone of their collection/animal management - which admittedly and sadly despite all them paddocks is not the case at the moment -.
I do contest that the black rhino record at Whipsnade is abysmal, it rests as a notion of the not too distant past when an unsuitable pairing was set up into a sub-standard exhibit that on the basis of new knowledge of black rhino breeding should have had a major overhaul before rehousing should have started. Also the substrate was not the best, as blacks require hard standing and lots of behavorial enrichment tools. The "exhibit" for lack of a better wording was rather bare.
Their historical breeding record was fine, the calf survivability into adulthood at other collections was not the best ... (as has been discussed here previously).
Agree they could certainly benefit from some smaller fill-in exhibits. Maybe colder-resistant species as mentioned above would be the best choice too. They recently lost the Bird Garden (permanently?)which represents the loss of yet more variety in the collection.
I think Whipsnade's primary concern is to attract as many visitors as they can through their gates, rather than seriously conserving/ propogating unusual or endangered species of Ungulates.
Re the Black Rhinos- I presume you are referring to the centrally-located enclosure near the Giraffes which housed KataKata/Emma/Quinto/Saya? I think if they ever have them again then a purpose built house(as per the Indian rhino) should definately be built to accomodate them.
my walrus source is one of the top keepers at the park, he was showing us species they were planning to aquire and walrus was one of them. and they are not just random, two species on the list last year were giraffe and wolverine and they have been able to get hold of them.
marwell and port lympne do seem to have the advantage over whipsnade at the moment, but in my eyes marwell will have to re-aquire some of the deer it sent away and some asian antleope to definatley be their
I do agree with GL, that palearctic species are the preffered option for Whipsnade and its exposed landscape, but they alone will not attract the general public, there would have to be a compromise, and when it comes to hoofstock, black rhino in a purpose built enclosure, would be a good bet.
I would like to see a more diverse collection of antelope, i would include a couple of gazelle species, a species of wildebeest, as well as a hartebeest species to, all part of a safari/mixed African area, with better hardstanding facilities on one of the larger paddocks.
I would like to see a more diverse collection of antelope, i would include a couple of gazelle species, a species of wildebeest, as well as a hartebeest species to, all part of a safari/mixed African area, with better hardstanding facilities on one of the larger paddocks.
All 3 could be an option as long as there is the ideal housing for them
I can't see them having Okapi. Whipsnade catches bad weather being high up on the Downs and Okapi can be quite delicate.
Mountain zebra- they have had these before(1960's) but again I can't see them as a deliberate addition in the future. It is just duplicating an existing species(as would Black rhino)
I think we need to differentiate between what zoo enthusiasts(ourselves) would be interested to see- and the needs/ requirements to attract the General public, which are far more important to Whipsnade. I feel that the park really just 'ticks over' nowadays with the species they have, and they have reached a compromise already by cutting down on the number of ungulate species. I may be being pessimistic here but I can't really see them adding very much in the future, apart from the occassional 'refugee' species from ZSL(like the Sloth Bears) or a species which suddenly becomes available from somewhere and catches their enthusiasm.
I also think it mainly depends on whether there are people on their staff who have any particular vision with regard to Whipsnade's future development, and what that might be.
lechweoryx
Well-Known Member
Just a quick question. I have noticed that Whipsnade have free roaming marmots. Surely they won't be able to contain them in the park and if they get out isn't it classed as introducing alien species?
ZooLeopard
Well-Known Member
When was the last time they culled or moved away some of the many mara at the zoo. They seem to eat all the other animals food and must escape into surrounding countryside surely?
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
The colony has been their for more years than I care to remember and has never expanded in all the years I have been visiting Whipsnade,I suspect the local Fox population keeps them in check to a degree,along with the winter months.
same species, different subspecies
CiaranDUK
Well-Known Member
The Marmots are free roaming all over the South Downs! They escaped a good while back and I think the best place to see them is funnily enough the American Bison enclosure. What i would love to see in the UK is a North American mixed exhibit of American Bison, Pronghorn, American Big Horn Sheep and Prairie Marmots. If anywhere would be able to do this, then I think it would be Whipsnade!