Hi guys, im new to this site and this is my first post so let me know if im doing anything wrong, but id thought id post a update on howletts which I visited yesterday.
So, on entering, the 1st enclosure contained a small group of hunting dogs which were all active despite the cloudy weather and the enclosure behind that, a very large active group of dhole with lots of pups! We spent ages watching the group and the exhibit really is excellent. There were well over 20 i think. The bongo were on the right as you head down towards the rhino centre which currently holds 3 black rhino which all have large fields to graze. The elephants were in the field andthe 11wk old calf looked great. The keeper said there is current talk of switching Jums and kruger round parks as Jums is ‘over represented’ at howletts, but kruger is a small male by comparisom and may be dominated by the matriarch(s) at howletts. Nice elephant gaff too tho!
The colobus and geleda baboons share the open topped enclosure behind the first 2 gorilla, er, cages and both groups of gorilla here and the colobus’s were active - unlike the Sumatran tigers in the pen opposite the colobuses which didn’t move from the same spot all day! The walking with lemur section is very well designed, only a few ruffed lemurs though and one was in the dilapidated enclosure in the bison field. There are several clouded leopard pens next to the lemur bit but we saw none and one contains a sad looking pallas cat. There is also a lone pallas cat in the cage next to the anteaters/capybara/pudu. There’s a pair of moloch gibbons by the anteaters too. We didn’t see any Canadian timber wolves or servals. There were 4 siberian tigers (in the pens between the servals and capybara) and some grizzled leaf monkeys opposite them.
The family of river hogs, greater kudu (including a calf), Brazilian tapir (no Malaysians as far as we could see), lion tailed macaques and javan langurs all had excellent enclosures and really seem to make use of all the space. The deer/antelope and bison all have large fields too. The cages by the cafe contained: moloch gibbons, de brazza and dusky langurs. Also a pair of ocelots, one limping, spent hours pacing, as did the 2 african wildcats next door. Next to the lynx was 1 ‘indian’ tiger (manas?). No honey badgers appeared. The cages behind the ‘gorillarium’ and Burmese python contained: banded leaf monkey, grizzled leaf monkey and molochs. Also, one here contained 2 black monkeys with a white stripe from jaw to temples with a black tuft – I am certain these were francois langurs.
Finally, from west to east, the woodland walk contained: hecks macaque, Iberian wolves, amur leopards (with cub), fishing cats, pallas cat (? Enclosure empty – it says ‘tom’ on it but he’d be 20 by the DoB on the sign!), moloch, banded leaf, javan langur, 1 miserable snow leopard in a dire enclosure, moloch, grizzled leaf monkeys, ocelot, moloch, Indian desert cats, grizzled leaf, sulawesi crested macaque, dusky langurs x 2. All the cages here contained something – none empty and all the animals were active and seemed content.
So, 6 pairs of moloch gibbons in total. Only 1 bengal tiger, but 4 or 5 amur tigers and 2 sumatrans. 15 elephants at present. I did not see any lesser spot nosed guenons – have they left the park? No siamangs anywhere to be seen and every enclosure had something in. Lots of older enclosures looked in terrible condition but the new open topped ones are great. The gorillas need more room – no one really notices the deer/antelope so they should be ditched and the space used for large, open monkey enclosures in my opinion. Hope you found this interesting. I visited port lympne too this weekend so ill write summit similar shortly. Cheers!
So, on entering, the 1st enclosure contained a small group of hunting dogs which were all active despite the cloudy weather and the enclosure behind that, a very large active group of dhole with lots of pups! We spent ages watching the group and the exhibit really is excellent. There were well over 20 i think. The bongo were on the right as you head down towards the rhino centre which currently holds 3 black rhino which all have large fields to graze. The elephants were in the field andthe 11wk old calf looked great. The keeper said there is current talk of switching Jums and kruger round parks as Jums is ‘over represented’ at howletts, but kruger is a small male by comparisom and may be dominated by the matriarch(s) at howletts. Nice elephant gaff too tho!
The colobus and geleda baboons share the open topped enclosure behind the first 2 gorilla, er, cages and both groups of gorilla here and the colobus’s were active - unlike the Sumatran tigers in the pen opposite the colobuses which didn’t move from the same spot all day! The walking with lemur section is very well designed, only a few ruffed lemurs though and one was in the dilapidated enclosure in the bison field. There are several clouded leopard pens next to the lemur bit but we saw none and one contains a sad looking pallas cat. There is also a lone pallas cat in the cage next to the anteaters/capybara/pudu. There’s a pair of moloch gibbons by the anteaters too. We didn’t see any Canadian timber wolves or servals. There were 4 siberian tigers (in the pens between the servals and capybara) and some grizzled leaf monkeys opposite them.
The family of river hogs, greater kudu (including a calf), Brazilian tapir (no Malaysians as far as we could see), lion tailed macaques and javan langurs all had excellent enclosures and really seem to make use of all the space. The deer/antelope and bison all have large fields too. The cages by the cafe contained: moloch gibbons, de brazza and dusky langurs. Also a pair of ocelots, one limping, spent hours pacing, as did the 2 african wildcats next door. Next to the lynx was 1 ‘indian’ tiger (manas?). No honey badgers appeared. The cages behind the ‘gorillarium’ and Burmese python contained: banded leaf monkey, grizzled leaf monkey and molochs. Also, one here contained 2 black monkeys with a white stripe from jaw to temples with a black tuft – I am certain these were francois langurs.
Finally, from west to east, the woodland walk contained: hecks macaque, Iberian wolves, amur leopards (with cub), fishing cats, pallas cat (? Enclosure empty – it says ‘tom’ on it but he’d be 20 by the DoB on the sign!), moloch, banded leaf, javan langur, 1 miserable snow leopard in a dire enclosure, moloch, grizzled leaf monkeys, ocelot, moloch, Indian desert cats, grizzled leaf, sulawesi crested macaque, dusky langurs x 2. All the cages here contained something – none empty and all the animals were active and seemed content.
So, 6 pairs of moloch gibbons in total. Only 1 bengal tiger, but 4 or 5 amur tigers and 2 sumatrans. 15 elephants at present. I did not see any lesser spot nosed guenons – have they left the park? No siamangs anywhere to be seen and every enclosure had something in. Lots of older enclosures looked in terrible condition but the new open topped ones are great. The gorillas need more room – no one really notices the deer/antelope so they should be ditched and the space used for large, open monkey enclosures in my opinion. Hope you found this interesting. I visited port lympne too this weekend so ill write summit similar shortly. Cheers!
