Knowsley Safari Park Knowsley Safari Park News 2013

karoocheetah

karoocheetah

Well-Known Member
Little Update:

A batchelor group of lions has been split off from the main pride - the 3 young, uncastrated males are now housed in the bottom most 'tiger' enclosure nearest the house just before you enter the Lion Drive through, the two Tigers are permanently in the top large enclosure now and as soon as the park can sort some screening out they can both be let out at the same time.

There are 2 more Lion Cubs (2 x Female) that have just had their jabs and should be let out to join the main pride in the next week or so - they are currently in the sandy enclosure with mum - to the right as you enter the lion drive through.

A lot of the stock is away for the winter so the big paddocks look quite bare at the moment, I did see a new calf from a distance but couldn't tell you what for definate (Sitatunga/Lechwe type)
The Roan Antelope & the Kudu are both in the right hand fenced off enclosure just as you exit towards the zebra rather than running around the park.
The Camels were mating rather noisily right by the side of the road (felt a wee bit odd photographing it - for research purposes only of course).
The Older Young Rhino were out with their mothers on the hardstand by their house - one was having a fine time mock charging mum and menacing the Eland next door - good fun!
And finally - a couple of the Zebra are looking very 'round' - hope for the patter for stripey hooves this year!!
thats all for now - other rumours abound but I'll share them when they are more substantial :)
 
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New Species at KSP

Arrived over the Easter weekend and on display in a new enclosure behind the giraffes is a Brazillian Tapir :)
To be joined by Capybara once they are out of quarantine.

nice to see new species in the park again.:)
 
Mixed Exhibit 2013

Behind the elephant walkway area is the new Tapir enclosure but there is a new mixed exhibit area being developed behind that area encompasing a portion of the lake and the little train chuffing through the enclosure.
This so far contains the 3 male Brazillian Tapir that arrived from Folly Farm (I think) they are all males, a father and his two sons:
Shaun (Father), Carvalo (Eldest son) & Jerry (Youngest Son)
They will be joined by a number of Capybara ex Twycross and possibly the Sitatunga too - I know that's a mixture of South America & Central Africa but that's what is mooted so far.

Once the Enclosure has bedded in it should be quite nice actually - lets see how they take to the little train hey!
 
karoocheetah said:
Behind the elephant walkway area is the new Tapir enclosure but there is a new mixed exhibit area being developed behind that area encompasing a portion of the lake and the little train chuffing through the enclosure.
This so far contains the 3 male Brazillian Tapir that arrived from Folly Farm (I think) they are all males, a father and his two sons:
Shaun (Father), Carvalo (Eldest son) & Jerry (Youngest Son)
They will be joined by a number of Capybara ex Twycross and possibly the Sitatunga too - I know that's a mixture of South America & Central Africa but that's what is mooted so far.

Once the Enclosure has bedded in it should be quite nice actually - lets see how they take to the little train hey!
Click to expand...

Yup, they came from Folly Farm - shame however, the group they had was a good size!
 
A baboon has been shot dead after it escaped from the Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside.

The adult male baboon climbed over a perimeter fence at the park before being shot by a game keeper.

It had been forced out of its enclosure by a group of adult males as it tried to protect its mate.

In a statement the safari park said: "At 8.20am on Sunday morning, the animal emergency procedure was activated after an adult male baboon was chased out of the enclosure by more than 20 other males.

"The baboon tried to protect his only female from being abducted by antagonist males - a common occurrence in baboon society.

"Cornered, he saw the outside of the enclosure as his safe way out and decided to face the electric fence to protect himself.

"The emergency procedures were immediately instigated, aiming to retrieve the baboon to a safe area. The police and the game keeper of the estate were contacted to assist.

"The baboon was located just outside the perimeter fence of the park. Sadly, in this situation, the safety measurement requires the animal to be shot. The estate's game keeper took the appropriate action."

Staff at the zoo tracked the baboon for almost two hours inside the Knowsley estate.

Once the animal left the estate, staff decided it would have to be shot in the interest of public safety.

"The team at Knowsley Safari care for every animal housed at the park," the statement continued.

"It's very sad when something like this happens, but the police, game keeper and animal management team did everything they could to resolve the situation quickly, safely and humanely."
 
It was very sad - I was actually on site as all this kicked off as I was at Park Farm and they are on the radio network so it was difficult hearing and seeing it all happen :(

The keepers and staff have been subjected to an inordinate amount of abuse from members of the public after CID decided that the baboon area should be closed during their investigations which meant chucking out families already driving round that bit and telling people on the way in that it would be closed - the level of abuse the got was staggering and shameful - they must have given out loads of refunds and free ride wristbands by way of apology - even though the rest of the park was fully open and it was only the baboons area closed.
The staff were distressed obviously as they had tried to get the baboon back within the boundaries of the park but as an ousted Alpha male there is no way he would have gone back in with the troup and he was very aware of that.

What they don't publicise is the stories such as the member of public who actually ran over a young baboon last week - and left it fatally injured and drove off without telling the keepers - poor little thing tried to climb up into a tree with it's intestines hanging out - the keepers then had to catch it and humanely end it's suffering - these are animals they care for 12 hours a day - sometimes I could happily slap the public!!
 
Up until the last few years, I quite often saw a Baboon or two escape from their caged off enclosure area and run up a large tree about 50 metres away from the entrance to their enclosure, I think they where always males too. However they where very easily coaxed back into the enclosure with food within seconds of escaping . I have not seen them do this for a few years as I say, maybe it was the same individuals who did this and are now dead?
Also if he was being attacked by the majority of the males in the troop, then being shot is a better way to die than getting pulled limb from limb by other males if he was reintroduced.

Yes, as for a minority of the public who I have too seen trying to run over a baboon, the public who let their children stand up out of a sunroof in the Baboon enclosure and those who insist on feeding baboons from their windows, the later I think Knowsley should be more strict about themselves personally, not just within the Baboons but across the park.
 
A snippet of info from Knowsley : The zebra are now on the drive on the section where the ankole cattle can be found. The old zebra enclosure now contains Scimitar Horned Oryx.
 
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Knowsley have just confirmed that they will shortly be receiving North American Elk and Iberian Wolves very soon!!

Bloody Marvellous!!
 
members emails...:confused:, never received one myself...then again I can't remember giving them my email address :D.


I had a quick scoot around yesterday, a wet day, pretty uneventful apart from listening to a young rhino constantly asking her mum for some milk, the noises they make almost seem impossible from such an animal. The young camels and Eland seem to be growing up healthily too.

As the keepers were also sheltering from the rain I didn't get the opportunity to ask about the wolves and elk. I suspect that the wolves will end up in the hunting dog enclosure. I haven't seen the dogs in the last month and their enclosure is very over grown, have the two old bitches died recently, do you know karoocheetah?
 
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