Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park 2024

Kifaru Bwana said:
Thanks for the update!

How likely is the introduction of a new unrelated bull? It is about time .... since Thorn's passing, don't you all think!?
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When Thea was born it was stated in Animal Park that the stud book had put them on breeding hold. After many years of success I guess the gene pool was quite extensive and with Thorn reaching later years it'd been unfair to ship him out so I guess they were just waiting until he passed(obviously we're at that stage).

I wouldn't expect a new bull in before the end of the year at least. I wouldn't expect Ella or Gertrude to produce any more calves given their ages, Kate may be retired as well as she's now 14yrs so 16/17yrs as a new mum again if a bull arrived this year.
 
Fantastic conservation success for Longleat!


Oh goodness, have we got some news for you all today, the International Day of the Cotton Top Tamarin

Our team has captured the special moment a rare Cotton Top Tamarin monkey was brought into the world by mum Maxi, with dad Rico by her side.

This is the first breeding pair of these critically endangered creatures here at Longleat, and this little arrival is one of only 46 born around the world in the last 12 months.
 
On today animal park they discussed the koala Maisie Yani and Dennis mixing.. what about Violet? Why isn’t she included ? Also Hazel isn’t related to Dennis will she be included one day as her dad was Burke and Violet!
 
Rosie183 said:
On today animal park they discussed the koala Maisie Yani and Dennis mixing.. what about Violet? Why isn’t she included ? Also Hazel isn’t related to Dennis will she be included one day as her dad was Burke and Violet!
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I would guess it's a matter of space and priorities. Yani is now 10+ and has never had an opportunity to breed. Maisie has but is presumably older than Violet? Hazel being the youngest would be further down the priority list
 
It might also be because Violet has already had offspring before with Burke, she was actually the first one to give birth there and in UK. That way if Dennis does become a dad, then his joeys can be bred with Violet's, assuming they're not move onto other collections. Or if they don't want to do that, then Longleat would have two different genetic bloodlines that can be expanded to other collections.

As for Hazel? I think if I remember right they did try putting her with Dennis before which was covered on the program. But to their surprise, Hazel was chasing Dennis off a lot back then, and Dennis as a result was avoiding Hazel completely. So the keepers are probably not including Hazel to avoid a repeat of last time?

Though I think given how Dennis has gotten older and from the recent episode having much better luck mating. They might give him and Hazel another try.
 
Following the recent age/health/euthanasia issues reported on Animal Park in some of the males, what is the future for the lions at the park? Obviously theyre not going to be phased out, but when were there last cubs or is no current recommendation?
 
Panthera1981 said:
Following the recent age/health/euthanasia issues reported on Animal Park in some of the males, what is the future for the lions at the park? Obviously theyre not going to be phased out, but when were there last cubs or is no current recommendation?
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I'm tempted to say 2014 was the last time cubs were born so at a guess all lions will be at least 10yrs. I believe there's no breeding recommendation for the foreseeable as Harry is related to the females in his pride. Simba & Klaus will be retired off show later this year so majority of females in their pride are again at least 10yrs.
 
Has everyone enjoyed the latest series of Animal Park? Overall I think its been brilliant, but I did feel that the coverage of Ghost the lion being put down in yesterday's episode was a bit intrusive in terms of showing keepers visibly very upset and going in to the enclosure to say their goodbyes after he had passed. I felt like that should have been a private moment.
 
Sand Cat said:
Has everyone enjoyed the latest series of Animal Park? Overall I think its been brilliant, but I did feel that the coverage of Ghost the lion being put down in yesterday's episode was a bit intrusive in terms of showing keepers visibly very upset and going in to the enclosure to say their goodbyes after he had passed. I felt like that should have been a private moment.
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I would expect that the crew would have asked if it was alright to have filmed and it would have been done sensitively. After the issues from 10 years ago I guess Longleat would want to try and be as transparent as possible, good for them
 
Embu said:
I would expect that the crew would have asked if it was alright to have filmed and it would have been done sensitively. After the issues from 10 years ago I guess Longleat would want to try and be as transparent as possible, good for them
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I would hope so, but is someone in tears really in the best headspace to be asking people to stop filming? Likwise if one of several members of staff is the only one who would prefer the filming to be stopped, would they feel able to speak up? Just my opinion, I'm unashamedly soppy when it comes to animals - and although some keepers are more detached than others, I admit that I do tend to empathise more with those who can't help but have some emotional attachment to the animals in their care.
 
Sand Cat said:
Has everyone enjoyed the latest series of Animal Park? Overall I think its been brilliant, but I did feel that the coverage of Ghost the lion being put down in yesterday's episode was a bit intrusive in terms of showing keepers visibly very upset and going in to the enclosure to say their goodbyes after he had passed. I felt like that should have been a private moment.
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No more intrusive than the circumstances concerning the wolves I would say which, one could argue, was more prolonged and traumatic.

Clearly the keepers must have some say as to what can and cannot be shown. The death of the Red panda cubs a few years ago, for example, has never been mentioned and Thorn’s passing was only briefly acknowledged.
 
Embu said:
I would expect that the crew would have asked if it was alright to have filmed and it would have been done sensitively. After the issues from 10 years ago I guess Longleat would want to try and be as transparent as possible, good for them
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What were the issues 10 years ago?
 
JoB198 said:
What were the issues 10 years ago?
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From what I gather ...
The relations between prides at Longleat were not managed as much as they should have been - so genetically-close lions were able to mate with each other.
The offspring suffered from inbreeding-related issues and were put down.

I would think since then Longleat manages its lions with more accuracy!
 
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