Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park News 2023

Springbok said:
I have just got word that Sonja the hippo has passed away.
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That is surely sad news, despite the fact she was the fourth-oldest living Nile Hippo in Europe! Only a fifty-year old cow at Budapest, a fifty-three-year old bull at Gelsenkirchen, and a fifty-five-year old bull at Mallorca are older than forty-nine in Europe.
 
Confirmation in the last hour

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to one of our veteran animal residents - Hippopotamus, Sonia, has passed away peacefully at the grand old age of almost 50. She called Half Mile Lake here at Longleat home since 1976 and has been a firm favourite for guests to see as part of the Boat Safari. With a big character that befit her 1.5 tonne frame, Sonia even made history a few years ago when she became the first hippo to share UK waters with beavers in 100,000 years… not to mention the Californian Sea Lions who splash around there too. She will be missed by her devoted keepers, some of whom have been with her for more than 40 years. Fellow hippo, Spot, is doing fine, with our animal team’s support. Please do share your favourite Sonia sightings with us and help keep her memory alive.
 
Embu said:
Confirmation in the last hour

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to one of our veteran animal residents - Hippopotamus, Sonia, has passed away peacefully at the grand old age of almost 50. She called Half Mile Lake here at Longleat home since 1976 and has been a firm favourite for guests to see as part of the Boat Safari. With a big character that befit her 1.5 tonne frame, Sonia even made history a few years ago when she became the first hippo to share UK waters with beavers in 100,000 years… not to mention the Californian Sea Lions who splash around there too. She will be missed by her devoted keepers, some of whom have been with her for more than 40 years. Fellow hippo, Spot, is doing fine, with our animal team’s support. Please do share your favourite Sonia sightings with us and help keep her memory alive.
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It is sad news about Sonia but it's good to hear Spot is doing so well
 
After the passing of Sonia the Hippo Deepest Condolences and Thoughts are with my friends at Longleat at this sad time
 
Embu said:
Confirmation in the last hour

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to one of our veteran animal residents - Hippopotamus, Sonia, has passed away peacefully at the grand old age of almost 50. She called Half Mile Lake here at Longleat home since 1976 and has been a firm favourite for guests to see as part of the Boat Safari. With a big character that befit her 1.5 tonne frame, Sonia even made history a few years ago when she became the first hippo to share UK waters with beavers in 100,000 years… not to mention the Californian Sea Lions who splash around there too. She will be missed by her devoted keepers, some of whom have been with her for more than 40 years. Fellow hippo, Spot, is doing fine, with our animal team’s support. Please do share your favourite Sonia sightings with us and help keep her memory alive.
Click to expand...
I wonder what Longleat’s future plans are for hippos. I doubt they’ll get another hippo until Spot passes, due to her old age, (forty-nine), and that could be up to a decade away, we just don’t know. With the amazing exhibit though, I wouldn’t doubt that Longleat will bring back hippos after Spot passes.
 
Embu said:
Confirmation in the last hour

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to one of our veteran animal residents - Hippopotamus, Sonia, has passed away peacefully at the grand old age of almost 50. She called Half Mile Lake here at Longleat home since 1976 and has been a firm favourite for guests to see as part of the Boat Safari. With a big character that befit her 1.5 tonne frame, Sonia even made history a few years ago when she became the first hippo to share UK waters with beavers in 100,000 years… not to mention the Californian Sea Lions who splash around there too. She will be missed by her devoted keepers, some of whom have been with her for more than 40 years. Fellow hippo, Spot, is doing fine, with our animal team’s support. Please do share your favourite Sonia sightings with us and help keep her memory alive.
Click to expand...
The rumors about her death from Thursday were actually not true, and she only died today though.
 
Usually, in an incident like this, the press release will be delayed for a few days until the zoo sorts out what they need to sort out so it is more than likely she passed when it was first mentioned on here
 
@Charles I Would say it is similar in size to the Hawk Conservancy's- Anybody else have any good comparison. So yeah, it's good sized but could be better.
 
Hi first time to longleat tomorow .. any advice as to how to spend our day? Want to make the most since only have 1 day, but if we enjoy we may go back in summer
 
zoosafari123 said:
Unfortunately, Spud has now passed away (Parsnip did a couple of years ago) leaving one young female called Fennel. The skunk who they shared the enclosure with has also recently passed.


Yes she was still there on my visit last month, she's 27 I think!
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This is parsnip today, so is she the only one they have? Has their breeding group idea cease to exist?
 

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