Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News 2024
- Thread starter UngulateNerd92
- Start date
On Christmas Day, Violet, the sitatunga gave birth to a beautiful female calf!
The new arrival is doing well and can be seen running around the paddock opposite Penguin Cove under the watchful eye of mum Violet and dad Tumnus.
Although the sitatunga have access to a heated building the calf can often be seen outside in the paddock enjoying the winter sun with the rest of the herd, including her brother Dubu who is only two months old. ❤
Erin Luter, Assistant Animal Keeper at Marwell, said: "Our growing herd of sitatunga are vital for the conservation of this species due to their decreasing number in the wild. Every birth, like this soon to be named female, plays a key part in protecting this species through ex situ breeding programmes.
Father Tumnus has had lots of practice at fatherhood having sired three calves in 2023 including Violet’s older calf, Kamari in April.
In the wild sitatunga are regarded as particularly elusive animals and they have some very endearing features including their Bambi-like eyes and ears.
Their coats are fluffy like wool and are actually waterproof, their splayed banana shaped hooves prevent them from sinking in boggy conditions and perhaps surprisingly, given how awkward their walk looks, they’re very good swimmers.”
The new arrival is doing well and can be seen running around the paddock opposite Penguin Cove under the watchful eye of mum Violet and dad Tumnus.
Although the sitatunga have access to a heated building the calf can often be seen outside in the paddock enjoying the winter sun with the rest of the herd, including her brother Dubu who is only two months old. ❤
Erin Luter, Assistant Animal Keeper at Marwell, said: "Our growing herd of sitatunga are vital for the conservation of this species due to their decreasing number in the wild. Every birth, like this soon to be named female, plays a key part in protecting this species through ex situ breeding programmes.
Father Tumnus has had lots of practice at fatherhood having sired three calves in 2023 including Violet’s older calf, Kamari in April.
In the wild sitatunga are regarded as particularly elusive animals and they have some very endearing features including their Bambi-like eyes and ears.
Their coats are fluffy like wool and are actually waterproof, their splayed banana shaped hooves prevent them from sinking in boggy conditions and perhaps surprisingly, given how awkward their walk looks, they’re very good swimmers.”
It is funny but logical... I recall when they were being kept in the old wooded enclosure they almost never bred... looked just like one more species on its way out. But with the arrival of the male following the death of the nyalas... they are now doing very well! I hope the same is to be observed with the giraffes and other hooved mammals in time.
Meet Phoenix, the adorable addax calf born to proud parents Amelie and Tamarisk in December 2023.
In the wild, addax live mainly in the Sahara where they have been hunted to near extinction. Their meat, horns and hide are prized by hunters and their habitat has been eroded as a result of oil exploration and cattle farming.
Sophie Wythe, Assistant Animal Keeper, said: “Phoenix is our second calf of 2023 born to mum Amelie and dad Tamerisk, which is a huge success for Marwell.
“Phoenix is an evergreen tree found in North Africa. Phoenix’s name was chosen to follow the plant theme naming after his father Tamerisk and brothers Ephedra and Hanza.
In the wild, addax live mainly in the Sahara where they have been hunted to near extinction. Their meat, horns and hide are prized by hunters and their habitat has been eroded as a result of oil exploration and cattle farming.
Sophie Wythe, Assistant Animal Keeper, said: “Phoenix is our second calf of 2023 born to mum Amelie and dad Tamerisk, which is a huge success for Marwell.
“Phoenix is an evergreen tree found in North Africa. Phoenix’s name was chosen to follow the plant theme naming after his father Tamerisk and brothers Ephedra and Hanza.
HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
Had a great visit to Marwell Today - Made me excited for the future despite a few disappointments.
Practically saw everything, and, although Thriving Through Nature was closed didn't feel I missed much haha. Snow Leopard expansion looked go be going well, which was nice to see.
It's unavoidable to see the amount of empty enclosures though: Old Sitatunga, Sulawesi Macaque, Old Meerkat, GLT Walk-through, Warthog etc. But I think this will change, as it did in 2023.
Going with family, they did comment on the small groups of Humboldt Penguins & Girrafes, however the groups of other animals seem to be booming! 4 Bongo, 6 Sitatunga, 5-6 Okapi, Banteng, Prezwalskis, 4 Blesbok etc. Etc.
Questions I had:
- Does anyone know of thr plans for Ostrich, Hartmanns, African Wild Ass?
- Do Marwell still hold Kudu? Are signposted but haven't seen in 3 years of visits
- Are there plans for increasing group sizes of species such as Beisa, Binturong, Penguins, Red Pandas etc?
- What lemurs are currently held?
Thanks
Practically saw everything, and, although Thriving Through Nature was closed didn't feel I missed much haha. Snow Leopard expansion looked go be going well, which was nice to see.
It's unavoidable to see the amount of empty enclosures though: Old Sitatunga, Sulawesi Macaque, Old Meerkat, GLT Walk-through, Warthog etc. But I think this will change, as it did in 2023.
Going with family, they did comment on the small groups of Humboldt Penguins & Girrafes, however the groups of other animals seem to be booming! 4 Bongo, 6 Sitatunga, 5-6 Okapi, Banteng, Prezwalskis, 4 Blesbok etc. Etc.
Questions I had:
- Does anyone know of thr plans for Ostrich, Hartmanns, African Wild Ass?
- Do Marwell still hold Kudu? Are signposted but haven't seen in 3 years of visits
- Are there plans for increasing group sizes of species such as Beisa, Binturong, Penguins, Red Pandas etc?
- What lemurs are currently held?
Thanks
To reply to some of your points, Marwell still hold 1.2. Lesser Kudu, do not like the cold, Blesbok they have three, Bongo five, Red Panda and Binturong should be paired up this year and Penguins are due in from London at some point, Lemur wise they are all male Ring Tailed, Red Ruffed,Crowned, Red Bellied,Some new species are due in this year,one or two from the past.
Great news about more new species.
The lesser kudu share the paddock with the bongos. Marwell did lose the majority of their penguins in the avian flu outbreak at the beginning of last year. They did announce that they had arranged for 10 penguins to arrive to bring the numbers back up. Nothing has been announced about when though.
The lesser kudu share the paddock with the bongos. Marwell did lose the majority of their penguins in the avian flu outbreak at the beginning of last year. They did announce that they had arranged for 10 penguins to arrive to bring the numbers back up. Nothing has been announced about when though.
They have rotten luck when it comes to avian flu. They lost their entire population of rockhopper penguins due to it once (early 00s, I believe?)
Glad to hear more penguins will arrive, I noticed the small numbers when I went last year. Are they to be Humboldt, or dare I dream of a second species?
They lost around twenty African Penguins and five Macaroni Penguins in 1999,yes I think it will be Humboldts coming in.
I do wonder if some, if not all, open air penguin enclosures should be netted over to prevent/decrease the possibilities of avian disease transmission from wild birds.
The losses from these infections are horrendous when they happen, Longleat went out of penguins in the end.
As a side note, have the Marwell penguins bred in the past? I don't think I ever saw chicks on my visits.
The losses from these infections are horrendous when they happen, Longleat went out of penguins in the end.
As a side note, have the Marwell penguins bred in the past? I don't think I ever saw chicks on my visits.
Have had chicks born most years,in 2020 they had three,best year I think was 2013 when ten born.
HelloCrossy67
Well-Known Member
Excited to hear! Hoping some of these new species fill up the back portion of the zoo, which is very underwhelming in my opinion at the moment!
If anything I hope the ex-marabou area will become an animal enclosure again - I recall from my last visit that there was just a pile of woodchip.
It’s a great space and it’s a waste. That aviary and the wooded area down the hill towards the hippos could be a great enclosure for something like African wild dogs.
From what I recall it was the only animal enclosure in the area for a good while. The strip of green around it I feel is quite much of nothing... if Marwell wanted to make a deal of this area as a 'natural space' I am surprised they have not done so already.
But what's nice about the area is that if they want to do anything with it, then it is perhaps the biggest blank slate in the zoo. Aside from maybe the Valley but I don't feel that Marwell has big plans about that. As much as I sometimes wish they did...
Of course the old jaguar area remains a blank slate but given nothing has happened there in the last 20 years almost I don't think they'd suddenly seize the opportunity. Unless...
I doubt they’ll use this space, sadly. Especially when they could simply renovate the old cheetah area which is as good as useless right now.