Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo news 2025

Excellent news for the Banteng. They’ve been breeding like rabbits since they arrived; a really good news story.

Sad to here about the Oryx. Is there a plan to acquire a new male?
 
Cat-Man said:
Excellent news for the Banteng. They’ve been breeding like rabbits since they arrived; a really good news story.

Sad to here about the Oryx. Is there a plan to acquire a new male?
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The last birth of Arabian Oryx was about seven years ago, the last male died in 2021, both females are getting older now so I have my doubts, plus with the problems of getting animals from Europe, again only two female Lesser Kudu left now .
 
Are the problems with getting animals from Europe to do with Brexit, blue tongue or something else? I think they have done a good job with imports over the past year or so.
 
NMM said:
Are the problems with getting animals from Europe to do with Brexit, blue tongue or something else? I think they have done a good job with imports over the past year or so.
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I think blue tongue is a big problem for Antelope, the last Antelope Marwell got from Europe was in 2020 and they were Nile Lechwe, again the Antelope at Marwell now are under forty and something should have been done before now. as species are going to disappear.
 
okapis said:
I think blue tongue is a big problem for Antelope, the last Antelope Marwell got from Europe was in 2020 and they were Nile Lechwe, again the Antelope at Marwell now are under forty and something should have been done before now. as species are going to disappear.
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Species will disappear, and the rate of disappearance will increase sharply. Bluetongue is a problem for anything cloven hoofed, but Brexit is the main cause. Not so much the regulations themselves, but the costs which have risen perhaps ten-fold, and more importantly that many mainland zoos now refuse to send animals to the UK because 'it is just to difficult' - OR, they perceive it to be so.
 
okapis said:
I think blue tongue is a big problem for Antelope, the last Antelope Marwell got from Europe was in 2020 and they were Nile Lechwe, again the Antelope at Marwell now are under forty and something should have been done before now. as species are going to disappear.
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Why don't they engage with DEFRA?
 
ZooNews2024 said:
Species will disappear, and the rate of disappearance will increase sharply. Bluetongue is a problem for anything cloven hoofed, but Brexit is the main cause. Not so much the regulations themselves, but the costs which have risen perhaps ten-fold, and more importantly that many mainland zoos now refuse to send animals to the UK because 'it is just to difficult' - OR, they perceive it to be so.
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On the bright side of life...
It doesn't seem like long ago that the wake of Brexit was more immediate, and movements of anything in regards to animals between the UK and the EU seemed out of the question.
There were the obvious big news stories, such as the giraffe which was too much logistical trouble to bring into Marwell... but between Brexit and now many other animal groups were seen by Europe as too troublesome to send to the UK.
There was at one point a problem with birds - I recall it was something to do with the tagging, how Europe has its own tags and so does the UK, which complicated things ... but we have now jumped over that hurdle and birds are starting to come into the UK from Europe again. And so we are starting to see fresh mammal imports too.

We have seen some new carnivores come into Marwell from Europe. This is something which would be hard to see as logistically happening a few years ago. I believe that it's only a matter of time before the storm clears up for hoofstock too... I just hope it's not too long and not too many animals are lost in the intervening time.
 
I think the current situation is more blue tongue than Brexit. Whilst Brexit undoubtedly makes things more expensive and complex, it is still doable. Regarding hoofstock, Marwell has brought in an African wild ass from Poland and a mountain zebra from Germany this year.

I also think the previous administration did leave a bit of a time bomb in place with regard to some species, the Arabian oryx being one such example. Letting them dwindle to small non-breeding groups.
 
dillotest0 said:
On the bright side of life...
It doesn't seem like long ago that the wake of Brexit was more immediate, and movements of anything in regards to animals between the UK and the EU seemed out of the question.
There were the obvious big news stories, such as the giraffe which was too much logistical trouble to bring into Marwell... but between Brexit and now many other animal groups were seen by Europe as too troublesome to send to the UK.
There was at one point a problem with birds - I recall it was something to do with the tagging, how Europe has its own tags and so does the UK, which complicated things ... but we have now jumped over that hurdle and birds are starting to come into the UK from Europe again. And so we are starting to see fresh mammal imports too.

We have seen some new carnivores come into Marwell from Europe. This is something which would be hard to see as logistically happening a few years ago. I believe that it's only a matter of time before the storm clears up for hoofstock too... I just hope it's not too long and not too many animals are lost in the intervening time.
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Carnivore imports have always been pretty simple, especially if they come by air to avoid road transport through France. Costs are the major issue here - a sky-kennel as part of a shared van collection/delivery would have cost a few hundred pounds, whereas the total for an air shipment of the same could be over £5000. Air shipments out from the UK to the mainland are over twice the cost of the same route in, with the same carrier. Many airlines like British Airways now do not take any live animals at all, other than domestic dogs, cats and ferrets. Road routes out to the mainland are possible but the issues with shipping through France are a nightmare - so the price goes up and up again. Several CZ zoos used to move animals to and from the UK in-house and not use commercial carriers. This has ceased completely and remains so. Generally the issues are with the mainland Governments, especially for exports; and as you say the EU requiring country specific microchips which did not actually exist, effectively banned birds completely. This has been solved, but is now very muddied with the un-certainty of how the UK DEFRA would deal with bird-flu. Recent mass slaughter of flocks of hundreds of flamingos in a private collection where there were no infected birds and no sign of active disease have spooked everyone. The import and export of newts and salamanders is now totally banned.
I could keep going on - but so long as you think it is all getting better...!
 
Ofcourse it's unfortunate news that one of the Arabian Oryx has passed, however its just confirmed something we've known for years now - many of the herds at Marwell are still not sustainable.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely that the main species the zoo risks losing (dorcas gazelle, Arabian Oryx, beisa Oryx, Lesser kudu) have a long term future for the reasons above. I guess we should all appreciate them whilst they're still here, and I do strongly hope that there are some plans in place!

Also, great news on the Banteng, a HUGE success story for Marwell. Hope to see it on my visit next week.
 
okapis said:
The last birth of Arabian Oryx was about seven years ago, the last male died in 2021, both females are getting older now so I have my doubts, plus with the problems of getting animals from Europe, again only two female Lesser Kudu left now .
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Amazing to think that sixty years or so ago Arabian Oryx was a 'celebrated' species on the very brink of extinction. Had this situation arisen in those days, these remaining females would have been whisked off to a breeding centre somewhere. Now its a different story of course, they will probably be the last to be seen in the UK though.
 
Pertinax said:
Amazing to think that sixty years or so ago Arabian Oryx was a 'celebrated' species on the very brink of extinction. Had this situation arisen in those days, these remaining females would have been whisked off to a breeding centre somewhere. Now its a different story of course, they will probably be the last to be seen in the UK though.
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The bitter sweet reality is that it’s good this is the case.
 
Pertinax said:
Amazing to think that sixty years or so ago Arabian Oryx was a 'celebrated' species on the very brink of extinction. Had this situation arisen in those days, these remaining females would have been whisked off to a breeding centre somewhere. Now its a different story of course, they will probably be the last to be seen in the UK though.
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The group (I believe 9 with 1 from London zoo) that was put together were sent to the Phoenix zoo in Arizona in the USA because they believed the climate was most suitable!
 
Zorro said:
The group (I believe 9 with 1 from London zoo) that was put together were sent to the Phoenix zoo in Arizona in the USA because they believed the climate was most suitable!
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The female Arabian oryx from London Zoo was "Caroline" who arrived at London Zoo on 29th November 1959 and, on 25th June 1963, was sent to join the world herd in Arizona. She died there ten years later, on 22nd August 1973.
 
Zorro said:
The group (I believe 9 with 1 from London zoo) that was put together were sent to the Phoenix zoo in Arizona in the USA because they believed the climate was most suitable!
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Made sense in a way, a better chance that every valuable calf would survive than in a colder or wetter climate.
 
Tim May said:
The female Arabian oryx from London Zoo was "Caroline" who arrived at London Zoo on 29th November 1959 and, on 25th June 1963, was sent to join the world herd in Arizona. She died there ten years later, on 22nd August 1973.
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Hi Tim, do you happen to know if Caroline was the only Arabian Oryx at the zoo at the time, or were there others who were not sent to the world herd?
 
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