Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoological Park 2023
- Thread starter dillotest0
- Start date
Very good news !
Fantastic to hear.
Mei-Mei, Marwell's remaining Red Panda, has been euthanised following a period of poor health. Marwell is, thus, currently without the species for the time being, but intend on re-stocking the enclosure once avian flu restrictions are loosened.
And to keep on the matter of good news, in the monthly Marwell Newsletter, the Chief Executive, James Cretney, states:
"We are also going to start refurbishing many of our old exhibits and upgrading them. The plan is to get more species back into the zoo."
So that should address a lot of negative comments that have appeared on this site - but no speculation on what these changes might be - please!
marwell.org.uk/zoo-news/variety-is-the-herb-of-life
Some interesting news -
Work is underway at Marwell to reduce homogenity in the plants of Marwell's grazing animal enclosures - introducing new plant species into their enclosures, including herbs and meadow grass for them to graze on.
Introducing these to the paddock used by our giraffe, plains zebra and roan antelope will mean they have further access to a range of grazing options with nutritional benefit.
The work allows us to minimise thatch, moss and trailing weeds and replace them with herbs such as chicory, sheeps parsley and salad burnet.
In order for the seed to be sown effectively, the paddock had to be scarified – a process of cutting into the grass to remove unwanted weeds – before reseeding with the special mix.
As a result of this we expect the paddock will look a little untidy until the new seeds grow.
When they do though, guests can expect a paddock full of specially selected meadow mix and herbs that will provide lots of grazing opportunities for zebra and antelope.
The newly planted seed is made up of tall fescue, strong creeping red fescue, meadow fescue, timothy and smooth stalked meadow grass.
The herbs that have been added to the mix are chicory, sheeps parsley, salad burnet, ribgrass and yarrow.
In the wild, grazing animals would naturally have access to a range of plant species, not just grass, and the seeds included in this mix have been chosen for their mineral content.
The work was carried out on Wednesday 1 March and it is expected that it will take a few weeks for the paddock to look its best.
Some interesting news -
Work is underway at Marwell to reduce homogenity in the plants of Marwell's grazing animal enclosures - introducing new plant species into their enclosures, including herbs and meadow grass for them to graze on.
Introducing these to the paddock used by our giraffe, plains zebra and roan antelope will mean they have further access to a range of grazing options with nutritional benefit.
The work allows us to minimise thatch, moss and trailing weeds and replace them with herbs such as chicory, sheeps parsley and salad burnet.
In order for the seed to be sown effectively, the paddock had to be scarified – a process of cutting into the grass to remove unwanted weeds – before reseeding with the special mix.
As a result of this we expect the paddock will look a little untidy until the new seeds grow.
When they do though, guests can expect a paddock full of specially selected meadow mix and herbs that will provide lots of grazing opportunities for zebra and antelope.
The newly planted seed is made up of tall fescue, strong creeping red fescue, meadow fescue, timothy and smooth stalked meadow grass.
The herbs that have been added to the mix are chicory, sheeps parsley, salad burnet, ribgrass and yarrow.
In the wild, grazing animals would naturally have access to a range of plant species, not just grass, and the seeds included in this mix have been chosen for their mineral content.
The work was carried out on Wednesday 1 March and it is expected that it will take a few weeks for the paddock to look its best.
Nice to see!
Hopefully Marwell can bring in some more females I think ...
Great news
Male Addax born March 15:
Birth of critically endangered calf witnessed by Marwell Zoo guests
The calf's mother, Amelie, arrived at Marwell in 2020 from Woburn Safari Park. This is her second calf since arriving at Marwell, following the birth of a male, Ephedra, in March last year.
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
Today I visited Marwell for the first time this year.
I had been underwhelmed at previous visits and with the weather not so nice this morning, I wasn’t expecting to have as enjoyable day as I did.
It was nice to see building / renovating work going on, on about 4/5 areas, including 2/3 which were enclosure maintenance, so it would appear that there will be some new arrivals this year, which is most welcoming.
I’ve always loved the hoofstock collection at Marwell and I like zoos that give massive exhibits and allow you to get nice photos.
I found myself actually enjoying a trip to Marwell again.
This was partly down to getting to see a few animals I had not seen before, but also a feeling of progress. I was also pleased that I wasn’t there on my own. I don’t want to sound too down, but I’ve really struggled with my mental health lately and to be honest, I needed to have a day out with someone who I could chat animals and zoos with. I’ve found myself spacing out at zoos lately and not concentrating on photos. I don’t want to go into that as it’s not relevant but having company certainly helped me enjoy the day more.
I enjoyed seeing the Roan Antelope out in the rain, looking for cover!
Then for me, a real highlight was the Addax calve, who was less than ten days old, but adorable.
I had really wanted to see the Bongo calve, and whilst the lighting is tough inside, I was happy with a couple of images.
The Beisa Oryx were a species I had never seen before, and whilst they didn’t get that close, I must say, what stunning animals they are.
Valentina the female Amur Tiger was very active as well, which was nice.
Looking at the size of some of the Przewalski Horses and one of the Blesbok’s, I would not be surprised if there was some more tiny hooves on their way! I was really pleased to get this photo of the Blesbok.
The only downside for me today, was not seeing the Bokiboky or Snow Leopard, but as time moved on, I was chuffed to see Kanya the Clouded Leopard out and about. The person I went with, had to leave early and I was gutted for her that she missed the Clouded Leopards, as we spent a lot of the day, going back and forth to their exhibit.
Just before I left at near 5pm, the Serval also made an appearance.
Probably the most enjoyable day, I’ve ever had at Marwell, and it’s nice to see progress and a feel that the collection may start to grow again this year.
Will definitely be aiming to visit a few more times this year.
I had been underwhelmed at previous visits and with the weather not so nice this morning, I wasn’t expecting to have as enjoyable day as I did.
It was nice to see building / renovating work going on, on about 4/5 areas, including 2/3 which were enclosure maintenance, so it would appear that there will be some new arrivals this year, which is most welcoming.
I’ve always loved the hoofstock collection at Marwell and I like zoos that give massive exhibits and allow you to get nice photos.
I found myself actually enjoying a trip to Marwell again.
This was partly down to getting to see a few animals I had not seen before, but also a feeling of progress. I was also pleased that I wasn’t there on my own. I don’t want to sound too down, but I’ve really struggled with my mental health lately and to be honest, I needed to have a day out with someone who I could chat animals and zoos with. I’ve found myself spacing out at zoos lately and not concentrating on photos. I don’t want to go into that as it’s not relevant but having company certainly helped me enjoy the day more.
I enjoyed seeing the Roan Antelope out in the rain, looking for cover!
Then for me, a real highlight was the Addax calve, who was less than ten days old, but adorable.
I had really wanted to see the Bongo calve, and whilst the lighting is tough inside, I was happy with a couple of images.
The Beisa Oryx were a species I had never seen before, and whilst they didn’t get that close, I must say, what stunning animals they are.
Valentina the female Amur Tiger was very active as well, which was nice.
Looking at the size of some of the Przewalski Horses and one of the Blesbok’s, I would not be surprised if there was some more tiny hooves on their way! I was really pleased to get this photo of the Blesbok.
The only downside for me today, was not seeing the Bokiboky or Snow Leopard, but as time moved on, I was chuffed to see Kanya the Clouded Leopard out and about. The person I went with, had to leave early and I was gutted for her that she missed the Clouded Leopards, as we spent a lot of the day, going back and forth to their exhibit.
Just before I left at near 5pm, the Serval also made an appearance.
Probably the most enjoyable day, I’ve ever had at Marwell, and it’s nice to see progress and a feel that the collection may start to grow again this year.
Will definitely be aiming to visit a few more times this year.
Alwaysevergreen
Well-Known Member
Thank you. I’ve no idea. There were two out in the paddock with four Zebra and in the images above, it’s a photo of each of them.
I believe that one went to Chester.
8 I think, 1.5.2
Great news, that's a rapid expansion for their herd. Makes me wonder if any more UK zoos will invest in this species? Seems to be going a much better way than alternatives like gaur.