Marwell Wildlife My Monthly Updates 2010 #2

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Have Marwell any plans to introduce any new species? I'm not talking tent-pole species but ones that could be slotted in to existing facilities?

It seems to have been quite a while since I've seen anything new (or should that be gnu?)
 
The old Red Panda enclosure behind the Snow Leopards, which has since had Cusimanse & Meerkats, is currently empty with no set plans to fill it, the old Ankole paddock now just has a handful of Emu, and all that space from the Amphibian house to the now demolished Pudu house is completely empty other than one Anoa, so it occurred to me that it would be a good opportunity to consider what could be brought in without major spending.
Apparently it's a possibility to move the Roan Antelope from next to the Somali Wild Ass down to the Ankole paddock, which in turn creates an empty space up the hill.
In addition to all this, the Animal Department is under new management now which always brings with it a possibility of looking at the collection with a fresh pair of eyes, which was what got me thinking and my earlier comments about some of the 'stagnant' species that aren't breeding and won't be around for much longer (Serval/Ocelot/Fossa). If there is no money to build new enclosures then changing species where appropriate can spark new interest for the park.
 
After spending so much on a relatively empty field (aka African Savannah), perhaps bulking up the African species would be a good idea.

They could have taken those Red River Hogs that got the chop at Edinburgh-this species has never been held at Marwell to my knowledge.

Given the decline in numbers, bringing Hunting Dogs back to the collection would be a good idea.

And I would make a case for Lions, even African ones, as an adjunct to the Savannah, especially as their numbers are also dwindling.

Plenty of antelope species that could be brought in for relatively little cost, as the stabling/paddocks already exist. I'd like to see Eland come back personally.
 
Have to say Gary I agree with all of that. I know it is the ultimate intention to stock up the valley better, but the current restriction is appropriate housing coming off the valley, where Giraffe & Grevy's are stabled at one end and Waterbuck at the other, they need more individual housing areas for different species so they can be managed effectively, there is a lot of potential for this right over the back at each end which could be nicely hidden. A smaller Antelope species like Blackbuck or Impala would look good. If the Wildebeest group carries on growing they would look good out there (that Calf is a lovely looking Animal).
African Lions have definitely been mentioned by Various people at Marwell to be incorporated in some way into the valley, and I also know that a Hunting Dog enclosure was pretty far in the planning stages before budget was cut. Eland & River Hogs would be nice.
 
WookieDog said:
A smaller Antelope species like Blackbuck or Impala would look good.
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Marwell have kept Impala previously, when they first opened. They are/were extremely nervous animals and although they bred freely, the mortality rate from accidents was quite high too. I don't think they were ever let out(?) into a large paddock for fear they would be impossible to manage that way.

Blackbuck are Indian obviously.

Another small African antelope like Thompson's Gazelle would be interesting- and nowhere near as flighty as Impala. Whipsnade had a herd for many years very successfully.
 
Pertinax said:
Marwell have kept Impala previously, when they first opened. They are/were extremely nervous animals and although they bred freely, the mortality rate from accidents was quite high too. I don't think they were ever let out(?) into a large paddock for fear they would be impossible to manage that way.

Blackbuck are Indian obviously.

Another small African antelope like Thompson's Gazelle would be interesting- and nowhere near as flighty as Impala. Whipsnade had a herd for many years very successfully.
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They did have impala in a paddock at the start, but because it was so large they had fatal collisions with fences when their flight instincts kicked in, which were obviously those accidents you mentioned. And I'm not entirely sure but haven't Marwell had Thomson's before? They were definitely a 'future' species mentioned in an early eighties guidebook.
 
Zambar said:
And I'm not entirely sure but haven't Marwell had Thomson's before? They were definitely a 'future' species mentioned in an early eighties guidebook.
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I don't know if they've had Thompson's gazelle, I rather doubt it. The only main herd in the UK was at Whipsnade and although some of the earlier stock did come from Whipsnade (Hunting Dogs, Wallabies, Fallow Deer, Swamp Deer, Hog & Sika deer, Pere Davids Deer, Cream Ponies, one Black Rhino etc) I'm not sure if any THompson gazelle were ever included.

Unfortunately Whipsnade's just 'disappeared' some years ago.
 
i understand that the eventual aim is to expand the valley to 45 acres. Presumably there would be more housing builllt somehwre in that 45 acre lot. I would have thought the most sensible thing to do would be move all the grevy zebra to the valley along with the wildebeest, kudu, roan antelope, gemsbok and even potentially the white rhino?that would probably fill the fiels nicely without over crowding. The chapmans zebra could relocate to the scimitar field, then the hartmanns zebra and nyala could move to join the ssable antelope in the old giraffe paddock?if the arabian oryx moved in with the dama gazzelle in place of the gemsbok, their old housing could be used for valley hoofstock.

I think the congo buffalo, okapi, bongo and pygmay hippos need to be grouped together as a congo exhobit for most effect. Probably the old roan antelope and chapmans paddocks would be the best location.

Any thoughts?
 
I have a vague feeling that Marwell had a few Thomson's gazelle for a while but would need to check through all the old newsletters to confirm this .
 
If Marwell did have Thomson's Gazelle, its a shame they didn't perpetuate them. ISIS at least, shows no holders in the UK at all now. Correct?:(
 
I think Cotswold Wildlife Park and possibly Whipsnade had small groups of Thomson's gazelles until the mid-eighties. Judging by the numbers in Europe I'd be surprised if we see this species again in the UK.

I would like to see some identifiable grazers other than zebra occupying African savannah exhibits in this country, rather than marsh species (sitatunga, lechwe) and desert species (addax, oryx). I'm not saying that there aren't areas where these species' range doesn't overlap with that of rhino, zebra, etc, but that I don't know of any mixed African exhibits where habitat overlap is the point of the exhibit, rather that the exhibit intends to portray a mixed 'community' of typical African grassland herbivores.

There seems to be a healthy population of Springbok in Europe, I would like to see even a bachelor group attempted in a UK collection.
 
Am I right in thinking these are the only gazelle herds in britain?

Blackpool
Mountain gazelle

Marwell
Dama gazelle
Dorcas gazelle

Woburn
Mhorr gazelle
 
Marwell updates

Have the Arabian Gazelles all gone? They were around in the eighties at Chester, Bristol & at least one private collection; suppose I could look on ISIS or [probably better] Zootierliste....
 
The Gazelle at Blackpool - now renamed Mountain are the last of them. Marwell also had a sizeable group at one time .
 
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