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- Thread starter jay
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MARK
Well-Known Member
Hi Guys, Glad you like the pics, I would not want to bore you with the details of my travels, but if there is something specific you want to know just ask and i see if i can help you with what you would like to know.
Monty, the Gaurs are unreal and very impressive they are huge, there dont seem to be many in Europe from what I have seen and are rare in zoos, there are a few more in the US, the San Deigo wild animal park have a good sized herd but it might pay to have a look at ISIS, they will list who has them. You are right i think they would do very well in oz as well but they are rare and our import laws ban hoof stock. The Bartang which we do have here as a feral animal is a smaller version of the Gaur, not quite as impressive but a nice looking animal, They are an endangered animal with dubbo having a herd, I am surprised more zoos here dont keep them.
Monty, the Gaurs are unreal and very impressive they are huge, there dont seem to be many in Europe from what I have seen and are rare in zoos, there are a few more in the US, the San Deigo wild animal park have a good sized herd but it might pay to have a look at ISIS, they will list who has them. You are right i think they would do very well in oz as well but they are rare and our import laws ban hoof stock. The Bartang which we do have here as a feral animal is a smaller version of the Gaur, not quite as impressive but a nice looking animal, They are an endangered animal with dubbo having a herd, I am surprised more zoos here dont keep them.
sorry monty, i think that disease still can be transfered through embryo's and they come under the same conditions of import, as an entire aniaml. i asked this to rosco at dubbo (head black rhinos) about such things as warthog tranfers, and he said the sperm and eggs carried the sma epotential risk, though very unlikey, and unreasonable that is what our aqis says.
i know it's totally shithouse
i know it's totally shithouse
on gaur
i never saw gaur at london when i was there, by 2005 they, along with the elephants, wolves, sealions and bears had all been relocated to whipsnade.
the cotton terraces where you took those photos were ebing used for river hogs, arabian oryx and gazelle, nyala, anoa, giraffe (mixed with meerkats like at adelaide), okapi, bongo and malayan tapir. but last year london turned that area into wild africa, acquiring warthog, zebra and hunting dogs and sending the other species elsewhere.
the sight of elephants cavorting in the pool was another thing i never got to see. instead, bactrian camels live in that side of the pavillion. there are also porcupines, bearded pigs, egyptian tortoises and inside the pavillion was remodelled to hold some of the small mammals displaced by the conversion of the clore pavillion to an amazonia exhibit.
i know this might be boring to everyone but mark hmself. sorry. also, have to share the good news. in september im heading back to england, so ill be taking plenty of pics to share on here of london zoo, and hopefully bristol too.
i never saw gaur at london when i was there, by 2005 they, along with the elephants, wolves, sealions and bears had all been relocated to whipsnade.
the cotton terraces where you took those photos were ebing used for river hogs, arabian oryx and gazelle, nyala, anoa, giraffe (mixed with meerkats like at adelaide), okapi, bongo and malayan tapir. but last year london turned that area into wild africa, acquiring warthog, zebra and hunting dogs and sending the other species elsewhere.
the sight of elephants cavorting in the pool was another thing i never got to see. instead, bactrian camels live in that side of the pavillion. there are also porcupines, bearded pigs, egyptian tortoises and inside the pavillion was remodelled to hold some of the small mammals displaced by the conversion of the clore pavillion to an amazonia exhibit.
i know this might be boring to everyone but mark hmself. sorry. also, have to share the good news. in september im heading back to england, so ill be taking plenty of pics to share on here of london zoo, and hopefully bristol too.
MARK
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that news Glyn, the Gaur at London was some years ago, I am a BIT older than a few on here so some of my pics are from a whlie ago, hehe. I think they sent them to Whipsnade a few years ago, i know they were working with port Lympne with their Gaurs. You maybe luckly and see London zoos new Gorilla forest,a few pics of that would be nice, please. hehe. As you may know the elephants are no longer at London they moved them all out to Whipsnade where they have since bred. If you go back there this year you MUST see the two Howletts zoos both in kent, they have 75 Gorllias these days, its an unreal place, they have species that are VERY rare and a number of leaf monkeys species that are kept in no other western zoo. Its the only place i have ever seen four horned Antelopes, Have a look at their website. Bristol zoo would also be interesting.
I have been doing more reading about Gaur. It seems embryo transplents would be possable as cattle and gaur can crossbreed.
Quote
"Previously thought to be closer to bison, genetic analysis has found that they are closer to cattle with which they can produce fertile hybrids. They are thought to be most closely related to banteng and said to produce fertile hybrids."
Quote
"Previously thought to be closer to bison, genetic analysis has found that they are closer to cattle with which they can produce fertile hybrids. They are thought to be most closely related to banteng and said to produce fertile hybrids."
London zoo changes.
Sadly, when London Zoo became 'conservation- conscious' in the 1990's, it meant there was no place for a non-endangered species like the Californian Sealion. Yet the SeaLion Pool at ZSL, with the lively sealions, daily feeding time and the continuous deep yelping call of the bull sealion as he swam round the pool will always be to me an important part of the essence of London Zoo as far back as I can remember... The pool was modified and Pygmy Hippos installed- they are a very poor display, hardly use the pool and during the whole winter are kept indoors so it is effectively a 'dead' exhibit. I always thought that this was a very bad decision and would like to see the sealions back...
I think the new 'Wild Africa' exhibit has retained most of the other species, certainly Okapi are still there, Bongo scheduled to return from Whipsnade. New Gorilla forest is due to open at Easter. Looks ok from the construction pix.
Gaur- went to Whipsnade- there is just one pair nowadays- next to the male GI Rhino's paddock(in what was the old Indian Rhino paddock) They are huge! I can't remember if Howletts/PL still have them. (I too have seen them in Southern India way back when)
Bristol- don't expect many big animals anymore.Its an interesting collection & well presented but the only LARGE animals nowadays are; Gorillas;Okapi; pair of Asian Lions; tapir; fur seals- that's about it. They no longer have e.g. elephant,giraffes, zebra, chimp, orangutan,tiger, leopard;camel etc as in the past. Instead small mammals, birds,reptiles; insect house etc
Things may change again if they build their new zoo.
Sadly, when London Zoo became 'conservation- conscious' in the 1990's, it meant there was no place for a non-endangered species like the Californian Sealion. Yet the SeaLion Pool at ZSL, with the lively sealions, daily feeding time and the continuous deep yelping call of the bull sealion as he swam round the pool will always be to me an important part of the essence of London Zoo as far back as I can remember... The pool was modified and Pygmy Hippos installed- they are a very poor display, hardly use the pool and during the whole winter are kept indoors so it is effectively a 'dead' exhibit. I always thought that this was a very bad decision and would like to see the sealions back...
I think the new 'Wild Africa' exhibit has retained most of the other species, certainly Okapi are still there, Bongo scheduled to return from Whipsnade. New Gorilla forest is due to open at Easter. Looks ok from the construction pix.
Gaur- went to Whipsnade- there is just one pair nowadays- next to the male GI Rhino's paddock(in what was the old Indian Rhino paddock) They are huge! I can't remember if Howletts/PL still have them. (I too have seen them in Southern India way back when)
Bristol- don't expect many big animals anymore.Its an interesting collection & well presented but the only LARGE animals nowadays are; Gorillas;Okapi; pair of Asian Lions; tapir; fur seals- that's about it. They no longer have e.g. elephant,giraffes, zebra, chimp, orangutan,tiger, leopard;camel etc as in the past. Instead small mammals, birds,reptiles; insect house etc
Things may change again if they build their new zoo.
well i liked londons 'conservation conscious' approach. with whipsnade on the doorstep of the city it certianly made sense to send the sealions out there, particualrly because whipsnade had the theatre and underwater viewing gallery.
the pygmy hippo exhibit area was quite good i felt. of course it could have been better, but this zoo was pretty strapped of cash until the VAT refund of over ten million pounds was returned to the zoo, and the one million pound gift to the zoo in 2005.
throughout the winter of 2005 the zoo swapped the hippos with giant anteaters, which was great. and when the hippos did actually use the pool, it became the biggest pygmy hippo enclosure ever!!!
the pygmy hippo exhibit area was quite good i felt. of course it could have been better, but this zoo was pretty strapped of cash until the VAT refund of over ten million pounds was returned to the zoo, and the one million pound gift to the zoo in 2005.
throughout the winter of 2005 the zoo swapped the hippos with giant anteaters, which was great. and when the hippos did actually use the pool, it became the biggest pygmy hippo enclosure ever!!!
it is like a masive dubbo. think chimps, seals, brown bears, wolves, marmosets, red pandas, a bird garden, lemurs, storks and cranes, penguins, anoa, bongo, red river hogs, lots of small bird aviaries, flamingoes, pygmy hippos.
many of the species kept at whipsndae are what we in australia regard as urban zoo species. but considering the space factor, here in australia our urban zoos can build large outdoor exhibits for species whereas in europe more space has to be given to indoor night areas and exhibits. the trend in europe tends to be to create dual-purpose night dens which are both service centres and exhibits. to give you an example of what i mean, could you imagine london zoo building a display like taronga's wild asia? london would have to have about a third more space to develop larger night dens or reduce the number of species on display.
and thats whats happening, with more and more species going out to the open range zoos where ther ei smore land for developing. plus too, alot of the european urban zoos, due o their age, are smattered with heritage listed buildings that prevent large-scale developments in some cases.
many of the species kept at whipsndae are what we in australia regard as urban zoo species. but considering the space factor, here in australia our urban zoos can build large outdoor exhibits for species whereas in europe more space has to be given to indoor night areas and exhibits. the trend in europe tends to be to create dual-purpose night dens which are both service centres and exhibits. to give you an example of what i mean, could you imagine london zoo building a display like taronga's wild asia? london would have to have about a third more space to develop larger night dens or reduce the number of species on display.
and thats whats happening, with more and more species going out to the open range zoos where ther ei smore land for developing. plus too, alot of the european urban zoos, due o their age, are smattered with heritage listed buildings that prevent large-scale developments in some cases.
Whipsnade's sealion exhibit was built as a Dolphinarium and the swimming area for the animals is actually very small- the old Sealion pool at London Zoo being a lot larger. However the sealion shows they do nowadays at Whipsnade are very successful and popular.
Nothing wrong with zoos becoming coservation orientated- but sadly it sometimes also means the loss of interesting but common species in collections.
Nothing wrong with zoos becoming coservation orientated- but sadly it sometimes also means the loss of interesting but common species in collections.