As I described in a previous thread, I was the only ZooChat member who turned up for this event yesterday (3rd September 2011). Douglas Richardson, the Animal Collection Manager, was kind enough to give me a tour of the Park and to answer all my questions. He made it clear that he wanted almost everything he said to be made available to members, so I have done my best to put it on record here. I realise that this is an unusually long post, but I hope it will be interesting for everyone who knows the HWP.
We started at the refurbished enclosure which will house the musk oxen. The paddock, fencing and barn are virtually ready, and so is a public viewpoint looking over the fence. This is behind the tigers with the path to the viewpoint starts below the owls. Two female musk oxen are due to arrive very soon, once blue-tongue restrictions are formally lifted.
The snowy owl chick has now reached adult size and is the first raised to maturity at the Park, to the satisfaction of the staff involved. The arctic fox was removed from the aviary when the owls started nesting (partitioning the aviary did not work well last year). The owls will move to their new aviary on the site of the old wild boar yard eventually.
The bharal (blue sheep) will benefit from an enclosure with more hard surfaces, so a new enclosure will be constructed for them adjacent to the end of the smaller polar bear paddock - it will be the first enclosure to the right as you drive into the car park. The goral can then move into the current bharal enclosure and other changes will follow. The general aim is to make the sheep and goat enclosures less grassy by changing fence lines and adding hard substrate areas, which should reduce the need for hoof trimming.
Douglas was very frank about the disease problems which have caused so much trouble in the Park in recent years. He said that he felt that he had spoken to ‘every vet in Scotland’ about the grass sickness which killed all but two of their Przewalski horses: the condition is incurable, its cause is unknown and all horses are susceptible to it, even Shetland ponies. The two surviving mares were the oldest of the herd but they are in excellent condition and a new stallion will arrive soon. Douglas aims to keep any female foals to build up a proper matrilineal herd structure.
The breeding cow European elk died from a sheep disease contracted from the flock on a neighbouring farm (I’m afraid I can’t remember its name). She was in particularly good condition until she fell ill. The bull is currently with his two daughters; it is hoped that one will be exchanged for an unrelated cow, the other may go the Curragh (IOM).
The takin have proved to be very susceptible to Johne’s disease, which is now controlled by vaccination. The Bukhara urial had major parasite problems and probably need a drier climate to thrive. Things are looking up a little with the Bukhara deer (Bactrian wapiti), the hind produced a female calf this year and two more hinds will eventually arrive from Cologne to help rebuild the herd; the adult stag is a magnificent animal and so aggressive that he threatens the bull elk through the fence.
Douglas reminded me that HWP probably has more species that cannot be seen anywhere else in the country than any other zoo in the UK. This means that they have had to rely on information from the zoos which provided their stock, but this advice has not always proved reliable, at least in their local conditions, and they have had find better ways of keeping some species. For example, forest reindeer did not do very well on a standard reindeer diet, an older diet containing locally sourced feedstuffs suits them better and is cheaper too – they certainly look well, the two big bulls have just shed their velvet ready for the rut and they have the most magnificently large and complex antlers that I have seen on any deer.
The kiang have done very well, all five mares raised foals last year. The new male European bison has settled in well and the next species to get a new male may be the Himalayan tahr.
The tigers will stay as a trio (old female and two well grown female cubs) until the studbook keeper recommends a change. An enclosure for Amur leopards in the woods near the tigers is planned, but it will be expensive to build. On the other hand, converting the old aviary which once held choughs into an enclosure for Pallas’ cats cost a total of £85! Most of the materials required were recycled or found in stores of odds and ends. The adult cats came from RSCC in Kent (some posts in previous HWP threads were wrong) and they looked very well with their three kittens, I enjoyed spending some time watching and photographing them before the park closed.
Between the Pallas’ cats and the markhor, there is a section of the rocky outcrop that is unused. Douglas told me that he would like to use it for a large open-topped cat enclosure, I think most ZooChatters will be able to guess the species that he has in mind.
Douglas described Walker, the polar bear, as like a giant Alsatian puppy. He is so active in the pool that he is disturbing the peat around the sides, muddying the water, so remedial action may be needed. He also likes making mock charges at the bison herd if they get too close to his fence – which probably counts as enrichment for both species. Douglas explained how the small, traditionally fenced enclosure which is next to the large paddock has been used to train the bears about the hot wires and to test the barrier design. He also pointed out the likely site of the second polar bear enclosure on the western edge of the park, behind the vicuna’s section of the drive-through.
The only species I forgot to ask him about was the Japanese serow, which were separated from the macaques. But after we parted, I walked across to look at them again and I was delighted to see a very small kid (or should it be calf?) with the adult pair.
I would like to thank Douglas again for taking so much time and trouble to show me round. I hope I have reported him accurately here. I think he understands the value of ZooChat, but like many other zoo professionals, he is concerned by some of the rumours and inaccuracies that appear here from time to time. I was able to tell him that I think our walk-and-talk sessions at Chester have helped us to understand the way the zoo works and has reduced the number of silly comments about the zoo considerably. I hope the same thing will happen with HWP now.
The final message that he asked me to pass on is a very simple one. If you have a question about the Park or anything to do with it, get in touch with them and they will reply. I know that several members here do this already - please follow their example.
Alan
We started at the refurbished enclosure which will house the musk oxen. The paddock, fencing and barn are virtually ready, and so is a public viewpoint looking over the fence. This is behind the tigers with the path to the viewpoint starts below the owls. Two female musk oxen are due to arrive very soon, once blue-tongue restrictions are formally lifted.
The snowy owl chick has now reached adult size and is the first raised to maturity at the Park, to the satisfaction of the staff involved. The arctic fox was removed from the aviary when the owls started nesting (partitioning the aviary did not work well last year). The owls will move to their new aviary on the site of the old wild boar yard eventually.
The bharal (blue sheep) will benefit from an enclosure with more hard surfaces, so a new enclosure will be constructed for them adjacent to the end of the smaller polar bear paddock - it will be the first enclosure to the right as you drive into the car park. The goral can then move into the current bharal enclosure and other changes will follow. The general aim is to make the sheep and goat enclosures less grassy by changing fence lines and adding hard substrate areas, which should reduce the need for hoof trimming.
Douglas was very frank about the disease problems which have caused so much trouble in the Park in recent years. He said that he felt that he had spoken to ‘every vet in Scotland’ about the grass sickness which killed all but two of their Przewalski horses: the condition is incurable, its cause is unknown and all horses are susceptible to it, even Shetland ponies. The two surviving mares were the oldest of the herd but they are in excellent condition and a new stallion will arrive soon. Douglas aims to keep any female foals to build up a proper matrilineal herd structure.
The breeding cow European elk died from a sheep disease contracted from the flock on a neighbouring farm (I’m afraid I can’t remember its name). She was in particularly good condition until she fell ill. The bull is currently with his two daughters; it is hoped that one will be exchanged for an unrelated cow, the other may go the Curragh (IOM).
The takin have proved to be very susceptible to Johne’s disease, which is now controlled by vaccination. The Bukhara urial had major parasite problems and probably need a drier climate to thrive. Things are looking up a little with the Bukhara deer (Bactrian wapiti), the hind produced a female calf this year and two more hinds will eventually arrive from Cologne to help rebuild the herd; the adult stag is a magnificent animal and so aggressive that he threatens the bull elk through the fence.
Douglas reminded me that HWP probably has more species that cannot be seen anywhere else in the country than any other zoo in the UK. This means that they have had to rely on information from the zoos which provided their stock, but this advice has not always proved reliable, at least in their local conditions, and they have had find better ways of keeping some species. For example, forest reindeer did not do very well on a standard reindeer diet, an older diet containing locally sourced feedstuffs suits them better and is cheaper too – they certainly look well, the two big bulls have just shed their velvet ready for the rut and they have the most magnificently large and complex antlers that I have seen on any deer.
The kiang have done very well, all five mares raised foals last year. The new male European bison has settled in well and the next species to get a new male may be the Himalayan tahr.
The tigers will stay as a trio (old female and two well grown female cubs) until the studbook keeper recommends a change. An enclosure for Amur leopards in the woods near the tigers is planned, but it will be expensive to build. On the other hand, converting the old aviary which once held choughs into an enclosure for Pallas’ cats cost a total of £85! Most of the materials required were recycled or found in stores of odds and ends. The adult cats came from RSCC in Kent (some posts in previous HWP threads were wrong) and they looked very well with their three kittens, I enjoyed spending some time watching and photographing them before the park closed.
Between the Pallas’ cats and the markhor, there is a section of the rocky outcrop that is unused. Douglas told me that he would like to use it for a large open-topped cat enclosure, I think most ZooChatters will be able to guess the species that he has in mind.
Douglas described Walker, the polar bear, as like a giant Alsatian puppy. He is so active in the pool that he is disturbing the peat around the sides, muddying the water, so remedial action may be needed. He also likes making mock charges at the bison herd if they get too close to his fence – which probably counts as enrichment for both species. Douglas explained how the small, traditionally fenced enclosure which is next to the large paddock has been used to train the bears about the hot wires and to test the barrier design. He also pointed out the likely site of the second polar bear enclosure on the western edge of the park, behind the vicuna’s section of the drive-through.
The only species I forgot to ask him about was the Japanese serow, which were separated from the macaques. But after we parted, I walked across to look at them again and I was delighted to see a very small kid (or should it be calf?) with the adult pair.
I would like to thank Douglas again for taking so much time and trouble to show me round. I hope I have reported him accurately here. I think he understands the value of ZooChat, but like many other zoo professionals, he is concerned by some of the rumours and inaccuracies that appear here from time to time. I was able to tell him that I think our walk-and-talk sessions at Chester have helped us to understand the way the zoo works and has reduced the number of silly comments about the zoo considerably. I hope the same thing will happen with HWP now.
The final message that he asked me to pass on is a very simple one. If you have a question about the Park or anything to do with it, get in touch with them and they will reply. I know that several members here do this already - please follow their example.
Alan
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