South Lakes Wild Animal Park spectacled bears at The Lakes

P

Pertinax

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Does anyone have any recent information on the Spectacled Bears- i.e. has there been any breeding(successful or otherwise)?
 
slightly going off the subject but heard that when they first mixed the tapir with the spectacled bears there was trouble between the two species as the bears attacked the tapir and they had scratch marks on them from what i heard from staff at another zoo!
 
Yeah seems like a very stupid mix to me.
Don't know about breeding or anything though, sorry.
 
anybody see a documentry on specy bears killing cattle on a few weeks ago? really interesting when they examined some bear dropping on the hills they found hairs from tapir!!! very foolish mix if you ask me!
 
calm down, they wouldnt mix them unless they thought there wasnt a risk!

maybe the tapir got a bit too close for the bears liking
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
calm down, they wouldnt mix them unless they thought there wasnt a risk!

maybe the tapir got a bit too close for the bears liking
Click to expand...

Tigerlemurguy; there is always a risk when mixing animals. and this has been discussed somewhere here on this forum before but am struggling to find where.
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
calm down, they wouldnt mix them unless they thought there wasnt a risk!
Click to expand...

Whether they THINK there is a risk or not is partially irrelevant. The reality may prove quite different as at Jersey where a Spectacled bear suddenly killed an Otter in their mixed exhibit after being together a long time.
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
calm down, they wouldnt mix them unless they thought there wasnt a risk!

maybe the tapir got a bit too close for the bears liking
Click to expand...

mmmm sometimes zoos can be quite careless anybody remember the lion meerkat incident?

There is always a risk mixing animals and Specy bears are known to predate tapir in the wild! they are both big ground dwelling animals at least in Jerseys case the otters and coati are small and agile enough to get out of the way! and even then there was a severe accident!

Likewise Tapir are well armed to defend themselves I wonder was the bear checked for injuries?
 
mmmm sometimes zoos can be quite careless anybody remember the lion meerkat incident?

I don't think the lion has ever forgotten :eek: :rolleyes:
 
That meerkat must've mauled the lion to pieces!

So logically, it would seem the next zoo asking for trouble is Chester, seeing as they mix specs with coatis. Though I imagine coatis would easilly be able to make a hasty retreat.
 
yes coatis are pretty fast but then tapirs can be fast when they want to be, animals can be very unpredictable sometimes
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
animals can be very unpredictable sometimes
Click to expand...

Which is why I don't think tapirs, capybaras and spectacled bears should be mixed. Such a stupid idea in my opinion :rolleyes:
 
Pertinax said:
Whether they THINK there is a risk or not is partially irrelevant. The reality may prove quite different as at Jersey where a Spectacled bear suddenly killed an Otter in their mixed exhibit after being together a long time.
Click to expand...

Actually the reason why the otter was knobbled was due to it's bolshy behaviour. It apparently would give the bears a regular yelling at, until one of the bears decided that enough was enough.

Regarding South Lakes, I don't think enough consideration was given to the mix (not unusual for this collection), as has been mentioned. My interpretation of events is that they looked at how successful the bear/otter/coati mix had been at Jersey and decided to try the bears with their existing tapir/coati/capys/agouti exhibit (+ modifications). I am guessing the agoutis were removed as being considered too vulnerable. It was only a matter of time that two large mammals, one being a part-time carnivore, would clash.
 
tetrapod said:
Actually the reason why the otter was knobbled was due to it's bolshy behaviour. It apparently would give the bears a regular yelling at, until one of the bears decided that enough was enough.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah so it was the otters fault!! come on!!

Perhaps the Bolshy behaviour was due to the fact that the otter had a bit more intelligence than the idiots that put the two species together, and realised "Hey thats a big mean predator" :S

At least with the coati they can escape upwards if a good climbing frame is provided but the tapir really have nowhere to go if the bear decides tapir steak would be nice tonight!

I am not at all against mixed exhibits infact I quite like them but this is just asking from trouble in my opinion and I do think (although I hope not) that I will be proved correct in my apprehensions about this exhibit.
 
Tigerlemurguy said:
calm down, they wouldnt mix them unless they thought there wasnt a risk!

maybe the tapir got a bit too close for the bears liking
Click to expand...


I bet they didn't think that rhino would get out either... ;)

I do like South Likes, but let's be honest here: they have a lot of hair-brained schemes, and they don't always work out. Besides, if a tapir got too close to a bear then maybe that suggests that mixing them is a bad idea!
 
What a stupid mix, that's just asking for trouble!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top