The Duke of Bedford and the Pere David's deer

Chlidonias said:
when Pere David first saw the deer in 1864, that population had been isolated within the walls of the hunting preserve for about 700 years (and they were largely extinct everywhere else). In 1895 floods broke down part of the walls and most of the deer were killed by peasants for food. Fewer than thirty deer survived, and these were killed in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.
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That is the information I was after....is it taken from Philip Street's book?
 
Philip Street wrote an article for 'Our Magnificent Wildlife' published by Readers Digest in 1975. 16-18 is the number quoted for Woburn. In 1914 the herd was 88, in 1939 about 250. There is a stock count for 1971; 370 in UK,58 USA,42 W. Germany,23 USSR, 18 Canada,17 Austria, 12 Australia,11 Argentine ,49 Other countries.
First calf born at Whipsnade in 1947.4 Deer sent to China in 1957.
During the 60's Woburn hand reared which were sold to other UK zoos. Although there was a studbook existed Pere david appeared in several collections in the UK with the help of a deer keeper from Woburn.
I did visit one of those yards where young ones were kept ; there was a magnificent victorian wooden crush for bison
 
mukisi said:
First calf born at Whipsnade in 1947.4 Deer sent to China in 1957.
During the 60's Woburn hand reared which were sold to other UK zoos.
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i think they may have handreared some before the 1960's if Whipsnade's first breeding was in 1947. There is an anecdotal story- I think again in Philip Street's book(can't remember the name of it) about the first Pere David's at Whipsnade. I think they were 2.2. and I remember it said they were bottlefed as it was the only way-in those days- that they could be moved easily, if they were tame. The result of that was that at Whipsnade one of the stags became particularly aggressive during the rut and would charge the fences. So he was seperated but there was no breeding from the other Deer (i.e. the other male) until he was added to the group again.
 
Pertinax said:
.....There is an anecdotal story- I think again in Philip Street's book(can't remember the name of it) about the first Pere David's at Whipsnade.....
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Philip Street's book "Whipsnade" (1953) includes the chapter "Pere David's Deer: the Revival of a Species".

According to this book, two male Pere David's deer calves were sent from Woburn to Whipsnade in 1944 and these were followed by female calves in 1945; the first calf to be born at Whipsnade was on 5th April 1947.
 
In Beasts in My Belfry,page 97 Gerald Durrell states that the Woburn,s breeding heard started at 18 collected from other European zoos, eventually reaching a heard of nearly 500 by the time Gerry had started his year long work at Whipsnade, I'm not sure when this was, but he explains a bit about going to Woburn to collect hand reared fawns to bring back to the zoo. Apparently if not hand raised they are so unmanageable that they will try and barge through stone walls. though I realise you will all know this already.
 
Tim May said:
Philip Street's book "Whipsnade" (1953) includes the chapter "Pere David's Deer: the Revival of a Species".

According to this book, two male Pere David's deer calves were sent from Woburn to Whipsnade in 1944 and these were followed by female calves in 1945; the first calf to be born at Whipsnade was on 5th April 1947.
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That means the females were already breeding at age two and the stags in their third year. I can't remember where the story of the aggressive stag at Whipsnade came from but I think it is referring to these original four. However they seemed to breed so quickly there it doesn't really ring true.
 
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Pertinax said:
I can't remember where the story of the aggressive stag at Whipsnade came from ........
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The story of the aggressive stag at Whipsnade comes from Philip Street's book too although, quite possibly, it is also recorded in other books.

Incidentally, I like Philip Street's books very much. In addition to "Whipsnade", I have "The London Zoo", "Animals in Captivity" and "Vanishing Animals". And there are quite a few other titles that I don't have.
 
Tim May said:
The story of the aggressive stag at Whipsnade comes from Philip Street's book too although, quite possibly, it is also recorded in other books.

Incidentally, I like Philip Street's books very much.
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I thought it might have done.;) I also enjoyed reading his books in earlier days, very informative and I liked his writing style too.
 
Tim May said:
Incidentally, I like Philip Street's books very much. In addition to "Whipsnade", I have "The London Zoo", "Animals in Captivity" and "Vanishing Animals". And there are quite a few other titles that I don't have.
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I too very much enjoyed "Whipsnade", I'm not sure why but it seems relatively easy to obtain on websites in NZ (at least it was when I got a copy), but I've never seen any of his other books advertised nor read them. I'll add these titles to my "to-read" list.
 
Once again the figure of 18 animals is given; 2 fawns, seven males, nine females.

The two fawns are recorded as not breeding(so didn't reach maturity?) and two of the females(ex Berlin) did not breed either, so leaving a breeding pool of 7.7.
 
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