Marwell Wildlife Ungulate husbandry at Marwell Zoo

H

Hadley

Well-Known Member
Earlier this year I was on a field trip with my course to Marwell Zoo, and was surprised to see nearly all the ungulates contained on their hardstand areas. I was told by staff that they don't let the giraffes out during winter in case they fall over, and that the pasture is not suitable for antelope during the winter months, plus they need to break the parasite cycle by allowing the paddocks to remain fallow. Zebra, even some birds (Ostrich), and many other species I was surprised to see restricted to their yards are kept in this way for at least six months of the year.
The reasons given by the staff at Marwell make sense, but is this the case for all UK zoos? I don't believe Port Lympne prevent their animals from grazing during the winter. I understand that animals such as Dama Gazelle or Scimitar-horned oryx are not really suited to lush grass paddocks in wet weather, but it seemed to be the practice for nearly every hoofed species at marwell. The point they made to me about the Giraffes made me wonder when, with plenty of flat ground near the giraffe house, their paddock is located on a slope.
If this isn't common practice throughout the UK, then why do Marwell do it? If it is, surely it is better for Marwell to develop larger hardstand areas which can be used year round, like the Addax/ Dorcas Gazelle enclosure where the animals had access to the full area even in winter?
It was a strange thing to realise, walking round the lush paddocks, that the zoo in effect 'shrinks' for half the year, and without the aesthetically pleasing rolling paddocks visible to the public, the enclosures available to the ungulates during winter would be considered sorely lacking by most.
 
Its a 'cultural' thing, perhaps peculiar to Marwell, I believe. They have always restricted the hoofed animals to the hardstandings in winter ever since they opened in 1971. Interesting that they still do this and no, I don't think any/many other Uk collections do this, at least not for all species..
 
I've seen bison standing in pools of mud in the winter at Chester. I don't think they restrict access to the paddocks for their ungulates unless the ground is icy, or excessively wet. However the eland herd was sent to Knowsley because they were damaging the paddock and there was no where else to put them, they already occupied the largest enclosure available.
 
I read recently on Wikipedia that Marwell plan to use most of the 'central valley' in the zoo for a large, port lympne-style 'African Savannah', (as well as adding a Gorilla enclosure) which would be odd if they still plan to restrict the hoofed species to the hardstands during winter. I guess hardstands are good for keeping hooves in trim, but surely this happens naturally if they are fed in these areas, without being shut in all winter? I noticed their Arabian Oryx are confined like this year round. It seems like a petty point to raise but I hadn't visited Marwell for years, and once you realise the space the animals actually have available to them throughout the year, it really alters your perception of the place.
 
Hadley said:
I noticed their Arabian Oryx are confined like this year round. .
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I think that would probably be because they are a desert species- so used to hard ground or sand, rather than grass. But a pity if they are not able to exercise properly as a result.

London's were recently moved to Whipsnade- unfortunately though they will probably now have more space, it will probaly be on grass- not such a suitable substrate as they had in London in the Cotton terrace enclosure..

What is the time frame for Gorillas?
 
The staff just said they were starting to 'plan' for Gorillas, and wikipedia made some reference to it being in the masterplan, aside from that I don't know. I won't be going back in a hurry to see them though.
 
A couple of years ago here was a plan there to build an enclosure for Bonobos, but nothing happened. Marwell do not have a lot of Primates and they first appeared quite late on in their collection history. The Siamang enclosure is absolutely TERRIBLE. The Monkey enclosures in the Giraffe house are much better- very good, also the Lemur garden area is pretty good too.

My guess is if Marwell were allowed Gorillas, they would be asked to start another male group. There are currently several young males in UK zoos which will need to leave their natal groups sometime in the future; Bristol (2), Twycross (1),Chessington (2), Dublin (3).
 
Thank heavens for small mercies....I knew they were fundraising for a new one- the other was an absolute horror..
 
Yes, it will definitely be an improvement. They could have created a much better facility for these animals at very little cost without raising nearly half a million pounds through an appeal....it does annoy me when animals sit for years in substandard enclosures until a zoo raises ridiculous amounts to incorporate the new quarters into some themed exhibit, although I guess they've done their market research as to what generates ticket sales.....and thankfully it means the Anoa are out of the small hardstand by the oryx and into the new gibbon area.

I was expecting the primate section in the (fairly) new giraffe house to be pretty good, but although the outside area was fairly spacious, there were around a dozen crested porcupines, some with young, on the tiled floor of the indoor area, and although the King Colobus in the exhibit may not have used the floor otherwise, it seemed an unlikely and uncomfortable combination. Perhaps they were being held there temporarily. The one primate exhibit I did like were the free-roaming golden lion tamarins, which were using the mature trees near the giraffe house, but shortly after my visit I read that they had been moved into a walk-through enclosure in the new Australian area!
 
Marwell is not really a 'primate' zoo. I get the feeling Primates were added quite late in the collection's history, in response perhaps to visitor requests- "where are the Monkeys?"

Originally Marwell specialised in Ungulates and Cats, though its become a rather more generalised collection over the years. However the African ungulates are still their best feature I feel.
 
By the early eighties they had De Brazza monkeys, tamarins and Sulawesi Macaques. In fact I was more unimpressed with the ungulate set up than with the primate enclosures overall. Though small, the callitrichid housing was fairly good, and Marwell is the only zoo I have seen where their douracoulis have access to an outdoor enclosure. I agree though, the whole site still has the feel of agricultural land, and it will always seem more suited to hoofstock, although maybe the land isn't so suitable if they are shut in all winter. But (maybe for this reason?) they have been diversifying for some time now, and I'm sure will continue to do so. If all the antelope are eventually given suitable substrate, like the addax and dorcas gazelles, it will be a massive improvement.


I read many years ago that Marwell 'shared' its ungulate collection with ZSL, and there certainly seemed to be some correlation in the species held between the three collections, but I don't know whether this is still the case? I can't remeber where I read it, this was in the days before TAGs and EEPs, so it may have just been a loose reference to some kind of coperative agreement.
 
In their early Days, Marwell did foster connections with ZSL. Several species no longer kept at MZP, e.g. Sika, Swamp, Fallow Deer, Hunting Dogs, Wallabies, possiby Guanaco and llamas were all obtained from Whipsnade. Later I think exchanges of some other species occurred too.
 
Marwell have announced the birth of Britains first female mishmi takin, she is called Mei-ling with Edinburgh having bred a male calf earlier in the year what chances a 3rd pair of takin in a British zoo, any takers!
 
Where did the previous (and first) calf for this pair go? I saw it in March, it was smaller than the adults but may have been at least a year old.
 
Hadley said:
Where did the previous (and first) calf for this pair go? I saw it in March, it was smaller than the adults but may have been at least a year old.
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It died rather suddenly the post mortem was inconclusive as to the cause of death,i believe it died around May/June.
 
IZES reports that a female giant anteater has joined the male coming from Magdeburg zoo in Germany, also their first female snad cat has arrived from a zoo in France. One surprising new arrival was a brush tailed possum called "basil", which was found in a house in Southampton after getting in through the cat flap!
 
It said they had to contact Perth Zoo to find out what species it was. Don't they have any reference books? :rolleyes: (Its actually just about the most common Possum species of all)
 
Cat-Man said:
were are the arabian oryx
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If you walk up to the tigers and then take the 1st path downhill towards Marwell Hall, they are in an enclosure on the right just passed the s-horned oryx - it is easy to miss.

You will not be able to see them if they are inside.
 
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