West Midland Safari and Leisure Park West Mids News 2015-2017

1.1 Rothschild's giraffe born.

TWO RARE NEW ARRIVALS ARE TALL ORDER FOR WEST MIDLAND SAFARI PARK...
Staff at West Midland Safari Park are celebrating the birth of two Rothschild's giraffes — one of the rarest sub-species of giraffe in the world.
The exciting new youngsters, standing at six feet tall, are the first successes of a breeding programme for Rothschild's giraffe, put in place with the arrival of five adults three years ago.
The first news came on 9 August when after a pregnancy lasting 15 months, five year old Bwindi gave birth to the first new arrival. Within twenty minutes, the not-yet-named baby boy had managed to co-ordinate his four long legs and was standing — a vital stepping stone for all giraffes in the wild.
Giraffes give birth standing up, so the second cute youngster arrived with a bump on 4 September. Mum, five year old Akacia, went straight to work, attentively cleaning her newborn baby girl and encouraging her to stand.
The news has given a boost to world-wide giraffe conservation efforts. Rothschild's giraffes used to roam in large numbers across the plains of Sudan, Kenya and Uganda, but it is thought that there are fewer than 2,500 individuals left in the wild today.
Deputy Head of Ungulates, Lisa Watkins said, “This is fantastic news not only for the Park, but also for Rothschild’s giraffe conservation. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) lists them as 'endangered' and with numbers declining every day, due to habitat loss and poaching, we hope that our adorable leggy newcomers will help highlight the very real danger the species faces.”
She added, “It’s absolutely brilliant to have two healthy babies — the staff are so pleased. Whilst the babies find their feet, the public will be able to view them in the giraffe yard, but we hope that they will soon be roaming the safari, weather dependent. Both mums and babies are doing well and I'm sure dad, five year old Rufus, will be keeping his eyes on them when they are out and about, causing mischief.”
Although the new babies are less than a month old, they are already taller than most of their keepers, but still have a lot of growing to do — giraffes are the tallest land animal, reaching a height of up to five metres.
West Midland Safari Park is home to a small herd of Rothschild's giraffes, introduced three years ago with the arrival of four females from zoos around Europe and male Rufus, from Flamingo Land. Keepers hope that the success of these births bodes well and they can look forward to welcoming some brothers and sisters in years to come.
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Does anyone know why the gemsbok are separated from the other animals in a little paddock?
 
They have been for quite sometime now on my last few visits going back around 3 years I seem to remember them always being in that small enclosure.

What ever happen to the Yak?
 
Evo said:
I've been 4 times now and I've never seen a yak, though the website ZootierlisteHomepage says that the park still has them.
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The yak (and possibly mouflon?) are in the SSSI* area next to the dhole reserve, not technically on show but you can occasionally spot them throught the trees.

*Site Of Special Scientific Interest
 
has anyone here done the VIP tour? I hope to go and id like to hear any extra info!
 
Thank you Brum last time I managed to see them was around 5 years ago when they were in the paddock next to the old Goat walk through and feeding area.
 
I do not have any official information but I'm guessing that the gemsbok are seperated because of aggression towards other animals.
 
bongorob said:
I do not have any official information but I'm guessing that the gemsbok are seperated because of aggression towards other animals.
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If that's the case, I think it would be better to house them in the area north of the lemur walkthrough, as there is lots of space and it would be better for visitors to see them.

One thing I hate about the website is that you don't know what animals are there asides from a few common animals in zoos such as giraffes, lions ect, and then the other animals like anoa, cape buffalo, gemsbok and many more aren't mentioned anywhere.
 
Nisha said:
1.0 Rothschild Giraffe born 14th Jan to female, Arusha
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According to facebook page :

Arusha`s calf is a female called Fennesy, (according to Facebook)
Bwindi`s calf born in August 2016 is a male called Embu
Acacia`s calf - female - born Sept 2016 - called Emali

Great results for a relatively new herd
 
Embu said:
According to facebook page :

Arusha`s calf is a female called Fennesy, (according to Facebook)
Bwindi`s calf born in August 2016 is a male called Embu
Acacia`s calf - female - born Sept 2016 - called Emali

Great results for a relatively new herd
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Do we know who the fathers are?
 
Are the plains zebra kept in the African section Burchell's or grants zebra? I've seen these names mentioned a few ties on this site in regard to the park's plains zebras.
 
Visited on good Friday

It looks like they may have a second Philippine spotted deer youngster as the one I saw was very small and a bit wobbly on it's feet.
The Zebra's according to the guide book at Grevy's
2 young Giraffe's in the park
All 6 Hippo's were actually active (a first for me)
Addax now up were the Yak used to be at the back of the Lemur walk thru.
Anyone know what's happening in the area were the children's rides used to be opposite the African Village (Meerkat area)

Does anyone have a list of which species are in what area please as not being very good with hoofed species I get a little confused especially when there's very little signage about to photograph so as to name my photographs (2 left to be ID'd in the gallery).

I would like to thank those who have helped to identify my photographs I put up recently and received some good info for future reference again thank you.
 
AdrianW1963 said:
Visited on good Friday
Does anyone have a list of which species are in what area please as not being very good with hoofed species I get a little confused especially when there's very little signage about to photograph so as to name my photographs (2 left to be ID'd in the gallery).
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Based on my visits here I what I have in order.
African Plains (section one): White rhino, common eland, southern lechwe (either Kafue or red subspecies), common waterbuck (no subspecies identified), Nubian giraffe (sometimes, might be in the other paddock depending on the day) and plains zebra (either Burchell's or grants, but might be generic)
Grasslands: Persian fallow deer and barbary sheep.
"Wild woods"?: Chinese dhole
Asian plains: blackbuck, drive-by Indian rhino, water buffalo, axis deer (might be in Eurasian reserve), possibly nigali.
Tiger Ridge: generic white tigers
cheetahs: south african cheetahs
wild dogs: wild dogs
realm of the lions: zoomix lions
White lions: Transvaal lions (likely inbred)
African Plains (section two): ostrich, addax (when I visited), lowland anoa drive-by
Eurasian reserve: Two-humped camel, banteng, possibly axix deer, possibly nigali, pere david's deer.
Elephant valley: southern african bush elephant.
African Plains (section three): grevy's zebra, ankole cattle, sometimes nubian giraffe, sometimes plains zebra.
 
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