Where are all the caprines?

Gigit said:
The baboons were supposed to move to a new enclosure 'x' years ago, but nothing came of the plan. I really miss the West Caucasian turs in the quarry enclosure. It was perfect for them and the remnants of the Barbary sheep herd that shared with them. The Mishmi takin are interesting enough, but I don't feel they do the quarry justice.
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I spoke to a primate keeper last summer who said a proposal had been made to use one of the hillside areas above Monkey Heights (between Kangaroos & ex Lechwe paddock) to create a H Baboon exhibit. It would actually be really good there, as would Gelada. There was actually a lot of money spent on an architectural plan for a new baboon enclosure on the footprint of rodent city and the old monkey house (now a playground and meerkat exhibit), but the TB issues put stop to that and the new savanna area. I too thought the Caucasian Tur were brilliant.
I think there will be a male giraffe arriving soon which I believe they are hoping will lead the herd into the elephant paddock?
 
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TriUK said:
I spoke to a primate keeper last summer who said a proposal had been made to use one of the hillside areas above Monkey Heights (between Kangaroos & ex Lechwe paddock) to create a H Baboon exhibit. It would actually be really good there, as would Gelada. There was actually a lot of money spent on an architectural plan for a new baboon enclosure on the footprint of rodent city and the old monkey house (now a playground and meerkat exhibit), but the TB issues put stop to that and the new savanna area. I too thought the Caucasian Tur were brilliant.
I think there will be a male giraffe arriving soon which I believe they are hoping will lead the herd into the elephant paddock?
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I’m very fond of the existing Baboon Rock, and think it would be difficult to replace
 
TriUK said:
I think there will be a male giraffe arriving soon which I believe they are hoping will lead the herd into the elephant paddock?
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I can't see why this has proved to be such a problem. If they took away some fencing would that not help?
 
Pertinax said:
I can't see why this has proved to be such a problem. If they took away some fencing would that not help?
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The gate has been open for more than a year; the females will just not go through? The keepers have tried hanging browse and ‘treats’ as well as some removal of fence line, but nothing! The herd is too tentative & nervous.
 
2022 didn't bring any new caprine species to the UK but we did get another holder of Barbary sheep, Watatunga Wildlife Reserve. Progress? Also, not mentioned in this thread before (I assume due to their interesting status) but it should be mentioned there are two holders of mouflon in the UK as well, West Midland Safari Park and New Forest Wildlife Park.

Out of interest I decided to check which species have been lost in the last decade:
  • Muskox (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2021)
  • Japanese Serow (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2014, now completely gone in Europe)
  • Bharal (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2013)
  • West Caucasian Tur (Last held at Paignton Zoo in 2019)
Go back even further and since the 2000s there is also the loss of urial, chamois, Rocky Mountain goat...
 
Fallax said:
2022 didn't bring any new caprine species to the UK but we did get another holder of Barbary sheep, Watatunga Wildlife Reserve. Progress? Also, not mentioned in this thread before (I assume due to their interesting status) but it should be mentioned there are two holders of mouflon in the UK as well, West Midland Safari Park and New Forest Wildlife Park.

Out of interest I decided to check which species have been lost in the last decade:
  • Muskox (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2021)
  • Japanese Serow (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2014, now completely gone in Europe)
  • Bharal (Last held at Highland Wildlife Park in 2013)
  • West Caucasian Tur (Last held at Paignton Zoo in 2019)
Go back even further and since the 2000s there is also the loss of urial, chamois, Rocky Mountain goat...
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Barbary sheep were also lost at Paignton.
 
Max Blundell said:
I think Whipsnade should hold Musk Ox again, maybe on the former Bison hill.
Or even being in Takin as they would fit well with the ever growing Asian mammal collection
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Musk ox are an undoubtably majestic species but zoos in regions with a similar climate or colder than the UK such as Minnesota zoo in Minnesota and Gaia zoo in the Netherlands both stopped keeping the species due to encountering health and welfare issues due to the increase in heat wave temperatures and their frequency.
Minnesota Zoo euthanizes its last two musk oxen because the state is too warm for them | National Post
Muskoxen leave Dutch zoo due to global warming
 
TeaLovingDave said:
And even then, significantly reduced in the last decade!

Out of curiosity, I thought I'd work out just how things fall out as regards non-domestic caprine species in UK collections, and things are actually even worse than I realised:

Chinese Goral - 1 collection (Edinburgh)
Barbary Sheep - 4 collections (Dudley, West Mids, Five Sisters, Suffolk)
Himalayan Tahr - 1 collection (HWP)
Mishmi Takin - 3 collections (HWP, Paignton, Port Lympne)
Tajik Markhor - 1 collection (HWP)

No ibex (barring the markhor), no chamois, and no true wild sheep....
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I don't know if it's just because I grew up visiting Marwell, but it seems like the number of Takin in Britain has reduced massively?
 
Cat-Man said:
I don't know if it's just because I grew up visiting Marwell, but it seems like the number of Takin in Britain has reduced massively?
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According to ZTL since 2000, 6 zoos of the UK have held Takin - 3 of which still hold them today.
One, Colchester, only held them for a temporary period of time as a single bull which never bred.
Edinburgh had them also in brevity - but for somewhat longer time than did Colchester.
Marwell of the former holders was by far most successful. They bred on several occasions, and were kept for a span of 11 years from 2004 till 2015. [I don't think the 2016 number given on ZTL is entirely accurate - by then the old takin enclosure had been demolished]
The existing holders of Takin have had them as early as 2009 - meaning it's really only a species that has started to take off more recently with good success.
So overall methinks during this time there has not been a massive decline other than Marwell going out of them suddenly.
 
dillotest0 said:
According to ZTL since 2000, 6 zoos of the UK have held Takin - 3 of which still hold them today.
One, Colchester, only held them for a temporary period of time as a single bull which never bred.
Edinburgh had them also in brevity - but for somewhat longer time than did Colchester.
Marwell of the former holders was by far most successful. They bred on several occasions, and were kept for a span of 11 years from 2004 till 2015. [I don't think the 2016 number given on ZTL is entirely accurate - by then the old takin enclosure had been demolished]
The existing holders of Takin have had them as early as 2009 - meaning it's really only a species that has started to take off more recently with good success.
So overall methinks during this time there has not been a massive decline other than Marwell going out of them suddenly.
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Why did Marwell stop holding the species? That entire area of the zoo is now empty, and the takins in particular were a lovely species to see. Knowing that Marwell was successful with breeding them only makes the departure more painful...
 
Kalaw said:
Why did Marwell stop holding the species? That entire area of the zoo is now empty, and the takins in particular were a lovely species to see. Knowing that Marwell was successful with breeding them only makes the departure more painful...
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Marwell now have a policy of only keeping snow leopards on the south road, for reasons which I'm not at liberty to say. I assume that had something to do with the takin departing, but I can't be sure it was the only factor. Were they doing well at the time?
 
Off to a good start for 2024, Edinburgh has recieved some markhor from Highland Wildlife Park. I'm curious, this isn't all the herd is it? I wouldn't have thought so. Even if this is an internal RZSS move its great that there is somewhere else in the UK to see this species now.

Let's hope for more good news this year for our favourite gravity-defying ungulates. :)
 
2025 update of the number of zoos keeping caprinae species in the United Kingdom:
  • Central Chinese goral: 1 (Edinburgh Zoo)
  • Barbary sheep [Non subspecies specific]: 6 (West Midland Safari Park, Dudley Zoo, Africa Alive, Five Sisters Zoo, Watatunga Wildlife Reserve and Woburn Safari Park)
  • European mouflon: 3 (West Midland Safari Park, New Forest Wildlife Park and Watatunga)
  • Himalayan tahr: 1 (Highland Wildlife Park)
  • Mishmi takin: 2 (Highland Wildlife Park and Port Lympne Reserve)
  • Tadjik markhor: 2 (Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park)

As of March 2025 six species of caprinae are exhibited across the United Kingdom. Overall the number of collections keeping caprinae species has grown since this thread was started with two additional collections now keeping barbary sheep and one more collection keeping markhor.
Looking forward Edinburgh Zoo only has a single male central Chinese goral who was born in 2011 making him 14 this year.
 
joe said:
2025 update of the number of zoos keeping caprinae species in the United Kingdom:
  • Central Chinese goral: 1 (Edinburgh Zoo)
  • Barbary sheep [Non subspecies specific]: 6 (West Midland Safari Park, Dudley Zoo, Africa Alive, Five Sisters Zoo, Watatunga Wildlife Reserve and Woburn Safari Park)
  • European mouflon: 3 (West Midland Safari Park, New Forest Wildlife Park and Watatunga)
  • Himalayan tahr: 1 (Highland Wildlife Park)
  • Mishmi takin: 2 (Highland Wildlife Park and Port Lympne Reserve)
  • Tadjik markhor: 2 (Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park)

As of March 2025 six species of caprinae are exhibited across the United Kingdom. Overall the number of collections keeping caprinae species has grown since this thread was started with two additional collections now keeping barbary sheep and one more collection keeping markhor.
Looking forward Edinburgh Zoo only has a single male central Chinese goral who was born in 2011 making him 14 this year.
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West Midlands have Mouflon?! When did they get them? How many are there? Where are they located? Any answers folks can please provide would be appreciated as I love Mouflon. :)
 
joe said:
2025 update of the number of zoos keeping caprinae species in the United Kingdom:
  • Central Chinese goral: 1 (Edinburgh Zoo)
  • Barbary sheep [Non subspecies specific]: 6 (West Midland Safari Park, Dudley Zoo, Africa Alive, Five Sisters Zoo, Watatunga Wildlife Reserve and Woburn Safari Park)
  • European mouflon: 3 (West Midland Safari Park, New Forest Wildlife Park and Watatunga)
  • Himalayan tahr: 1 (Highland Wildlife Park)
  • Mishmi takin: 2 (Highland Wildlife Park and Port Lympne Reserve)
  • Tadjik markhor: 2 (Edinburgh Zoo and Highland Wildlife Park)

As of March 2025 six species of caprinae are exhibited across the United Kingdom. Overall the number of collections keeping caprinae species has grown since this thread was started with two additional collections now keeping barbary sheep and one more collection keeping markhor.
Looking forward Edinburgh Zoo only has a single male central Chinese goral who was born in 2011 making him 14 this year.
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Thanks for this.
Do you have any insight into if/when Takin will move to Paignton and where they might be moved on from?
 
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