Where to see American bison in the UK

Pacu

Pacu

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I am currently doing a piece of work on the American bison and wish to include information about where they can be seen in the UK. I know of:
Whipsnade, Woburn, Noahs Ark, Blair Drummond and two bison farms that are open to the public; Bush Farm Bison Centre in Wiltshire and Bouverie Lodge in Leicestershire.

Does anyone know of other places where they can currently be seen?

Thanks for your help.
 
Fro Zootierliste, there are 5 holders of American plains bison (not American wood bison) in UK:

UK/England:
Dunstable (Whipsnade Wild Animal Park)
West Knoyle (Bison Centre)
Woburn (Safari Park)
Wraxall (Noahs Ark Zoo Farm)

UK/Scotland:
Stirling (Blair Drummond Safari Park and Adventure Park)
 
For interest's sake, I can also remember seeing American Bison exhibited at the following zoos(at some a long time ago);

Bristol.
Chester
Cricket St Thomas
Dudley
Paignton.
Port Lympne(?)

Presumably ZSL also had them at London before Whipsnade was opened.
 
Pertinax said:
For interest's sake, I can also remember seeing American Bison exhibited at the following zoos(at some a long time ago);

Bristol.
Chester
Cricket St Thomas
Dudley
Paignton.
Port Lympne(?)

Presumably ZSL also had them at London before Whipsnade was opened.
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I'm sure there were American Bison at London as recently as the late 1970s. I think Kilverstone had them at that time too.
 
There is also a bison farm in North Wales that is open to the public, but at the moment its name escapes me for the moment
 
It won't be all that long before we lose the species from Whipsnade I fear; last I heard there is only a single elderly individual remaining...
 
Pertinax said:
For interest's sake, I can also remember seeing American Bison exhibited at the following zoos(at some a long time ago);

Bristol.
Chester
Cricket St Thomas
Dudley
Paignton.
Port Lympne(?)

Presumably ZSL also had them at London before Whipsnade was opened.
Click to expand...

Dudley definitely hasn't got them and I can't remember if there were any at Chester last time I visited.

There is a herd on the Rhug estate near Corwen in mid-Wales. They are clearly visible from the A5 - there is a farm shop and retail outlet there so you can probably get quite close to them.
 
Angel said:
Dudley definitely hasn't got them and I can't remember if there were any at Chester last time I visited.
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Dudley's are long gone- they were in the paddock which is now the Lion area.

Chester- not sure if/when they stopped keeping them.
 
Pertinax said:
Dudley's are long gone- they were in the paddock which is now the Lion area.

Chester- not sure if/when they stopped keeping them.
Click to expand...

Don't have the date to hand but they were kept in the paddock that now has the round Tsavo rhino house and left shortly before its construction.
 
Yes, London had one or two at a time for many years and had a huge bull on show in the 1970s; I saw him on the extreme left of the Cotton Terraces,where the okapi are now. So far then it looks as though I can add the Rhug Estate (I'll check to see what viewing would be like and I'll look up Welsh bison farms. I have found one more in Durham but it only has three bison. I either have the others on my list, or know that bison are no longer kept there.
 
Thanks everyone. It appears that the Rhug Estate still has a reasonable size herd on show and it is the only Welsh bison farm. It would be a great shame if the Whipsnade herd was not replaced, there was outcry when them moved them away a few years ago and they bought them back but I wonder if they would just put the wisent there now instead.
 
Maguari said:
Don't have the date to hand but they were kept in the paddock that now has the round Tsavo rhino house and left shortly before its construction.
Click to expand...

I have a couple of pictures of bison at Chester in 1998 but none since. Having said that, I don't visit every year and they may have been there on subsequent visits and I just didn't photograph them.
 
According to ZTL, Chester went out of the species in 2001.
 
Pertinax said:
Presumably ZSL also had them at London before Whipsnade was opened.
Click to expand...

Yes, London Zoo first had American bison back in 1829; more than a century before Whipsnade opened.

pipaluk said:
I'm sure there were American Bison at London as recently as the late 1970s. I think Kilverstone had them at that time too.
Click to expand...

There were American bison at London Zoo throughout the 1970s and 1980s and into the early 1990s.

There were certainly American bison at Kilverstone into the 1980s.


Incidentally, I can remember American bison at Chessington back in the 1960s; I also recall seeing hybrids between American bison and Ankole cattle that were bred there during this period.
 
Incidentally, I can remember American bison at Chessington back in the 1960s; I also recall seeing hybrids between American bison and Ankole cattle that were bred there during this period.[/QUOTE]
Wow! they would have been interesting and most likely, impressive animals to see! How would you have described them? Big horns on a big beast?
 
Astrobird said:
Wow! they would have been interesting and most likely, impressive animals to see! How would you have described them? Big horns on a big beast?
Click to expand...

I only saw very young hybrids never an adult with horns so, unfortunately, I wouldn't describe them as impressive.
 
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