BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Well the recommendation is there. Whether it will happen is another matter!
I haven't heard any mention of a new female except on here. When was that first sorted out/how long has she been at Dudley?
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade; 2012 and beyond
- Thread starter Nisha
- Start date
Well the recommendation is there. Whether it will happen is another matter!
I haven't heard any mention of a new female except on here. When was that first sorted out/how long has she been at Dudley?
Woohoo! So I can reveal that is the news, as you had guessed Pipaluk! The new Amur tiger arrived a few weeks ago. It's a male called Botzman from Moscow Zoo. From what I can remember he's about a year and a half old. Hopefully we'll be able to hear the pitter patter of little tiger feet in the future, though we shouldn't be thinking about that so early on...
Exciting stuff!
Thanks for the details Adam, I guess it's only a matter of time before the ZSL website comes up with a corny 'Bond themed' headline!
Just a few notes from my visit yesterday, other than the tiger, on what was the perfect winter's day to visit Whipsnade (if there is such a thing!), slight frost, bright sunshine and very little wind.
Started at the chimps & was quite surprised to find most of them sat outside on the mound enjoying their morning snack, as the moat was partially frozen at least.
Saw 4 lynx on my first visit to their enclosure, this is usually the best time of year to get a decent view now that a lot of the vegetation has died off or been cut back. No sign of the brown bears or wolverine.
The 5 female white rhino were all confined to the house and yard whilst the male was alone in the main paddock.
One of the female giraffes was on her own inside, whilst the other 4 were together with access to the outside. The male was attempting to mate with Ina (I think that's the name of the one with the disfigured face) and the youngster had to spring out of the way as she tried to get away from him.
The hippos were all not surprisingly locked in, with the mothers and calves in the indoor pools.
The male lion and one of the others (not sure if a castrated male or a female) were seperated from the rest of the pride and their roars could be heard from the other side of the park!
The male indian rhino was confined to the new house, as usual, whilst the older calf was alone in one of the new paddocks. The heavily pregnant female was confined to the adjoining hardstanding. The other mother and calf were still together on the neighbouring yard.
Disappointment of the day was not seeing the gaur calf, the windows were covered up , whilst the mother stood guard at the doorway to the house, but clearly it is able to venture outside onto the larger hardstanding area. The young bull was on the small yard at the side and the adult one was on the hardstanding at the back of the older indian rhino house.
Ventured back to Wild whipsnade at the end of the day and was rewarded with the full family of 5 lynx tucking into their evening meal. Then even better, I stood all alone for 5-10 minutes watching the smaller wolverine chasing the other all around the enclosure, the most activity I've ever seen from them! Not sure if this was a mating ritual or just them entertaining themselves.
Tschuna arrived at Dudley in February 2012 along with her Sumatran "sister" whom she was handreared with. The studbook recommendation for transfer to Whipsnade was agreed in 2011 and transfer from Dudley was expected to take place once Rabies quarantine had been completed. However Dudley's planned male Sumatran has been delayed, so hence Whipsnade have agreed to extend the loan for the time being to avoid keeping the Sumatran on her own. But afaik Whipsnade have the right to ask for her at anytime....
There is only the one main enclosure obviously, but the male is currently being kept in the small isolation cage off the house, which is presumably where he would have been kept in the past if cubs were born? It's pretty small admittedly, but its on a par with several other zoos' second enclosure and in the past males have been rotated with females and cubs just with a house & single enclosure, so it's probably better than that option.
In the meantime, it is quite interesting to be able to see a Sumatran and Amur together; it very much makes the differences between the two subspecies plain.
A day off that needed using up before the worst of the Christmas rush at work turned into a lightly-snow-strewn five hours at Whipsnade for me today. Nothing like a nearly-empty rural zoo for stress relief!
Nothing too dramatic to report - good to see lots of young (or relative youngsters) - moose, hippos (both species), elephant, giraffe, Sitatunga, Silvery Marmosets.
The Wolverines were very active, in one of the most snowy enclosures - the sunbird in the Discovery Centre was particularly showy as well.
Saw more Chinese Water Deer and muntjac than I have in ages - possibly simply due to being a quiet day?
Saw two of the Gaur after an early scare of eerily empty stalls and paddocks (eventually found the adult male in the older Indian Rhino house, and later what I take to be the older 'calf' on his own in the front yard of the Gaur house).
Today's random antelope house surprise was a Vicuna that turned up in the last stall of the Bongo house (though equally surprising was the muntjac stag warming himself up in the Roan/waterbuck house!).
Was my first visit to Whipsnade this year - the late addition of Gaur and Sri Lankan Sloth Bear to my annual list has allowed it just to pip a frankly ridiculous 600 mammal taxa (thaaank you Pilsen!) from 51 animal collections and various wildlife spots. My previous annual 'record' (since my mammal notes started in 2005) was 566 in 2010 - also a 'Pilsen' year.
Nothing too dramatic to report - good to see lots of young (or relative youngsters) - moose, hippos (both species), elephant, giraffe, Sitatunga, Silvery Marmosets.
The Wolverines were very active, in one of the most snowy enclosures - the sunbird in the Discovery Centre was particularly showy as well.
Saw more Chinese Water Deer and muntjac than I have in ages - possibly simply due to being a quiet day?
Saw two of the Gaur after an early scare of eerily empty stalls and paddocks (eventually found the adult male in the older Indian Rhino house, and later what I take to be the older 'calf' on his own in the front yard of the Gaur house).
Today's random antelope house surprise was a Vicuna that turned up in the last stall of the Bongo house (though equally surprising was the muntjac stag warming himself up in the Roan/waterbuck house!).
Was my first visit to Whipsnade this year - the late addition of Gaur and Sri Lankan Sloth Bear to my annual list has allowed it just to pip a frankly ridiculous 600 mammal taxa (thaaank you Pilsen!) from 51 animal collections and various wildlife spots. My previous annual 'record' (since my mammal notes started in 2005) was 566 in 2010 - also a 'Pilsen' year.
I would think a combination of Quiet and Cold. I think they may forage around the ungulate yards etc in cold weather to pick-up extra rations. From my visits, I seem to remember them being more visible/more about in the winter months too.
How many Rhinos did you see in the Rhinos of Nepal building?
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
Interesting.
Wonder if this is just doing a favour, or a first foray into acquiring a species that I don't think has ever been kept at Whipsnade previously. There were Guanaco in Holly Frindle paddock (where the Greater Kudu are kept) up into the 1980s.
How many Rhinos did you see in the Rhinos of Nepal building?
Ha! None - 'cos I didn't go in!
Got lovely views of two rhinos in the old house yards and one in the paddock so didn't bother!
Having not visited in 18 months, I was busy trying to remember if they were 'supposed' to have Vicuna or not!
I also just realised I referred to a 'muntjac stag', which I'm sure is not correct. Buck?
Was going to pull you up on that but you have corrected yourself.
In British(inc. species introduced to UK) deer, only Red and Sika males are Stags, all the rest are Bucks, and females similarly hinds or does.Sounds like the status quo with the Rhinos is the same, cows in the old house, bull (+ maybe a weaned calf?) in the new.
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Interesting indeed, there was mention of vicuna months ago. I don't know what the situation is with that...
On a seperate note, not a huge amount of news today except the screening over the gaur stall has been removed so anyone planning a visit should get relatively good views of the new calf
Also managed to see the male tiger outside today which was great
I've seen him inside twice but had no luck last week seeing him outside. They were calling to each other quite a lot.
johnstoni.
Well-Known Member
I think Whipsnade has a pretty standard setup for tigers. There is at least a small outside service cage for separation. I believe the reason behind the way in which the London facility has been constructed is due to a pretty unfortunate licensing inspection in 2008. You've probably seen these articles before, but in case not:
London Zoo needs 5m to split warring tigers - Telegraph
The lonely tiger of London Zoo and a £5m problem - News - London Evening Standard
Warring tigers, escaping birds, marauding snakes: it's chaos at London Zoo - Home News - UK - The Independent
The irony in all this is that they're likely introducing the two new tigers in the old enclosure.
I believe Sumatrans are more highly-strung that the Amur subspecies, but I can't find anything to back this up so can't be sure its not an assumption.
They certainly are, or some of them are. When Marwell kept both species in its early years, the difference between them was very noticeable. All were Zoo-bred, and living in similar accomodation, but where the Siberians were relaxed and friendly, the Sumatrans were very different, being much more nervous.
johnstoni.
Well-Known Member
Anecdotally, I would agree strongly, I just can't find any stats or research comparing the two subspecies unfortunately.
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
I don't know if there are complications associated with breeding at this age and of course it all depends on whether they actually mate or not but as far as I know she is potentially a viable breeder.
Some big news - Indian rhino Behan gave birth to a little male calf on Wednesday! He was out in the yard a few times today so anyone planning a visit should hopefully be able to see him providing the weather isn't bad enough to keep them indoors!