Afaik there are only two females in the group and one of them is the old 'Koko' who has been with the group since her partner 'Jonny' had to be shot when they got free in the Zoo. So that leaves only one breeding female and if she last had a young around five years ago, she might be due another soon or be contracepted.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade visit
- Thread starter Jordan-Jaguar97
- Start date
Afaik there are only two females in the group and one of them is the old 'Koko' who has been with the group since her partner 'Jonny' had to be shot when they got free in the Zoo. So that leaves only one breeding female and if she last had a young around five years ago, she might be due another soon or be contracepted.
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Well yes it is concrete with rubber on top, though would the same not be said for a sand or bark substrate? I know there are photos in the gallery showing the new house with just concrete, I wonder how quickly the rubber was put down after the building was complete? Must have been a while for people to have access and get photos...?
Well as I think I mentioned in the other Whipsnade thread I was told by a keeper that lack of yards was one of the issues (one bark yard at the back but three stalls inside). I'm not sure about the deep water, as I would have thought wild animals would come across this and would cope? I guess as a precaution maybe they don't want them to have the chance of an accident. Maybe also to keep the females with young away from the male to avoid stress? I might ask again on Monday if I get the chance and try and put an end to the debate!
I very much enjoyed reading your review of Whipsnade, Johnstoni, but was astonished that you’d never been before.
I think most of your questions have now been answered, however a couple of comments in response to your questions and some subsequent posts:-
Flamingoes have been breeding regularly at Whipsnade for decades and many young have hatched there. However, I don’t know whether or not the founder stock came from London Zoo.
Whipsnade had brindled gnu up until 1983.
I think most of your questions have now been answered, however a couple of comments in response to your questions and some subsequent posts:-
Flamingoes have been breeding regularly at Whipsnade for decades and many young have hatched there. However, I don’t know whether or not the founder stock came from London Zoo.
Whipsnade had brindled gnu up until 1983.
A very interesting topic which stirs many memories 
Thank you mukisi* for the 1970 map - my first visit was on the 2nd of June 1972 (I have just checked by looking up my photo of the Indian rhino 'Manik' in the Gallery), so most of it was familiar. But even in those 2 years some features were added, particularly the chimps and the old cheetah paddock next to it, looking out over the Central paddock where the Cape buffalo were kept: this was where Whipsnade's first cheetah litters were born. On the other hand I can see that some enclosures have not been labelled on the map, so perhaps the cheetah paddock did exist in 1970. I am sure that there were hunting dogs in 1972, I have a feeling that they were at the end of Valley Close, beside the perimeter fence - can anyone confirm this?
The basic pattern at that time was that each of the large paddocks contained a herd of ungulates (maybe two), a pair of ratites or cranes and some waterfowl (a pair of swans or sheldgeese or a flock of typical geese). In particular I remember that the Chartley paddock held the Przewalski horses and the Woodfield paddock held European bison.
One thing that strikes me forcibly is how few of the mammals are now kept in the same places that they were kept in then. The only ones in virtually the same enclosures are the brown bears and the giraffes. The American bison, hippos and penguins are still in the same places, but I think all their enclosures have been updated. The same may be true of the red pandas, but I'm not sure if they have been kept there continuously.
The number of birds has dropped considerably - there used to be a few bare and draughty looking aviaries dotted around the park, with cockatoos and macaws among other things. I don't miss them, but I do miss the children's zoo, which was a nice little area for some smaller species as well as the penguin chicks and some fluffies. I think the flamingos are another constant feature, I think I'm right in saying that Whipsnade has always had rosy (Caribbean) flamingos while Regents Park has greaters.
Alan
* I used to walk to Whipsnade too: the Oxford - Cambridge coach went along the Tring Road and I walked up the escarpment on the B4540 (I don't know what it's name is).
Thank you mukisi* for the 1970 map - my first visit was on the 2nd of June 1972 (I have just checked by looking up my photo of the Indian rhino 'Manik' in the Gallery), so most of it was familiar. But even in those 2 years some features were added, particularly the chimps and the old cheetah paddock next to it, looking out over the Central paddock where the Cape buffalo were kept: this was where Whipsnade's first cheetah litters were born. On the other hand I can see that some enclosures have not been labelled on the map, so perhaps the cheetah paddock did exist in 1970. I am sure that there were hunting dogs in 1972, I have a feeling that they were at the end of Valley Close, beside the perimeter fence - can anyone confirm this?
The basic pattern at that time was that each of the large paddocks contained a herd of ungulates (maybe two), a pair of ratites or cranes and some waterfowl (a pair of swans or sheldgeese or a flock of typical geese). In particular I remember that the Chartley paddock held the Przewalski horses and the Woodfield paddock held European bison.
One thing that strikes me forcibly is how few of the mammals are now kept in the same places that they were kept in then. The only ones in virtually the same enclosures are the brown bears and the giraffes. The American bison, hippos and penguins are still in the same places, but I think all their enclosures have been updated. The same may be true of the red pandas, but I'm not sure if they have been kept there continuously.
The number of birds has dropped considerably - there used to be a few bare and draughty looking aviaries dotted around the park, with cockatoos and macaws among other things. I don't miss them, but I do miss the children's zoo, which was a nice little area for some smaller species as well as the penguin chicks and some fluffies. I think the flamingos are another constant feature, I think I'm right in saying that Whipsnade has always had rosy (Caribbean) flamingos while Regents Park has greaters.
Alan
* I used to walk to Whipsnade too: the Oxford - Cambridge coach went along the Tring Road and I walked up the escarpment on the B4540 (I don't know what it's name is).
I think there may be rubber matting on some sections only, rather than being completely covered though? Anyway, there is rubber matting.
Anything about the main reason for the underusage would be interesting. I know the females would not enter the indoor pools, it was an access thing, but that alone doesn't seem a reason not for them to use this house regularly.
Do you know which paddock they were in? I expect you have the b/w Postcard but I can't identify the paddock from that and don't really remember seeing them there.
Yes they were. On a site which is now just along from the entrance to 'Asian Plains' on the righthand side. Two connected grass triangular runs with concrete bunker-style shelters dug into them. About 5-7 Dogs. Marwell's original pair came from here too.
I first visited Whipsnade about 1955 I reckon... my earliest memory is the Indian rhino male 'Mohan' rubbing his horn on the bars.
I think the 'species shifting' was mainly due to them trying to go zoogeographic as far as possible.
whipsnade
gentlelemur; you are right abou the hunting dogs. Valley close was a cul- de-sac. I would doubt many walked down there, it always looked deserted but a bit of noise usually made the dogs inquisitive. If I remember correctly there were the old wooden aviaries which came from Woburn and were scattered around the park
gentlelemur; you are right abou the hunting dogs. Valley close was a cul- de-sac. I would doubt many walked down there, it always looked deserted but a bit of noise usually made the dogs inquisitive. If I remember correctly there were the old wooden aviaries which came from Woburn and were scattered around the park
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
There is rubber covering all land areas which were previously just concrete:
Before: http://www.zoochat.com/216/interior-rhinos-nepal-2008-a-36693/
After: http://www.zoochat.com/216/view-inside-new-indian-rhino-house-249032/
The concrete is still the floor for the indoor pool area though.
The same rubber is on the yards of the old house, combined with bark chip, but seems to not have always been:
Before: http://www.zoochat.com/216/view-old-indian-rhino-house-159068/
After: http://www.zoochat.com/216/greater-one-horned-rhinos-whipsnade-zoo-188175/
I forgot/didn't get the opportunity to ask about the house usage today, but might next week if it arises. I do have some other bits of info which I'll put on the Whipsnade news thread
I am somewhat confused about the ancestry of Whipsnade’s wolves so, despite the above comment from Pertinax, I regret that I’m unable to provide a definitive answer to this question.
The ZSL Annual Report for 1953 states that nine timber wolves were received at Whipsnade that year. According to the Zoo Life magazine (spring 1954) the timber wolves imported from Canada in 1953 are in the (then) new Wolf Wood.
For the next twenty odd years the subsequent ZSL Annual Reports refer to the Whipsnade wolves as Canadian timber wolves (or sometimes just timber wolves).
However, from 1977 onwards the Annual Reports refer to them under the more generic name grey wolf. They are now labelled as European wolf but I haven’t been able to trace when any new stock arrived.
Yes, I have the monochrome 1930s postcard depicting gnus at Whipsnade; referring to some old guides confirms that, in those days, white-tailed gnus were kept in Central Paddock (number 1) and brindled gnus were kept in Central Paddock (number 2).
The gnus I remember at Whipsnade from the 1970s /1980s were kept in the African section (i.e. the area where the white rhino herd was originally kept).
this thread says (via books of the time) that right at the start in the 1930s the wolves at Whipsnade were a mixed bag of European and American subspecies: http://www.zoochat.com/38/european-wolves-uk-88114/
Did they start a brand new pack in 1953 or just add the Canadian ones to the hybrid ones they (presumably still) already had?
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
I feel that Tim is being polite..
The fact that this pack is now all male says a great deal about how REALLY important it is. Some might say that the Whipsnade wolves represent the remnant of the original stock, and thus as European as Grey Squirrels....
I am aware that the earlier Whipsnade wolves were hybrids.
My understanding, according to the Zoo Life magazine that I mentioned in an earlier post, is that the newly imported timber wolves from Canada were housed in the (then) new Wolf Wood while the hybrid wolves remained in their old accommodation.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
There is a photo of Brindled Gnu in Michael Chinery's "Life in the Zoo", published in 1976; this shows the animals in Hallcraft Paddock, ie where the Scimitar-horned Oryx are now kept. The 1972/3 guidebook shows that gnu were kept there at that time, as well.
Agreed; brindled gnu have been kept in various different paddocks over the years, although Johnstoni did originally ask where they were last kept and I last remember them in the big African paddock.
Sorry I queried your facts. They have extended the rubber flooring both in the New and Old Houses since my last visit, when there was just a small section in each stall in the new House, and the same as your first photo shows for the old yards. I believe the yard behind the new House is bark-chipped/mulched also, as is the one 'in front of/ the gaur side' of the old sheds (if you get my drift.
)I think I must have seen them in there at some time, which is why I mentioned that as a possible location for them.
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
Sorry I queried your facts. They have extended the rubber flooring both in the New and Old Houses since my last visit, when there was just a small section in each stall in the new House, and the same as your first photo shows for the old yards. I believe the yard behind the new House is bark-chipped/mulched also, as is the one 'in front of/ the gaur side' of the old sheds (if you get my drift.
Things can change so quickly! I am there every week and still can't be certain when I say things that they will be correct when I go back!
Yes there is bark on the large yard for the new house, the two yards for the old houses (below the bridge) and the yard on the gaur side, visible/next to the road and leading to that paddock.
It'd be interesting to know how much of a difference the rubber has made, if any.
Incidentally, just to confirm the dates, the ZSL Annual Report for 1974 states that the brindled gnu will be housed in “the new animal house in the African area, which includes the large white rhino paddock”.