Well, the former are not held in any European collections as it is - and the latter in very few indeed. So either would be in short supply.
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo Whipsnade Zoo 2014 #1
- Thread starter BongoHardwood
- Start date
Well, the former are not held in any European collections as it is - and the latter in very few indeed. So either would be in short supply.
I'm with you on the small cats and they wouldn't cost a fortune to accomodate either!
Windsor White Goats at Whipsnade.
Sadly, these goats, which have a very interesting history, look to be in danger of dying out there if only 3 females are left now. In the past Whipsnade used to supply males as regimental mascots I think, but their stock evidently dwindled. A few years ago they obtained a new Billy- I think it had been a 'mascot' goat of the Welsh guards or some other battalion. They publicised it on the website. When I enquired about it on a visit only a few months later I was told he had died, presumably without breeding if there are only three females now(there were four at that time). Evidently they have not tried to replace him and continue breeding.
It wouldn't be hard to replace him or get new ones as the 'wild' goats on the Great Orme in North Wales are from the same stock.
Sadly, these goats, which have a very interesting history, look to be in danger of dying out there if only 3 females are left now. In the past Whipsnade used to supply males as regimental mascots I think, but their stock evidently dwindled. A few years ago they obtained a new Billy- I think it had been a 'mascot' goat of the Welsh guards or some other battalion. They publicised it on the website. When I enquired about it on a visit only a few months later I was told he had died, presumably without breeding if there are only three females now(there were four at that time). Evidently they have not tried to replace him and continue breeding.
It wouldn't be hard to replace him or get new ones as the 'wild' goats on the Great Orme in North Wales are from the same stock.
I do very vaguely remember this building now my memory has been jogged. It seemed to me at the time a very 'poor' relation compared to the richness in London's Parrot House though I was very much aware even then of the differences in what you would see at the two collections.
I don't remember seeing either of these from my childhood. I wonder where they were kept( have I overlooked that somewhere?)
I've seen Pronghorn wild, but would love to see a Chiru!
I think I can just about remember Wildebeest at Whipsnade too.
If my memory is correct the parrot house had small aviaries around the inside of the building and a collection of the old parrot cages on a table down the middle ,just as London did in the fifties..
My earliest guide is undated but admission was 6s 6d except mondays -4s.Isuspect it was after 1968 and before 1971 [decimalization]. List of deer & antelope in the spotters guide ; muntjac, formosan, sika,fallow,swamp,axis hog,red pere david, white-tailed, chinese water deer, moose,reindeer, wapiti . Eland,white-bearded gnu impala,blesbok,brindled gnu,thomson's gazelle and Nilghai. a photo of Bison hill shows 8 bison grazing. the pit for kodiak bears and the barred enclosure for polar bears still were in use The guide book was 2/6d old money. Does that stir some memories
My earliest guide is undated but admission was 6s 6d except mondays -4s.Isuspect it was after 1968 and before 1971 [decimalization]. List of deer & antelope in the spotters guide ; muntjac, formosan, sika,fallow,swamp,axis hog,red pere david, white-tailed, chinese water deer, moose,reindeer, wapiti . Eland,white-bearded gnu impala,blesbok,brindled gnu,thomson's gazelle and Nilghai. a photo of Bison hill shows 8 bison grazing. the pit for kodiak bears and the barred enclosure for polar bears still were in use The guide book was 2/6d old money. Does that stir some memories
My first visit was definitely decimal - 2nd June 1972, when I took a day off from revising for university exams. I remember almost all of those species, except for the white-tailed deer and the white-bearded gnu; I may have seen them but I don't remember them. I do remember being impressed by the European bison and the cape buffalo, but I can't remember whether I saw musk oxen on that visit or not. I never saw the old parrot house and I can't say that I'm sorry about that.
Alan
Very pleasant day at Whipsnade today. Impala and Nilgai looking good - Blesbok and (unsurprisingly) Tommies still hidden away with the Roan/Sitatunga and Bongo Houses closed off.
Good to see a very small Gemsbok calf and now a group of four Gaur, and the Passage Through Asia was looking very nice - the animals were nicely spread out which helped it not look too empty!
Not quite sure why there are now two groups of Ring-tailed Lemurs in a zoo already light on primate species though.
Good to see a very small Gemsbok calf and now a group of four Gaur, and the Passage Through Asia was looking very nice - the animals were nicely spread out which helped it not look too empty!
Not quite sure why there are now two groups of Ring-tailed Lemurs in a zoo already light on primate species though.
The lemur walk-through comprises an all-male group whilst the old squirrel monkey island is a breeding group. I believe the plan is to eventually swap these groups around, and retire the batchelors as the majority of them are quite old!
Hopefully there is a long term plan for the island. I've already stated on this thread what I'd like to see on it, and I certainly think it would lend itself very well to a medium-sized primate if the zoo can sort out the housing!
It is a pain but not impossible. I go there once a year or so by public transport.
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
How quickly the past is hidden!
Right, guys: next time you're there, walk along the raised path between the Brown Bears and the Wolverines. At the end there is a flight of steps. Look right. This was where Ouseley Way ran, and on the other side was Whipsnade's original Wolf Wood, which held a hybrid pack, which were described in Gerald Durrell's "Beasts in My Belfry". In 1953, a new wood was installed, standing where Tiger Falls is today. This held purebred Canadian Timber Wolves, the ancestors of today's pack, despite what the label says...
With the original Wolf Wood dismantled, a range of cat dens was then built. These stood until the late 1980s. The dens were pretty basic and the enclosures could have done with a great deal more height. They held, at one time or another, Serval, Caracal, Eurasian Lynx, Puma, Cheetah, Snow Leopard (the first breeding in the UK occurred there in 1959),Leopard, Jaguar and Spectacled Bear. Most of the cats bred there, as did the bears, although the latter never reared any cubs.
The story goes that a ZooCheck member built along the same lines as Peter Crouch (a very tall soccer player for the benefit of puzzled US posters!
) was photographed leaning across the safety barrier to touch the mesh, and the shot supplied to the local authority. The latter were bound to ask ZSL to do something, and the Society, then stony broke, responded by closing the path. A few years later the dens were demolished. As always, I don't miss the accommodation, but I do mourn the diversity.
Last edited:
How quickly the past is hidden!
This was where Ouseley Way ran, and on the other side was Whipsnade's original Wolf Wood, which held a hybrid pack, which were described in Gerald Durrell's "Beasts in My Belfry". In 1953, a new wood was installed, standing where Tiger Falls is today. This held purebred Canadian Timber Wolves, the ancestors of today's pack, despite what the label says...
With the original Wolf Wood dismantled, a range of cat dens was then built. These stood until the late 1980s. They held, at one time or another, Serval, Caracal, Eurasian Lynx, Puma, Cheetah, Snow Leopard (the first breeding in the UK occurred there in 1959), Jaguar and Spectacled Bear. Most of the cats bred there, as did the bears, although the latter never reared any cubs
The story goes that a ZooCheck member built along the same lines as Peter Crouch (a very tall soccer player for the benefit of puzzled US posters!
I think some of the dens were reconfigured to house the wild boar.
Personally, I don't see any reason why the path couldn't be reopened to an extent-if anything as a pleasantly diverting walk (diverting past the abattoir!). The foundations are still there, just overgrown! Ouseley reservoir still stands too, but does it still serve any purpose?
BongoHardwood
Well-Known Member
There is also still an old cheetah den back there. I know in the grand scheme of things where some exhibits cost millions of pounds that it wouldn't cost that much, but I reckon to make some sort of loop that went round from the back of the bears down to, say next to the lynx or between the lynx and wild boar would be tricky and may mess up keeper access to those enclosures and encroach on space used for other non-animal facilities. Not that it couldn't be done..
IanRRobinson
Well-Known Member
TBH, I'd far sooner have small carnivores than Wild Boar - at any rate in that corner of Whipsnade. The Park really does need to make better use of its woodland, IMO. For that matter, I've never really understood why the Bird Sanctuary can't have some judiciously placed animal enclosures, either.
Agree. As we've mentioned previously there isn't a lot of woodland, at least over the total acreage in use as the Zoo. Its a pity they don't make more use of the woodland areas that they have got, instead of leaving them semi-derelict.
And I was always rather shocked to see the Spectacled Bear pair- the only ones in the UK at the time, in that very poor accomodation. I guess when they left ZSL they had nowhere else suitable to house them.
Last edited:
Good luck with that Ian! The Woodland Walk near the main entrance was closed a few years ago after successive harsh winters, and it doesnt look like it's going to reopen.
A shame really. This was a low cost, and clever, use of space and a pleasant walk away from some of the more noiser areas of the zoo.
This has always seemed to be an issue with Whipsnade I'm afraid. I do feel sorry for those who can't drive. It's not just visitors that miss out, it's the zoo too and the untapped revenue it would bring. I've spoken to many London Zoo regulars who would love to visit, but they just can't!
Considering how much ZSL make a point of unlimited free entry to both sites in their membership schemes, you'd think they'd look into doing something about it. Members Days from/to Regents Park perhaps? A shuttle-bus scheme around the local area would be a start.
Whipsnade by public transport
This topic has been discussed many times in various other threads but, for those living in the London area, it really is not difficult to travel to Whipsnade by public transport. (Obviously for Gary, living in Hampshire, the journey would be less convenient as he would need to catch a train into London first although, for anybody based in London, the journey is actually very easy.)
A fast train from London Euston to Hemel Hempstead takes less than half-an-hour then, from a bus stop directly outside the railway station, it is possible to catch bus X31 that will drop you at the entrance to Whipsnade Zoo. (I travel to Whipsnade via this route many times annually; generally seven or eight times a year.)
Bus X31 runs between Hemel Hempstead and Luton so it is also possible to catch the bus from Luton instead of Hemel Hempstead; again, Luton is an easy train ride from various London railway stations (for example trains from both London Bridge and St. Pancras stop at Luton).
This topic has been discussed many times in various other threads but, for those living in the London area, it really is not difficult to travel to Whipsnade by public transport. (Obviously for Gary, living in Hampshire, the journey would be less convenient as he would need to catch a train into London first although, for anybody based in London, the journey is actually very easy.)
A fast train from London Euston to Hemel Hempstead takes less than half-an-hour then, from a bus stop directly outside the railway station, it is possible to catch bus X31 that will drop you at the entrance to Whipsnade Zoo. (I travel to Whipsnade via this route many times annually; generally seven or eight times a year.)
Bus X31 runs between Hemel Hempstead and Luton so it is also possible to catch the bus from Luton instead of Hemel Hempstead; again, Luton is an easy train ride from various London railway stations (for example trains from both London Bridge and St. Pancras stop at Luton).