ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 2019

Rosie183 said:
Very sad news? Any ideas why, do you think they will bring more otters in? Or change the exhibit all together
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the 3 otters should never have been sent by London. all were old and had chronic health issues, but as always happens they were dumped at WZ rather than London making sensible humane decisions. well done WZ for taking the tough but correct choice and thumbs down to London.
 
Rosie183 said:
That’s fine as originally their was five. I just hope they can bring a male in so they can breed and settle the pack dynamics better x
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a male wont settle the pack, getting rid of 3 females will settle the pack. zsl need to accept that with all these social carnivores ( dogs, oters, merrkats etc) you need to start with a pair, not a group which London has discarded for convenience. a breeding pair will grow into a group more eadily, but there will always be individuals which are not accepted and a plan must be in place before this happens
 
monster said:
the 3 otters should never have been sent by London. all were old and had chronic health issues, but as always happens they were dumped at WZ rather than London making sensible humane decisions. well done WZ for taking the tough but correct choice and thumbs down to London.
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A low-cost renovation to house something like a tamarin or marmoset species would work well here, but I personally wouldnt miss this enclosure if the zoo decided to get rid of it. It's looked incredibly tired for many years now even when the otters were there!
 
Panthera1981 said:
A low-cost renovation to house something like a tamarin or marmoset species would work well here, but I personally wouldnt miss this enclosure if the zoo decided to get rid of it. It's looked incredibly tired for many years now even when the otters were there!
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I agree. but the trouble is, that is the same for lots of WZs enclosures. most actually need demolishing and building again from scratch not patching up purely to hold a species which they werent built for ( rr hogs, sloth bear, lynx, lemurs etc etc). the income for zsl was over 70 million last year it is time they started to invest in the infrasyructure of the zoos and not simply employing more and more office based staff in unecessary positions
 
monster said:
the 3 otters should never have been sent by London. all were old and had chronic health issues, but as always happens they were dumped at WZ rather than London making sensible humane decisions. well done WZ for taking the tough but correct choice and thumbs down to London.
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That seems an incredibly harsh statement.
Seems to me that the Whipsnade Otter exhibit was empty after the previous otter colony had expired , prepared for reuse and the remaining London otters were moved there , the London enclosure worked upon and the two new otters gradually introduced there once they arrived.
Health an welfare assessments on animals in the spring/early summer may differ from those made in the autumn/winter. The next decision is where Zsl goes next with the otters and the now presumably vacant otter island at Whipsnade. Managing aging and declining group sizes in animals will always be a challenge. I think in this case the zoos seem to have handled it sensibly with due regard to animal welfare,
Just my opinion.
 
tennisfan said:
That seems an incredibly harsh statement.
Seems to me that the Whipsnade Otter exhibit was empty after the previous otter colony had expired , prepared for reuse and the remaining London otters were moved there , the London enclosure worked upon and the two new otters gradually introduced there once they arrived.
Health an welfare assessments on animals in the spring/early summer may differ from those made in the autumn/winter. The next decision is where Zsl goes next with the otters and the now presumably vacant otter island at Whipsnade. Managing aging and declining group sizes in animals will always be a challenge. I think in this case the zoos seem to have handled it sensibly with due regard to animal welfare,
Just my opinion.
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what part of moving three getiatric, non breeding, animals with ongoing serious health issues was handled sensibly? do you honestly think that all three of these degenerated significantly between departing London and their euthanasia? they all had chronic, painful conditions and the added stress of movement would not have helped. the himane approach would have been to euthanase at London, but of course they simply wanted them out of the way and somebody else to take responsibility. it is not the first time.
 
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monster said:
I agree. but the trouble is, that is the same for lots of WZs enclosures. most actually need demolishing and building again from scratch not patching up purely to hold a species which they werent built for ( rr hogs, sloth bear, lynx, lemurs etc etc). the income for zsl was over 70 million last year it is time they started to invest in the infrasyructure of the zoos and not simply employing more and more office based staff in unecessary positions
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Oh come on .... Talk of priorities, I think we can largely all agree that what ZSL need more than anything else right now is another beautiful crazy golf course , right smack in the middle of the London zoo :rolleyes:
 
the otters that came to Whipsnade were cared for well and were extremely active the few times I actually saw them. This probably is not helpful but just wanted to say.
 
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monster said:
whats the point if a new male rhino when whipsnades cows are past breeding? behan will have her final calf soon, beluki has nit cycled for years. new females would be more important. not really a good area for asian rhinos anyway.
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Do we know that behan is defiantly pregnant then?
 
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