ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo 2020

Sam Norris said:
Hi everyone,

After a visit a few years ago to Whipsnade, my girlfriend and I’s favourite giraffe was Willow. However after returning to the zoo the other day, we were sad to see he was no longer there. Does anyone happen to know what happened to him?

Thanks in advance :)
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Willow was the female offspring of Uno and Savannah. Sadly I believe she inherited much of the issues that plagued her father Uno and died a few years ago.
 
The white rhino house was taped off and a rhino transport lorry has just arrived. I over heard from keepers that it is a two year old female. Unfortunately I do not know where it was from.
 
Michael Edrupt said:
The white rhino house was taped off and a rhino transport lorry has just arrived. I over heard from keepers that it is a two year old female. Unfortunately I do not know where it was from.
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They could do with getting a new breeding Bull in-there was a time when they bred like rabbits! The last White rhino birth must be over 10 years ago now.
 
Panthera1981 said:
They could do with getting a new breeding Bull in-there was a time when they bred like rabbits! The last White rhino birth must be over 10 years ago now.
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2008, I think. Whipsnade has bred over fifty since the 1970s - I suspect most of these were in the days when the herd numbered over 20 animals. Would be lovely if they could start breeding them again (and, ideally, bring in some black rhino too!).
 
Visited today at 2pm, early tickets sold out. It was as packed as most bank holiday weekends!
Sorry to report
Still 2 preswalki horse in former kudu/impala paddock opp hippo

Grevys Zebra next to bison

Hog deer around 7 in former nilgai paddock at entrance to drive through

Former pond exhibit at top of white rhino exhibit now signed sitaunga and Chinese water deer 3 sitaunga seen

As previously mentioned 2 wild boar in smaller ex rrh enclosure

Add yak in ex onager paddock and there is a bit of a theme here.......

The drive through appeared fairly empty!

On another matter, I saw a muntjac in the Indian rhino paddock today!
 
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Tim May said:
Indeed I think that the last white rhino births at Whipsnade were on 28th December 2007 and 7th March 2008.

I think that 55 have been born there in total
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Whipsnade zoo use to take great pride in their White rhino herd are they heading down the same road as London zoo now?
 
Tim May said:
Indeed I think that the last white rhino births at Whipsnade were on 28th December 2007 and 7th March 2008.

I think that 55 have been born there in total
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Zorro said:
Whipsnade zoo use to take great pride in their White rhino herd are they heading down the same road as London zoo now?
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57 Southern white rhinoceros have been bred at Whipsnade Zoo between 1971 and 2008. I've seen this trend at a few zoos. A zoo is one of the first holders in the region and breeds multiple offspring over the first few decades; then in present day, there are many holders and they breed as sporadically as everyone else - while still riding the achievement of what they bred decades ago. Adelaide Zoo do it with Asian small-clawed otter; Perth Zoo with Sumatran orangutan; Taronga Zoo with Sumatran tiger and Nepalese red panda.

Looking at the four females in their present herd - Clara (1981) has produced three calves to date - 2000, 2005 and 2008; while Mikumi (1990) has produced four calves in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Clara (aged 39 years) is getting on in her years (though dams as old as 42 are recorded in the studbook); but Mikumi and the two younger females - aged 22 and 13 should yield better results. Their bull is even recorded in the studbook as one of the most prolific breeders (having sired 15 calves), so we know he's not the issue. Perhaps the younger cows are suffering from estrus suppression from Clara (the dominant female)?
 
Zoofan15 said:
57 Southern white rhinoceros have been bred at Whipsnade Zoo between 1971 and 2008. I've seen this trend at a few zoos. A zoo is one of the first holders in the region and breeds multiple offspring over the first few decades; then in present day, there are many holders and they breed as sporadically as everyone else - while still riding the achievement of what they bred decades ago. Adelaide Zoo do it with Asian small-clawed otter; Perth Zoo with Sumatran orangutan; Taronga Zoo with Sumatran tiger and Nepalese red panda.

Looking at the four females in their present herd - Clara (1981) has produced three calves to date - 2000, 2005 and 2008; while Mikumi (1990) has produced four calves in 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2005. Clara (aged 39 years) is getting on in her years (though dams as old as 42 are recorded in the studbook); but Mikumi and the two younger females - aged 22 and 13 should yield better results. Their bull is even recorded in the studbook as one of the most prolific breeders (having sired 15 calves), so we know he's not the issue. Perhaps the younger cows are suffering from estrus suppression from Clara (the dominant female)?
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The White rhino herd use to be a showpiece at Whipsnade when the 1970 import of 20 animals arrivedfrom South Africa to join the zoos pair made up a huge herd in a 30 acre paddock with the railway running into the paddock taking passages for a close up look at them, the railway was later extended to run all the way though and out the other side to then join up into a loop which is now seen today. I was a little surprised the Black rhino were dropped after being in the collection there for some time when they were not that common in UK zoo collections.
 
Zorro said:
The White rhino herd use to be a showpiece at Whipsnade when the 1970 import of 20 animals arrivedfrom South Africa to join the zoos pair made up a huge herd in a 30 acre paddock with the railway running into the paddock taking passages for a close up look at them, the railway was later extended to run all the way though and out the other side to then join up into a loop which is now seen today. I was a little surprised the Black rhino were dropped after being in the collection there for some time when they were not that common in UK zoo collections.
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I can remember the White rhino herd very well. You could still pick out the original pair as they were among the biggest of the 22 and still moved around the paddock together. I think like many zoos, 'new' exhibits don't last forever and over time the group slowly dwindled, plus finding homes for all the calves produced might have got more difficult too.

Regarding the Black Rhinos, its strange they went out of them as for a long time they were the only zoo in the UK exhibiting three species. But after the breeding pair of Bwana and Mama came to an end, subsequent attempts to revive breeding with Emma( or was it Esther) from Chester and then a female(Sawa?) from Berlin failed as these females both died there. So they seemed to give up at that point, returning the last animal Quinto, to Chester I believe.
 
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TBH: the biggest error of judgement in my humble opinion was allowing the black rhino to leave ZSL / London Zoo where their house and surroundings never ever recovered their former glory days long before Whipsnade ended up with a breeding pair.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
TBH: the biggest error of judgement in my humble opinion was allowing the black rhino to leave ZSL / London Zoo where their house and surroundings never ever recovered their former glory days long before Whipsnade ended up with a breeding pair.
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London and Whipsnade had breeding pairs almost simultaneously; Paul and June at London, Bwana Mkubwa(Big Master) and Mama Kidogo(Little Mother) at Whipsnade. Both cows produced around five calves each, and ,although most of them were reared, nearly all those sent to other zoos later died. After Paul died at London Zoo, the last three calves there from June, were fathered by Bwana who was sent from Whipsnade and returned on several occassions, being used with the females at both zoos.
 
Tim May said:
I think that 55 have been born there in total
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Zoofan15 said:
57 Southern white rhinoceros have been bred at Whipsnade Zoo between 1971 and 2008....
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Re the slight discrepancy between our figures for the total number of white rhinoceros births at Whipsnade:-

Whipsnade stated that the calves born on 28th December 2007 and 7th March 2008 were, respectively, the 54th and 55th to be born at Whipsnade. This is why I posted that there were 55 births in total. (I deliberately ignored the stillborn calf on 25th March 2008.)

After reading your post that there were 57 births in total, I consulted the studbook and agree that there are 57 births listed at Whipsnade (including the last stillbirth).

So even, counting the last stillbirth, there still seems to be a discrepancy of one.
 
@Pertinax, I am - of course - acutely aware of their history prior to the last pairing at Whipsnade Zoo. I just meant overall the decision to stop exhibiting black rhino in the city environment was and is a very deplorable one. My mind really still boggles over it.

This as well as the very fact that the Casson Building has looked out of place out of touch with the 21st Century sitting almost empty inside. A blissful concrete phantasy yearning for a modern day and age animal exhibit hall.
 
Tim May said:
Re the slight discrepancy between our figures for the total number of white rhinoceros births at Whipsnade:-

Whipsnade stated that the calves born on 28th December 2007 and 7th March 2008 were, respectively, the 54th and 55th to be born at Whipsnade. This is why I posted that there were 55 births in total. (I deliberately ignored the stillborn calf on 25th March 2008.)

After reading your post that there were 57 births in total, I consulted the studbook and agree that there are 57 births listed at Whipsnade (including the last stillbirth).

So even, counting the last stillbirth, there still seems to be a discrepancy of one.
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Interesting, Tim. Perhaps another late abortion or stillbirth since (I am pretty sure that Whipsnade registrars know their records well)?
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
TBH: the biggest error of judgement in my humble opinion was allowing the black rhino to leave ZSL / London Zoo where their house and surroundings never ever recovered their former glory days long before Whipsnade ended up with a breeding pair.
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I agree I believe the management over the years could of done a lot better
 
An Italian zoo, Parco Natura Viva, has reported 3 Amur tiger cubs born on 3 June and names the the father as Botsman. Is this Botzman from Whipsnade? And has Naya also moved on?

On the reference to zoo animals having 'pet names' - such as, for the sake of example, calling a Cheetah 'Barney' - I would ask whatever happened to recognizing individuality or helping to build relationships between keepers and the kept to improve husbandry and health monitoring? Not to mention creating an identity to engage the visiting public, thereby raising awareness of conservation efforts. And then there's also the publicity and fund-raising opportunities created by naming competitions. Still, if a zoo wants to be strictly scientific and not pander to sentiment then, yes, 'pet names' are something to be sneered at.
 
I know Naya is going to move on so is off show currently, so not to have to deal with her three sons and their dad. As he will also be moving soon too, as whipsnade just wants to keep the three boys for now and put breeding on hold, which I think is such a shame, to a endangered species
 
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