This would be difficult as Whipsnade wouldn't be able to accommodate more than one additional female. Females are highly territorial, and especially with calves, things don't usually end well.
Interesting that the surviving sign on the Tecton elephant house is probably 20 years old!!Had an enjoyable day out at Whipsnade, weather was clear and sunny though Autumn was definitely in the air and the leaves were blowing around in the strong winds at the top of the downs! Lots of animal activity and the zoo was pretty busy up until the early afternoon.
Was fortunate to see feeding time for Czar the Amur tiger which was great as he's been sleeping on most of my recent visits! Everything was outside and up and about apart from the hippos.
Was lovely to continue to follow the progress of the young crane, now nearly as tall as parents, lots more flight feathers and a growing black tail. The young langur is really coming along too.
As reported earlier in the thread the old elephant house has had a coat of paint and it looks much less like a disaster zone.
One of the posters about the elephants moving to their new enclosure has survived and is now the solitary bit of faded colour in the house and a little curiosity to spot in passing;
Saw both red pandas out together but no sign of the cubs however Whipsnade have added a new sign about them to the end of the enclosure furthest from the otters.
As also reported above the sealion enclosure demolition is progressing - the fenced off construction area had four mara in it too, proving the law that Mara find their way into every space in the zoo.
Quite sad to see the demolition many ways but better that than just being boarded up or rotting away. New covered seating is it's future
I did always slightly hope for new animals there but it was never going to be a thing I guess.
Construction has started on the new path to the monkey forest from the restaurant road, cutting across the former enclosure for the emus.
But they did, and there were worse places than Whipsnade!
I actually saw them there when it first opened they had two pairs on show, It looked quite nice at the time but very very small indeed.
I agree with that thoroughly, and hopefully Monkey Valley and the upcoming Reptile House can make up for it to some extent. I remember I once visited shortly after the birth of two sea lion pups, one of which was named Oscar. I was beyond excited to see my first ever pinniped pup, but upon arriving to the zoo and speaking to the keeper, I realised that Oscar had been born several years ago, and already left the zoo, and although there were indeed two (very cute) sea lion pups, the article I was reading was evidently very outdated!
I agree with that thoroughly, and hopefully Monkey Valley and the upcoming Reptile House can make up for it to some extent. I remember I once visited shortly after the birth of two sea lion pups, one of which was named Oscar. I was beyond excited to see my first ever pinniped pup, but upon arriving to the zoo and speaking to the keeper, I realised that Oscar had been born several years ago, and already left the zoo, and although there were indeed two (very cute) sea lion pups, the article I was reading was evidently very outdated!
Regrettably I think you're wrong to describe Whipsnade's breeding record for bottle-nosed dolphin as "decent".
The main 2 pools would be no more than holding pools today, It must have been a poor understanding of the Dolphins requirements back in the day.
The Whipsnade Dolphinarium was constructed in 1972. As you say, it was originally called the Water Mammals Building and has only exhibited bottle-nosed dolphins and California sealions.
No the Whipsnade dolphins were not confined to the outdoor pool; they could sometimes be seen indoors and underwater viewing was provided for the dolphins too.