ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2024

Lafone said:
Fun day out at Whipsnade today, weather was very changeable, heavy showers and a bit of sun but it felt quite Spring like temperature wise. Quite a lot of visitors.

Was great to see the young Japanese crane back out in the enclosure opposite the goats after the winter inside. Signage back in place. It seemed intrigued by the Blesbok who were grazing nearby and threw some sticks at them and had a bit of a prance about in the rain, which was interesting to watch.

Good to see the otters back out too as mentioned above. Work in their enclosure while they were out includes some new bark and tidying of the planting, offering good views while preserving their cover. The whole family were out and active.

Work continues in the tiger enclosure, with new frames going up at the front to add to the large new framing in the middle - there are going to be a lot of climbing opportunities when everything is complete. The wooden walkway around the enclosure near the school meeting point has all been removed; assume it will be relaid / reworked and the rotting areas replaced or laid to gravel instead.

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Work has also started on the new covered picnic area (former sealion enclosure).

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The end of the Flamingo enclosure had flooded out at the top and the whole flock were in the flood water area, splashing and bathing right next to the fence, which was great to watch.

The bears were out and very active, chasing around the enclosure and playing in the pond. Cinderella the older bear joined the others for a while, there was some charging and growling between her and one of the newer arrivals and the keepers added some food to calm things down. Cinderella was then separated again with the three new bears in the new enclosure and Cinderella in the main one. Good to see the planned integration coming along as they have been together off and on on my visits before the winter but never consistently. The bears playing in the water and climbing trees drew quite a crowd.

The Scimitar Horned Oryx were in the main enclosure - good to see all of them together...first view of them since before Xmas for me so very enjoyable.

Some new parking signs near the new monkey forest and a 'swing this way' sign on the new path that goes around the langur house.
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Ah so was that new parking being created by the camel house or is it hard standing?
 
ajmcwhipsnade said:
Ah so was that new parking being created by the camel house or is it hard standing?
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Jury remains out I think. The new parking signs are on the road along the side of the Langur and Babirusa enclosure (near the Japanese crane pair). The hard standing looks nearly complete with a temporay wire fence area now further out into the enclosure but it is still unclear what it is for by looking at it.
 
Lafone said:
Jury remains out I think. The new parking signs are on the road along the side of the Langur and Babirusa enclosure (near the Japanese crane pair). The hard standing looks nearly complete with a temporay wire fence area now further out into the enclosure but it is still unclear what it is for by looking at it.
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Ah ok interesting, sure all will be clear soon!
 
Another nice half term vist today, managed to see all 4 red panda this time, 2 of the brown bear were out when we went there around 4pm.
The parking signs referred to earlier in the thread are for parking alongside the babirussa/langur enclosure, they are having issues with people parking further down on the bend by the cafe so they are encouraging people to park further up.
Had a good look at the new monkey forest and I'm wondering if they will put anything in the area leading to it as it's quite a large area to walk with nothing to see(maybe the emu could go back).
And the highlight was seeing a 4 day old langur, had heard a keeper telling someone earlier in the day about it and took 3 separate visits before seeing the tiny orange buddle clinging onto mum indoors.
 
sparkes12 said:
The parking signs referred to earlier in the thread are for parking alongside the babirussa/langur enclosure, they are having issues with people parking further down on the bend by the cafe so they are encouraging people to park further up.
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It’s always intrigued me as to why the zoo have never made more of an issue about advertising the car park at the elephants. It’s enormous, certainly the zoo’s biggest internal car park and I’ve never seen it at full capacity in all my years of visiting (unlike the Cloisters, which is a car insurance nightmare!). However, the phrase “leading a horse to water…” does come to mind.:rolleyes:
 
Members email re opening of the monkey forest on 29/3.

“we're thrilled to announce the opening of Whipsnade Zoo's brand new multi-species habitat, Monkey Forest, opening on 29 March. You're invited to come and explore the new home to some of East Asia's rarest animals and over 50 different species of tree, where you can walk around a forest filled with wildlife.

See macaques and anoa, and langurs and babirusa all living side-by-side in a real jungle environment. With unrivalled viewing areas, Monkey Forest offers a range of opportunities to explore these four species, as well as a nature play trail and interactive areas, all inspired by monkey behaviour, for your own little monkeys to explore too.”
 
Had a nice few hours there today, was very quiet with the odd school party here and there. Few things to note the signs for the bears torpor has been taken down and the 3 were much awake and very active.
The zebra have moved back into the main enclosure and they have been joined by the male all 3 seemed to be getting on fine, the enclosure the male zebra was in has now been given to the Bison giving them 2 large fields to explore.
The male white rhino was showing very brief glimpses of trying to mate but quickly got the cold shoulder.
The end of the Bongo house closest to the rhino house has barriers around it and some black mesh around so not sure if that is for a new arrival or if the stitanga have moved to that end.
Also the indoor porcupine house has had a revamp meaning you can get better views of them(obviously asleep as always).
 
Max Blundell said:
Also it says Whipsnade no longer houses Muntjac.

Considering they’ve always been regarded as one of the “free roaming” group of animals that’s a rather odd statement to make! I always assumed that they were part of the local Downs population. Having said that, they’ve not been as visible on my recent visits as they once were. Now just seems to be Mara and wallabies as free roamers.

Whipsnade Zoo Animals | Whipsnade Zoo
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"Now just seems to be Mara and wallabies as free roamers."

Surely free-ranging Chinese water deer too?
 
Panthera1981 said:
Also it says Whipsnade no longer houses Muntjac. Considering they’ve always been regarded as one of the “free roaming” group of animals that’s a rather odd statement to make! I always assumed that they were part of the local Downs population. Having said that, they’ve not been as visible on my recent visits as they once were. Now just seems to be Mara and wallabies as free roamers.
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Tim May said:
"Now just seems to be Mara and wallabies as free roamers."

Surely free-ranging Chinese water deer too?
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Weren't the peafowl and junglefowl removed purely because of damages to the fox-proof perimeter fencing a few years back, which would imply their absence is only temporary while said fencing awaits restoration? Personally, I am not all that concerned by the absence of the muntjac due to their visual similarities to the water deer, who are, as Tim May states, still present along with the wallabies and mara, but I do think the lack of any free-ranging birds is a very noticeable absence that I hope will be amended in the coming years.
 
Would the lack of free ranging birds be linked to the continual threat of bird flu.
 
My daughter has just got back from Whipsnade and a baby white rhino has been born, she said it didn't look more then a few days old maybe even born today, the house was blocked off but she got a few glimpses, all the other rhino were outside but right outside the entrance to the house clearly interested.

Also she saw what she thinks is a 2nd young Anoa cattle in the Bongo house, she didn't get a clear view but definitely wasn't a Bongo or sitatunga.
 
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