ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2024

Kalaw said:
A keeper informed me that the reason for moving the yaks was the arrival of a new bull, appropriately named 'Voldemort,' who managed to bypass the cattle grid and, although I am not sure how, taught the rest of the herd how to do so as well! Personally, I love Passage through Asia - its size, the numbers of the herds, the rolling terrain and the gorgeous pools make it one of the most serene and picturesque drive-throughs in the country, but it lacks the awe factor of other safari parks due to it just being deer, camels and wild horses. I would love to see the yak return, but perhaps even introducing the Indian Gaur (who, as an unrelated side-note, I am delighted to finally see labelled on the map) or Indian Rhinos to the exhibit. The only issue may be that drive-throughs with such large species usually need additional monitoring (such as the tractors found at Longleat and Woburn used to chase off rhinos that stray too close to cars), which ZSL may not like the idea of. It won't exactly have the same awe as rhinos or gaur, but in terms of interesting species I would love to see the Persian Onager return! I like Passage as it is, but I do feel as though with a little improvement such as that it can become one of the UK's very best zoo exhibits, and it seems to fall somewhat short of its potential at the moment...
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I have recollection of a young male Rhino being kept in the second part of the passage along with the camels etc. But this was probably 30 or so years ago!

I don’t believe the Onager were ever in the drive thru, I remember them in the current yak paddock and originally the paddock where monkey forest is now
 
ajmcwhipsnade said:
I have recollection of a young male Rhino being kept in the second part of the passage along with the camels etc. But this was probably 30 or so years ago!

I don’t believe the Onager were ever in the drive thru, I remember them in the current yak paddock and originally the paddock where monkey forest is now
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Interesting to hear about the rhinos - I wasn't aware of that.

You are correct that the onagers were never kept in Passage - when I say 'return,' I was merely referencing their return to Whipsnade as a whole, and I was simply suggesting that, with their former enclosure now occupied, Passage may be a good location for them should they do so.

I think it is a real shame that Onagers are such a rarity in the UK these days - although they lack the conservational significance, which is likely why zoos have chosen to focus on alternatives, I have always found them much more interesting than the likes of Somali Wild Ass and Przewalski's Wild Horse, who, especially the latter, are much more widespread in captivity. That said, on my last visit to Whipsnade, the horses have been more lively and entertaining than onagers have ever been from my experience!
 
Kalaw said:
Interesting to hear about the rhinos - I wasn't aware of that.

You are correct that the onagers were never kept in Passage - when I say 'return,' I was merely referencing their return to Whipsnade as a whole, and I was simply suggesting that, with their former enclosure now occupied, Passage may be a good location for them should they do so.

I think it is a real shame that Onagers are such a rarity in the UK these days - although they lack the conservational significance, which is likely why zoos have chosen to focus on alternatives, I have always found them much more interesting than the likes of Somali Wild Ass and Przewalski's Wild Horse, who, especially the latter, are much more widespread in captivity. That said, on my last visit to Whipsnade, the horses have been more lively and entertaining than onagers have ever been from my experience!
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Ah sorry I misunderstood about the Onager!

I think the young male was kept there as there wasn’t room in the original Rhino enclosure and house (now warty pigs). I think I also remember him being in what became the elephant house before viewing was restricted to the new one. I think he was quite a boisterous young rhino!
 
Noticed on the zoo's socials they are incubating a wattled crane egg off show. Last time I visited one of the wattled cranes had moved down (signed) to the aviary area in the enclosure next to the road opposite the farm, perhaps in anticipation.

Would be great to have another crane chick this year after the successful red crowned crane last year.
 
Pertinax said:
I believe the Nilgai actually died out at one stage and then fresh stock were added around the same time as the female Blackbuck....
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Yes Whipsnade's nilgai died out in 2008; a new stock of nilgai was then acquired when the antelope collection was enriched about 2013/4. Around this time, Thomson's gazelle, impala, blesbok and blackbuck were also added to the collection.
 
ajmcwhipsnade said:
I have recollection of a young male Rhino being kept in the second part of the passage along with the camels etc. But this was probably 30 or so years ago!

I don’t believe the Onager were ever in the drive thru, I remember them in the current yak paddock and originally the paddock where monkey forest is now
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Pretty sure I remember rhinos being in the enclosure alongside the railway tracks too in the 80s?
 
polarbear said:
Pretty sure I remember rhinos being in the enclosure alongside the railway tracks too in the 80s?
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The Whipsnade train used to run through the paddock where the white rhinoceros herd was kept.

I think "ajmcwhipsnade" was referring to a young Indian rhino.
 
Tim May said:
Yes Whipsnade's nilgai died out in 2008; a new stock of nilgai was then acquired when the antelope collection was enriched about 2013/4. Around this time, Thomson's gazelle, impala, blesbok and blackbuck were also added to the collection.
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Wow! Sounds like quite a few interesting antelope. The blesbok is the only species mentioned in this post I saw last week in my visit.
 
Should Onager ever return, based on their reputation I doubt they’ll be housed in Passage thru Asia. The last group, particularly the stallion, had a habit of killing anything that entered their paddock!
 
Tim May said:
Yes Whipsnade's nilgai died out in 2008; a new stock of nilgai was then acquired when the antelope collection was enriched about 2013/4. Around this time, Thomson's gazelle, impala, blesbok and blackbuck were also added to the collection.
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ajmcwhipsnade said:
The Gazelle and Impala are unfortunately no longer at the Zoo. The impala lasted a while but sadly the gazelles didn’t
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Where in the zoo were the Impala and Thomson’s Gazelle kept? I strangely have no memory of them, which is unfortunate as they are both entirely absent from the UK and, in the case of the gazelle, a major rarity at zoos in general that I may not get the chance to see again for some time.
 
Kalaw said:
Where in the zoo were the Impala and Thomson’s Gazelle kept? I strangely have no memory of them, which is unfortunate as they are both entirely absent from the UK and, in the case of the gazelle, a major rarity at zoos in general that I may not get the chance to see again for some time.
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The impala were opposite the hippos where the Oryx are now and then they moved to the hog deer paddock alongside the cheetahs.

The gazelles were in a small offshow area in the bongo house on the far side so you couldn’t really see them. I took a really poor photo and put it in the gallery here
 
The impala were a very impressive batchelor group. They lasted significantly longer than the gazelles, which were intended to share the bongo paddock. Frustratingly, for the brief time they were there, they did breed.
 
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