ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2025

Bristol Zoo Membership Email received today on cheetah swap with Whipsnade:

We recently welcomed two new cheetah brothers, Boma and Nasir, from Whipsnade Zoo. Boma is named after a national park in South Sudan, and Nasir is an Arabic word meaning warrior.

Five-year-old Boma and Nasir have been busy exploring their new home at Bristol Zoo Project. The cheetahs live in a grassy area designed to represent the savannah, where the species live in the wild. The area is landscaped to give the cheetahs little hillocks to hide behind if they'd like to, and they have platforms to climb and lounge on.

Our previous two cheetahs, Jake and Oscar, have moved to Whipsnade as part of a breeding plan to secure the future of their species. Cheetahs are classed as Vulnerable and are found across Eastern and Southern Africa including in Tanzania, where we work to monitor and protect wildlife.

Make sure to 'spot' Boma and Nasir on your next visit!
 
Bristol Zoo Membership Email received today on cheetah swap with Whipsnade:

We recently welcomed two new cheetah brothers, Boma and Nasir, from Whipsnade Zoo. Boma is named after a national park in South Sudan, and Nasir is an Arabic word meaning warrior.

Five-year-old Boma and Nasir have been busy exploring their new home at Bristol Zoo Project. The cheetahs live in a grassy area designed to represent the savannah, where the species live in the wild. The area is landscaped to give the cheetahs little hillocks to hide behind if they'd like to, and they have platforms to climb and lounge on.

Our previous two cheetahs, Jake and Oscar, have moved to Whipsnade as part of a breeding plan to secure the future of their species. Cheetahs are classed as Vulnerable and are found across Eastern and Southern Africa including in Tanzania, where we work to monitor and protect wildlife.

Make sure to 'spot' Boma and Nasir on your next visit!
So how many Cheetah does this give Whipsnade now - just those two males?

I'm presuming Boma and Nasir who've transferred out were two of the males who arrived from Ireland back in 2022. Looks like they're 'Fred' and 'Robyn', and they've since been re-named by Bristol.
 
So how many Cheetah does this give Whipsnade now - just those two males?

I'm presuming Boma and Nasir who've transferred out were two of the males who arrived from Ireland back in 2022. Looks like they're 'Fred' and 'Robyn', and they've since been re-named by Bristol.

Two out, two in. Two males in total.

Boma and Nasir were Fred and Robyn before being renamed by Bristol. They arrived at Whipsnade from FOTA with their other brother Billy who moved to Edinburgh in March 2025 and retained his name.

Jake and Oscar are not young cats (15 on 28th May 2025) so not sure what the plans would be to add to them for now.
 
Popped up Whipsnade on what was a crazy busy day with school trips.
Few things of note:
The Bongos were mixed together and seemed to be getting on well.
The baby Gemsbok and baby Bkesbok were both out in the field.
The Japanese Crane have had a chick and was very visible near the fence.
The new male Bison was out and it looks so small compared to the others but it is only 18 months old.
Both the male zebra and male blesbok were indoors separated ready for there moves shortly.

The zebra and her foal were using the enclosure opposite the giraffe but separated from the Waterbuck.
 
Fun day at Whipsnade today, definitely pays to take a midweek day off in the school hols! Fairly busy but not madness.

One of the Blue Crane eggs had hatched and a tiny chick was visible, which was lovely to see. The parents were still doting on the other egg, sitting on it then wandering back to it with the chick to gently tap on it; not sure that will hatch too, but will be interesting to see. The chick looked a couple of days old - a complete treat.

Great views of the chick for the Red Crowned Cranes too - a Crane highlight day.

Had good views of the Blesbok and Gemsbok calves who were both out with the herd in Spicer's field as mentioned above. The lion family were having a carcass that had been chained to a tree, which was also quite something to watch in a noisy, fighty, crunchy sort of way.

The Sulawesi Macaques were all outside at the bottom of the enclosure near the viewing platform enjoying the sun - got great views of all the youngsters playing around and the troop then making use of the trees. Great time of year to find them making the most of their space.
 
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