Not only that he has killed another tiger before the one at Knowsley so he better off retired living the solitary life
Tiger killed by mate in front of horrified visitors at Copenhagen Zoo
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2025
- Thread starter Lafone
- Start date
Tiger killed by mate in front of horrified visitors at Copenhagen Zoo
Longleat have announced their first 2 hippos arriving.
Does this mean Whipsnade will go out of hippos completely or update their enclosure for new individuals?
Introducing Lola and Hodor, two of the hippos who will be becoming residents of Half Mile Pond!
Lola, 21, and her son Hodor, eight, were born at Whipsnade Zoo and will be joining us once our new hippo complex is complete, with other hippos due to join the pod.
Want to get to know our upcoming arrivals?
Lola is inquisitive and well-mannered and loves to soak in her pond on a hot day.
Hodor is full of energy and has a big appetite and they both love to eat cabbage!
Work is continuing on the hippo complex, with the roof now in place.
To celebrate the new complex, we’ll be creating a time capsule, and we want your help for what should be included. Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Does this mean Whipsnade will go out of hippos completely or update their enclosure for new individuals?
Introducing Lola and Hodor, two of the hippos who will be becoming residents of Half Mile Pond!
Lola, 21, and her son Hodor, eight, were born at Whipsnade Zoo and will be joining us once our new hippo complex is complete, with other hippos due to join the pod.
Want to get to know our upcoming arrivals?
Lola is inquisitive and well-mannered and loves to soak in her pond on a hot day.
Hodor is full of energy and has a big appetite and they both love to eat cabbage!
Work is continuing on the hippo complex, with the roof now in place.
To celebrate the new complex, we’ll be creating a time capsule, and we want your help for what should be included. Leave your suggestions in the comments.
Well, didn’t see this coming (certainly not both individuals anyway).
Hopefully not, and certainly not Pygmy’s I’d like to think considering the facilities are more than adequate. I’ve certainly heard nothing regarding the long term viability for keeping Common hippo.
So that’s now 2 elephants leaving in the next few months (for completely justifiable reasons) and 2 Common hippo (with questions hanging over replacements).
Wow that's surprising - especially as I only saw a video on the pair on socials a few days ago. Hippos have been a staple of Whipsnade's collection for a long, long time now. It wouldn't feel like Whipsnade without Common Hippos. I'm hoping this will only be a temporary absence within the zoos collection, and that once potential renovations are complete, hippos will return on site.
However I do wonder whether this in preparation for receiving a mate for Tapon as has been the plan for a while now. I wouldn't mind seeing the current complex being a breeding complex for Pygmy Hippos.
I guess one or other of them was likely(?) to move on if breeding were to happen again (and bring in another mate) but didn't expect both. Quite sad, actually. Leaves just Tapon up there on his own, so hopefully there are some bigger plans - either breeding pygmies or commons. There's a vast amount of outdoor space at the very least (are there off-show indoor areas too?)
Whipsnade has been exhibiting common hippos conntinuously ever since the famous “Henry” and “Belinda” arrived there in 1950. (“Henry” died in 1993 and “Belinda” died in 1995.)
It would be an extremely sad day should Whipsnade stop keeping common hippos. Let's hope that never happens.
Indeed. One could argue that Common hippo are not just intrinsically linked to Whipsnade’s history (think Henry and Belinda) but also to that of ZSL in general (Obaysch)
It would be a shame that, as the Society enters its bicentennial year, ZSL were to cease keeping Common hippo.
Let’s hope there’s some news soon.
Tim, can you recall the turnaround from Henry and Belinda to Whipsnade acquiring their replacements Ben and Nigna?
Hate to be the omen of bad news but in the separate thread on hippo at whipsnade I made a comment earlier in the year that; during the hippo experience the keeper was very open that the intention in the future was to focus solely on Pygmy.
Issues cited were primarily inadequate housing. Specifically low roofed building that can be damaged by climbing hippos chewing on them.
I know we have suffered from listening to keeper gossip as gospel on this site before but it does rather seem that this “future” vision is coming to fruition sooner rather than later.
For what it’s worth I will also be sad to see common hippo disappear from whipsnade.
Issues cited were primarily inadequate housing. Specifically low roofed building that can be damaged by climbing hippos chewing on them.
I know we have suffered from listening to keeper gossip as gospel on this site before but it does rather seem that this “future” vision is coming to fruition sooner rather than later.
For what it’s worth I will also be sad to see common hippo disappear from whipsnade.
I also have a nasty feeling this could be the end for Common Hippo at Whipsnade, judging by the fact both animals are set to leave, and not just one of them with an unrelated replacement in the offing. Like others have said, it would be end of an era if correct but the information you have does strike true.
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Lafone
Well-Known Member
Shame the hippos are moving I would hope Whipsnade doesn't go out of them but it might be with the intention to breed given they can't do that with Lola and Hodor. It's a bit too early for doom and gloom in my view but that's where nearly any move or news at ZSL usually starts I suppose. But something else will hopefully come about and if they did breed Pygmies well that would be a bonus. It is a pity if we no longer have both species.
On the bright side, a really nice place to send Lola and Hodor.
Lafone
Well-Known Member
I think you must make quite an effort to dislike ZSL, personally I think life is too short to be miserable about anything that ever happens in any zoo.
It’s these sort of comments that make me really dislike this site at times. There have been plenty of great news stories, births, arrivals, conservation work. To claim it’s a constant stream of bad news is ridiculous imo.
But Whipsnade could breed with either one of them plus an unrelated partner. It's not keeping one of them that makes me fear this may be true.
I think both "Henry" and "Belinda" were still alive when "Ben" and "Nigna" were aquired from Chessington, so their replacements were already on site.
People are allowed to be disappointed when ZSL loses a major attraction such as common hippos. I really don’t make much of an effort to be miserable about it when they make it so easy!
Of course, I’m being facetious there. But please don’t instruct me on how miserable I should or should not be feeling.
In my experience Zoochat is one of the least confrontational sites on the internet, and compared to the doom and gloom of basically every other public forum what I’ve said is quite tame I’m afraid. I was being flippant, and that’s all good news. But when was the last time ZSL added a species of the magnitude they’re losing here?
Rajang-GOAT
Well-Known Member
For example, there have been seven successful Asian elephant births at Whipsnade since summer 2008...
If I'm not mistaken, does the Pygmy hippo enclosure at Whipsnade not already contain two outdoor paddocks? If so, I think it's already a warranted breeding facility (given there have been previous births there) and adding the more open Common hippo paddocks would perhaps be of a less significant benefit. However they would add a fair bit space wise.
I get the impression this move is more for moving Common hippos out of the zoo than freeing up space for their smaller cousins, for whatever mix of reasons they are being moved on.
Perhaps there could be chance for a return of the species in a brand new exhibit later down the line if the current space is not ideal for them?