ZSL Whipsnade Zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo News 2025

Panthera1981 said:
A remarkable age for a chimp, and a somewhat significant endnote for ZSL: afaik Koko was the last surviving chimpanzee kept at London Zoo before the Sobel Pavilions were demolished to make way for Gorilla Kingdom in the mid-00’s. Chimpanzees can be quite a “marmite” species for some people, but I always found Koko to be a very pleasant individual. I believe she was also a favourite of ex-ZSL boss David Field, who always sought her out on his visits.

With the recent premature passing of Bashu, it’s not been a pleasant few weeks for Whipsnade.
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Koko was the only surviving offspring of the splendid male, Pepe, whom I remember well at Dudley zoo. Sadly she didn't breed and so continue his line. But sad for Whipsnade too. Now reduced to just four chimpanzees.
 
Koko’s passing is now being covered by the local news feeds. The BBC story is particularly useful as it provides a link for anyone unaware of the time she escaped her enclosure, along with Johnnie, in 2007 (I remember it well, hard to believe this happened nearly 20 years ago!)
 
Possibly quite a random question:

Does anybody know anymore about the two lynxes? I believe they're sisters (Amber and Ruby), and there was a third sister(?). Just curious about where they came from, where the third sister went, whether there's any more to know.
 
JoB198 said:
Possibly quite a random question:

Does anybody know anymore about the two lynxes? I believe they're sisters (Amber and Ruby), and there was a third sister(?). Just curious about where they came from, where the third sister went, whether there's any more to know.
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They are brothers, born in 2013 to Maja (mum) and Timo. I can't recall where Opal went but someone will know I am sure.
 
JoB198 said:
Stocklist says two females?

Were they born at Whipsnade?
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You're right no idea why I thought they were male, saw them as youngsters and yes they were, was a litter of three. There was a litter of two before them iirc and this was the second litter.

Edited to add I'd forgotten the names of the previous two but remembered some sort of cartoon, looked them up and as it turns out, Rhubarb and Custard.

There's a video of the previous litter here

 
Lafone said:
You're right no idea why I thought they were male, saw them as youngsters and yes they were, was a litter of three. There was a litter of two before them iirc and this was the second litter.
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Was concerned I'd been misgendering them for 2 years!

I didn't realise the lynx had been there that long. I think there was a big gap in my zoo visiting history as I still refer to it as 'where the cheetahs were'.
 
JoB198 said:
Was concerned I'd been misgendering them for 2 years!

I didn't realise the lynx had been there that long. I think there was a big gap in my zoo visiting history as I still refer to it as 'where the cheetahs were'.
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Yes there's a useful shot of the enclosure in 2010 here, looks rather better now lol

full
 
Chilly visit today but some nice spots:
- female GOH rhino was out in her paddock - constantly checking whether she could go back inside, but would then return to a pile of hay for a bit. To be fair, it was cold!
- 2 female zebras are now sharing a paddock
- rabbits are now sharing the goat walk through on the farm
- the babirusa from London are visible in a little triangular paddock between the langurs and the anoa - my guess is they're letting them acclimatise to the langurs as I've seen them physically ride the previous babirusa, and these new ones have never seen monkeys before!
- a flock of white-faced whistling ducks were part of the finale of the bird show today (the final show until next March)
 
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