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Howletts Wild Animal Park Howletts news

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by CZJimmy, 31 Jul 2009.

  1. CZJimmy

    CZJimmy Well-Known Member

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  2. docend24

    docend24 Well-Known Member

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    Any news about Brown Hyena cubs?
     
  3. kiang

    kiang Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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  4. foz

    foz Well-Known Member

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    Are there any chance of some silvery gibbons being sent to other zoos aroound the country. I could imagine many zoos wanting to aquire such an endangered species of gibbon as opposed to the lar gibbon.
     
  5. James27

    James27 Well-Known Member

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    Wow that's a lot of gibbons! Gotta love the Aspinall parks :p
     
  6. taun

    taun Well-Known Member

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    When I went earlier this year, there seemed to be a young gibbon in every enclosure! :eek:
     
  7. Jose

    Jose Well-Known Member

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    I have noticed alot of pictures online of pygmy marmosets and other species apparently according to the people who posted the picture held at Howletts or Port lympne. Can anybody confirm whether there are any marmoset or tamarin species at the parks? would be very interesting to find out whether there are any, I remember years ago at Port lympne they kept some very endearing pairs of golden lion tamarins they were kept in the small domed enclosure now occupied by some Margays.

    muchos gracias amigos queridos
     
  8. johnstoni

    johnstoni Well-Known Member

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    Pygmy marmosets were kept at howletts in the 1980s, along with some golden lion tamarins, and I think goeldis monkeys. Some of these, as you say, were kept in the octaganal aviary-style cages that have bamboo growing in them at the top of the monkey woods at Port Lympne. I was not aware margay were now being held here. Last time I saw these cages they held saki monkeys.

    I believe Pygmy marmosets are now held in the discovery building at Port Lympne, and ISIS lists white-lipped tamarins at Howletts.
     
  9. Jose

    Jose Well-Known Member

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    Thankyou friend for the information , its nice to know the parks are now keeping tamarins and marmosets again they are very endearing species. I only found out about the Margays in that enclosure because on a documentary i saw
    where the Aspinall parks sent staff here to Mexico and also to Guatemala and Belize to rescue Margays and bring them back to the United kingdom. I also remember the sakis being kept there in the early 90s , but i always thought that the aviary style enclosure was slightly too small for them , apparently now the last pair of saki monkeys at Howletts have died.
     
  10. johnstoni

    johnstoni Well-Known Member

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    That's interesting, I had assumed all of the Margays at Port Lympne originated from the Ridgeway Trust in Hastings (the original pair loaned to PL were bred at the Trust, which owned 12 Margay at the time), and that their numbers increased through breeding and by taking on any remaining stock when the Trust became an in situ project. When the Ridgeway Trust first imported 'rescued' margay from Belize, much was made of the fact that the few remaining Margay in the UK (I think at Chester, Glasgow, possibly still in the Clore at London at that point, early 90s) were all generic animals. However, none of the animals that have since been exhibited in the UK seem to be listed as subspecific animals, despite the fact that their origins in many case would clearly have been traceable.
     
  11. Jose

    Jose Well-Known Member

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    the ridgeway trust has been very active over the years with rescuing ocelots and margays in central America and Mexico from appalling conditions in captivity , i know some of the margay cats and maybe some
    of the ocelots at port lympne came from the ridgeway trust and those in turn came from some terrible places in belize , guatemala and Mexico, in fact friend i recently thought about contacting the ridgeway trust or Aspinall parks about a terrible zoo i visited in the north of my country which i have posted about in the Mexico forum , but i think maybe it is wishful thinking on my part maybe that the ridgeway trust would help rescue some of the animals held there. what do you think friend?
     
  12. johnstoni

    johnstoni Well-Known Member

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    As far as I know, the Ridgeway Trust only operate in Belize. Maybe you should contact them yourself, people do often get replies. The trust for many years was just run out of a back garden on the outskirts of Hastings. I'm not sure if they still maintain any captive cats, or whether the ex situ project is now their only one. For a while, they ran the Margay EEP, but now I think Shaldon manage this (I could be mistaken). They originally had leopard cats, then ocelots, and finally Margay. Their (out of date) site still lists an ocelot and two Margay.

    There had been plans at one point to open a small cat conservation centre, but these plans never saw fruition.
     
  13. Jose

    Jose Well-Known Member

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    hmmmm im at a loss what to do you stated it right when you said that ridgeway trust only operate within Belize and very rarely guatemala but not in my country and the problem is that exactly, i have contaced several organizations here in DF and they all have their hands full some are indifferent and apathetic about what to be done, i will send an email to the ridgeway trust and i remain hopeful that they can help do something about that cruelty , do you know any other united kingdom charities similar to the ridgeway trust that would be interested in my experiences with this cruelty ? and interested in rehoming animals kept in cruel conditions in Mexico ? thankyou ever so much