Victor » Marwell Wildlife

Victor
10-10-2008

Just having a little browse and came across this...

BBC NEWS | England | Victor the giraffe

10-10-2008

Ah yes, Victor. Probably one of the most noted events in Marwell's history, as the whole world followed his progress: from just a few amused comments at first, turning serious afterwards, with coverage right until the point he died on John Knowle's shoulder.

RIP.

10-10-2008

I believe another Giraffe died the day after Victor did but they managed to keep that quiet.

10-10-2008

hmmm not sure, (goes to think)

11-10-2008

That's quite sad

11-10-2008

Yes, you're right. It was at a Japanese Zoo, but hardly anything was mentioned in global press about it.

11-10-2008

No, I believe another Giraffe at Marwell died the next day....

11-10-2008

Really? Huh, now there's something I didn't know.

11-10-2008

Pretty sure I'm correct. You might be hard put to get confirmation of it now though as it was so long ago. This was just a coincidence, obviously it didn't do the splits like famous Victor.

female giraffe
27-10-2008

Yes, a female giraffe (Domino) died shortly after Victor died from completely un-related causes. She had not been fit for some time; the post mortem revealled tuberculous lesions and the source was thought to have been from when she was in quarantine with an infected lesser kudu. This information and details of subsequent precaution treatment for the remaining giraffe are given in the Mawell Annual Report for 1978. Marwell then had the smallest group of giraffe in it's history 1.2 (the male being Victor's replacement Pedro who came from Belle Vue). The following year a female calf was born that had been sired by Victor.

27-10-2008

Was Domino born at Twycross or was that a completely different Giraffe? I'm sure one of the first calves born at Twycross was called Domino

27-10-2008

Was Domino born at Twycross or was that a completely different Giraffe? I'm sure one of the first calves born at Twycross was called Domino

I believe Domino was one of the original Marwell giraffes imported for when the zoo opened (hence the quarantine) so was not a Twycross animal.

origin of Victor.
27-10-2008

Victor was obtained from Whipsnade Zoo. Not sure if he was born there but most likely as he was named after their curator, Victor Manton.

If Victor was the first replacement male Marwell received, then he was probably responsible for the crossbred status of most of their Giraffe as the Whipsnade /ZSL stock were of mixed race at that time.