Had a lovely day at Whipsnade today, weather was chilly but there was a decent amount of sun. Not too busy visitor wise and there was an exodus after about 3pm which made for a quiet last few hours until closing time. The bird show was in full swing with three sessions in the day and a good variety of birds flying. The kookaburras in the former Saki monkey aviary are part of the display and are being trained to fly back to the enclosure after the show (which they did with a bit of encouragement). It was mentioned they were still spending a little time in the bird garden but the intention is they are in the aviary full time but going out for their regular flying sessions etc. The African dogs were signed as off show. The red crowned cranes were sitting on a new nest and signs for nesting were in place both on their enclosure and the wattled cranes, though the latter were wandering around together with no nest visible. Last time they signed this on the cranes we had a chick so hopefully bodes well. The red crowned cranes swapped sitting duty while I was there after the keepers arrived with some food and there were at least two eggs on the nest which was awesome to see. Hopefully we might have another crane chick/s which would be an excellent result. The nest is visible this year too (you can see the male crane sitting on it beyond the sign in this not very lovely iphone picture). It was also confirmed the young red crowned crane from last year is still at the zoo, but is off show. The Barisinga were back in the enclosure with the Hog deer and the signage updated accordingly. Made more things for the cheetahs to look at so they were active, particularly at the end of the day. Had good views of most of the other animals including the young rhino. Only six otters were out playing together and Carol (mother to all the pups) seemed to be absent the couple of times I passed by, perhaps she was elsewhere or was out of the enclosure temporarily. The young meerkats were venturing out into the enclosure and were playing about They were fed not long before closing, along with the aardcarks..good time to see the smaller animals who live around the lion area. The wild boar family were back in their enclosure near the Lynx after wintering in part of the Gaur enclosure and their signage was also back in place
Wonder why the African dogs were offshow ? have they finally got pups? As we visited 1st April and I couldn’t see which hunting dog it was kept wandering all around into the next door enclosure and into the house and back out whilst the other hunting dog watched on..
They did have 2 females in the 2023 inventory and then there were all the issues, but the 2024 inventory recorded one male one female in Jan, unless something has changed recently. https://cms.whipsnadezoo.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/Whipsnade stocklist 2024.pdf
The keeper in October 2023 said they had the three males arrive earlier in 2023 and she was in charge one male one female hunting dog, so they had hoped there would be pups, to build a natural family that could co habit happily.
The mix changed when some of the dogs were killed during the introduction to the new arrivals. However the inventory numbers are reliable, unless something changed since Jan.
Birth of 0.0.5 Oxford Sandy and Black Pigs, a rare Domestic Pig breed. Whipsnade Zoo on Instagram: "Five special piglets Our Oxford sandy and black pigs are one of the rarest animals we have at the Zoo. These little piglets are a part of a conservation programme for UK native livestock, helping us safeguard one of the oldest pigs breeds in Britain. #Pig #WhipsnadeZoo"
Had a pleasant few hours up at whipsnade today, was quite busy for a midweek day with school trips a plenty. The Langurs were making great use of the outdoor enclosure and seeing the baby off the mum for the first time was super cute, the anoa cattle has now moved into the middle area part of the enclosure, not sure if it was mixed with the macaques as they were all inside(which they have been on 5 out of 6 vists I've had). There was a travel crate in with the porcupine so presuming one of them is on the move shortly. Interesting that there was alot of work going on removing barriers from the old elephant encounter area next to the chimps, maybe something going in there? Also signs saying hunting dogs off show were still posted, however I saw them both in a small outdoor area.
I don't represent the media I am afraid and have no 'daggers' out for anyone. As for the issues with animal introductions, among hunting dogs for example, they are well documented and while it was very sad, these are wild animals, not pets.
I, the tenth dentist Domestic animals aren't inherently more or less aggressive than wild originators. If raised in captivity the originators can display traits more or less those of wild counterparts. With dogs admittedly breeds are variable; but several breeds I would say are capable of just as much bad behaviour as any wild dog.
No one suggested you had anything to do with the media... No one suggested that Hunting Dogs were pets... I was simply reflecting on the way media handled two stories in different zoos following the introduction of wild animals - one with the deaths you reported, and the second with a few scratches...
I'd be of the view that most of the reporting around Jersey has less do with animals than with the human drama playing out there.
Whatever your view might or might not be, doesn't seem to have influenced the choice of photos used to support the headlines.
It would be hard for my view to influence what the media do. However they will choose the most dramatic pictures, to cater for people with 2 second attention spans. I don't find that surprising. Neither do I admire it.
The two African Hunting dogs were eating outside yesterday. Good to see the elephants enjoying their outside pool. Good to see the young and very young langur .
Had a great day at Whipsnade again today. Here are all the observations I noticed: A new Yak calf has been born, unfortunately I don't know when it was born but it was really tiny. Nice to see the very young Francois Langur, it was clinging to mum in the indoor exhibit. Half of the Zebra/ Waterbuck paddock was fenced off. There is a sign saying that work is being done on the fencing. The animals are on the house side of the paddock. I only saw 2 Western Sitatunga (1 male and 1 female) in the Bongo/ Sitatunga paddock. I wonder what has happened to the other 2 as the 2024 inventory lists 4 individuals. It was nice to see the lone male Bongo out in the afternoon. Finally saw the elusive Blackbuck. I have now seen and photographed every Ungulate at Whipsnade. Overall a nice day out.
