What a great shot. One of Whipsnade's most completely overlooked herds as they aren't really on exhibit. I'm actually surprised they still have them really.
Nice though it may be to have two colour phases of a species that can be seen wild on the nearby Ashridge Estate, this whole area is crying out for public access to be arranged and housing built for more exotic ungulates. For the current, tentative restoration of Whipsnade's status as one of Europe's great large mammal collections to gather pace, this really needs to happen. This is a marvellous photo, and one that says so much about the park's untapped potential.
Thanks for your comments. They were much closer than usual, and stayed within range for quite a while. Taken from public access area, and they were noticed by quite a number of people in what is usually a fairly quiet spot.
Think you'd need to find a place to relocate the hippo manure recycler first Ian-if the wind's blowing in a certain direction God help you!
No, there are several bucks evident- just starting to grow fresh antlers. You can pick them out by the bumps on their heads(several in the photo's centre for example). But the adult bucks might well have been in their seperate summer party by when this was taken.
