I've just got back from spending a lovely day at Hamerton Zoo Park. Got there at about 10.45 and was determined to spot as many new species for myself as possible. I left at 3 and managed to avoid the rain all day! It was my first time visiting Hamerton but i'd been wanting to visit for a long while due to the unusual species they keep, some i've never seen before. First thoughts were that it feels your walking around a private collection with the wood and mesh enclosures. Even though it is a small collection it is well spaced out but at the same time you dont have to go far to the next enclosure. The main species i wanted to see where the Aardwolf, Black Backed Jackal, Mountain Viscacha and Oncilla. I managed to see every mammal they had (not including quarrantined animals) apart from the Oncilla (which i desperatly kept going back to view) and also spotted most of the brilliant bird collection including the Two-wattled Cassowary. Pros- A lovely collection which chooses to have some very rare species instead of the usual ABC's. Nice Surroundings and the fact there wasnt hundreds of people there! (good for me, not so good for them). They also had alot of the same species in different breeding groups on show and off show throughout the zoo which reminded me of Port Lymphe. From what i was told by keepers they bred the majority of the animals regularly including cheetah, Collared Lemur, Maned Wolf and Corsac Fox to name a few. The looks to be plenty of room for expansion and with their choice of unusual animals i would love to see what they could do if they had more money coming in. Cons- Some of the enclosures looked a bit worn and looked like they could do with being rebuilt. By the looks of it they are building more modern enclosures such as Giant Anteater and the new bat house so there may be a change here. This was a big one for me... Whilst they had various signage around the tigers (1 white, 1 normal) explaining that white tigers were just colour morphs of the bengal tiger, telling the story of how they came to appear in zoos and that it is a myth that they are a different species. They also had a sign saying that neither tiger was on contraceptives and could breed if they wished even with a chart pointing out that if they bred the cubs would carrry the white gene and if then bred together would produce white offspring! A bit of news also from various keepers... They have 11 cheetahs in 7 padocks and so this a species that they are looking to specialise in. The Oncilla havent been introduced yet but are coming up for breeding age and will be introduced soon. Ibis are currently on a clutch of 16 eggs! There are a group of 700! Seba's Bat which are going to be moving into the new bat building when it is completed along with a otter enclosure this will be near the Giant Anteater enclosure. Thanks Stu
I thought the Oncilla were some of the last animals to have arrived at Kilverstone, before going to Hamerton, and that by now they must be very old.....I'm guessing that either I'm very wrong, or Hamerton somehow sourced Oncilla after the Kilverstone animals died out?
Thanks for the information, im not sure really as the section keeper told me they havent been introduced and will be now they are breeding range? Another interesting point was that the meerkats in the right handside enclosure looked totaly different to any domestic/generic zoo meerkat ive ever seen. when i asked about it i was told they were one of the last wild caught meerkats out of Africa! I must admit they did look just like the ones on meerkat manor with the thin body, reddish fur and pointy cream faces. would these be the only wild caught meerkats in the UK?
They are, they've only arrived in about the last few (3-5) years. Also, given Kilverstone closed in 1991 (?), they'd be some South American, small mammal, spotted feline, long-living, records breakers!
Wow, I've not seen that in about 5 visits over the last two years, you're lucky there. To be fair, everything they say is correct and educational (compared with some places that claim or imply they're a separate and/or endangered species) and they don't say they're looking to inbreed them to get "Whites".
Yes i know, i kept checking the enclosure every now and then till i saw it. These also havent been introduced yet. I agree it is educational but was just a bit of a let down at the end of all that good info to say that they are not bothered about breeding the tigers even though one is a white. The normal is a circus animal from France so that may also be of mixed background rather than pure bengal but then thats just speculation from my part. With such an impressive collection it wasnt really something i expected to see.
I doubt either of them are pure Bengal, I've heard it stated that there's none outside of India (down to indiscriminate breeding of Tigers in the '60's and '70's I think). I've got no problem breeding whites with normal as such as it's better than breeding more whites, though I do have a problem breeding hybrid Tigers in the first place (finding homes is the issue, especially when Amurs are pretty much at capacity). All that said, I do realise whites and (any coloured) cubs have economic benefits and pragmatism sometimes wins.
Ok, I forgot Kilverstone closed then, partly because it reopened six months later for a couple of years with non-south American species alongside the remnants of the original collection, however the majority of the cats would have left in 1991. Given that Hamerton are able to source something like oncillas, it astounds me that they'd acquire hybrid tigers when they surely could have joined an EEP for Amur or Sumatran tigers. Did they want a white tiger that badly? Or, as someone mentions the normal-coloured animal was ex-circus, was it some kind of rescue action?
Surely both tigers should be on contraceptives why on earth are they not? what reason would hamerton have for potentially breeding hyrbid tigers?
That is correct- certainly as far as the UK and Europe are concerned, and probably it applies almost worldwide too.
