I've been scouting around forums for a while now and many have said the UK is lacking in bears and that their future in the UK isn't the best. However in recent years it does especially look like they are going stronger. Feel free to discuss bears in the UK and what zoos should get what bears. Also I added a poll for which bears you think the UK needs more of. Here is a list of the collections with bears as of November 2017 (may be mistakes so please tell me if so) : American Black Bear: Woburn Safari Park Asiatic Black Bear: Dudley Zoo Wingham Wildlife Park Brown Bear: Camperdown Wildlife Centre Dartmoor Zoo Five Sisters Zoo Park Heythrop Zoo Scottish Deer Centre Welsh Mountain Zoo Whipsnade Zoo Wildwood Trust Giant Panda: Edinburgh Zoo Polar Bear: Highland Wildlife Park Yorkshire Wildlife Park Sloth Bear: Whipsnade Zoo Spectacled Bear: Belfast Zoo Chester Zoo Jersey Zoo Noah's Ark Zoo Farm Port Lympne Reserve South Lakes Safari Zoo Sun Bear: Belfast Zoo Chester Zoo Colchester Zoo Edinburgh Zoo
I will kick off with a few suggestions of zoos that don't have bears but could, or have bears but could have more without suggesting species yet: No Bears- could have them Twycross London Blackpool Howletts Linton Paignton Banham Wild Place Any Safari Park ( Woburn excepted) Cotswold WP New Forest WP Marwell Hold at least one bear species, could hold more: Whipsnade Port Lympne Chester Yorkshire Wildlife Park Woburn Dudley ( bear ravine) Welsh Mountain Colchester? (Beale Park) plenty of space but won't happen!
If London Zoo has been without bears for 9 years, is this the longest time they have been without them throughout the zoo's history?
London Zoo’s first bears were acquired in 1828 and the zoo kept bears almost constantly from its very early days until comparatively recently. The bears were all removed from the Mappin Terraces by 1986 and did not return to that part of the zoo for eleven years until the Sri Lankan sloth bears were obtained in 1997. (As “MagpieGoose” has already mentioned, these were sent to Whipsnade in 2008 and there have been no bears at London Zoo since.) However, during much of the eleven year interval, 1986 -1997, when there were no bears on the Mappin Terraces, there were still giant pandas elsewhere in the zoo. Consequently, I’m sure you’re correct; the last nine years has been the longest period in London Zoo’s history when there have been no bears of any sort in the collection.
Helpful information, Tim; I miss the bears at London and hope one day at least one species will return (Sloth bears could be nicely accommodated in the Land of the Lions....!). Is it true that Whipsnade is the only currently open UK collection to have had bears in their collection throughout their existence? It is good to see that they have recently received two new Brown bears and thus continuing the life of one of Whipsnade's iconic first exhibits.
[QUOTE="zooboy, post: 1048442, member: 535" Is it true that Whipsnade is the only currently open UK collection to have had bears in their collection throughout their existence? [/QUOTE] I think this is probably correct. Of the current bear holders, only remote possibilities I can suggest would be Dudley, Belfast or Woburn. Dartmoor?
Wild Place will have Bears by 2019. This has been confirmed by WP and Bristol Zoo. In fact, if you want to bid in their auction, you can get the chance to name one. They should be in the ancient European woodland section but that may be subject to change.
