Were talking Common Hippos. This left two female hippos. If I remember the conversation correctly either ben or a relation was a chester zoo owned animal.
common hippo's. They had four common hippos Lola, Nignya, Ben and one other female and two pygmy hippos now i think i'm probably wrong.
They had Old Ben and his mate Nigna along with their daughter Lola im pretty sure Ben and Nigna have been the only ones since Lola was born in about 7 + years or so. Im pretty sure they have 2 pigmy hippos This leaves two female Common Hippos, Any chances of a new male arriving from West Mids or Flamingo Land? The enclosure i think is very good, large river going through it with plenty of room for grazing and wallowing the House was built in the late 1990's and provides indoor pools and large indoor accomadation. Hopefully a new male will arrive soon
He was at Chessington, But was born at Chester. The whole discussion I was on about is in this thread http://www.zoochat.com/38/whipsnade-report-23698/index3.html starting from page 2.
If you read the post clearly Riziki ask if another male arriving for breeding. So yes Riziki was thinking of breeding but not from the current male.
Sorry, I've re-read it and realise my error (I was reading the words, not the context). Memo to self: only post when sober.
Ben and Nigna have produced several calves over the years. The latest daughter 'Lola' is still there with her mother 'Nigna.' The previous daughter 'Etosha' was sent away at approx age of 4 so they may have had the four of them for a short while but during the past 7 years there have been the two different daughters. A new male would have to come from Europe(or Dublin) and its likely nothing will happen until one is available somewhere. I can't imagine this is on Whipsnadde's priority list somehow.
Thanks for that Pertinax, Etosha does ring a bell. Yes i cant imagine it being on top of Whipsnade's list,The top i would imagine is the Elephant Herd with the Herpes Virus going around.Only one male calf left now,
A pity really as a baby Hippo is quite an attraction when its little- provided its born at the right time of year. Whipsnade's indoor accomodation isn't really large enough for three adult animals so I think they may just do nothing until Nigna(the mother) dies.
Actually, if they no longer have Pygmy Hippos( do they or not,I'm never sure) that would allow both exhibition areas in that (modern but small) Hippo House for the common Hippos. One would still have to use the old shed behind it though. There are two outdoor paddocks so room for potentially a trio now?
I've been out back at the hippo enclosure a few times though a few years ago and it was designed for three adults, which is what they had when it opened
I think the indoor area would be fine for three, just not for three adults and offspring. However if they have an older house as well then I think they'd be ok to get a bull to mate the two current females. And yes, they do still have Pygmy hippos, I think they're a new pair.
not sure which Whipsnade thread to put it on, but Bruno the male giraffe never recovered from an anaesthetic last week while under going routine medical procedures.
