Highland Wildlife Park HWP 2014

To finally open the year, from the blog;

On Thursday, the Park bid farewell to European elk Froja and Idun, who departed for Knowsley. The mother and daughter have moved to another collection as part of a genetic management plan for the species; our resident bull elk Bob was joined late last year by a new female Cas and the pair are getting along very well.
Beebop the male Pallas’s cat is now back on show, while female Alula remains in an off-show area as part of breeding management. Keepers at the Park are hopeful the pair have successfully mated and if so, Alula should give birth within the next several weeks.

 

HWP have really done well with the European fauna (elk)!

Nice to hear the manul may have youngsters soon!

 

Great that elk are becoming more widespread in the UK.

 

Again from the blog;

At the Highland Wildlife Park we have the possibility of camel and yak births, so for protective measures we have temporarily restricted the kiang herd to one side of the new entrance reserve walkway, as equids can cause problems when there are births to other species in the same reserve. We do not definitely know that any of the female camels or yaks are pregnant yet, but like the rest of our species in the Park, they show a strong seasonal tendency with the vast majority of births in the spring.

The Park is also waiting on the final health check result on the female European bison born in 2012 as she will be part of a group of females bred within the British Isles that will be shipped out to Romania. These animals will augment an existing, small, reintroduced herd of bison in the Carpathian Mountains.

 

Interesting that the elk pair have been moved to Knowsley of all places! Planning a visit this week, weather permitting..... to Knowsley that is.

 

Well this is a bolt from the blue and a very welcome one too, downside i guess it will put proposals for snow leopard and Amur leopards further down the pecking order.

 

Does that mean they are building a new enclosure?

 

Since they got Arktos, the plan has been to build an enclosure for a female bear at the other side of the Park.

(I think the original one when Walker came was that a future female would share the enclosure when Mercedes died)

I beleive they did enquire about obtaining Mercedes' grandaughter from japan, but that was vetod

 

0.0.1 European bison and 0.2 Mishmi takin born

 

A Polar Bear webcam has been launched. It will run from (GMT) 11am until 2pm everyday and previous footage from the day will be shown on a loop outside of these times
Highland Wildlife Park ? Polar Bear Webcam

 

they are not totally on show you can spot them in the enclosure on the left as you leave the Pere David/rhea part before you go round to tigers

 

Nice video-clip about the Scottish wildcats :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyi8P6SjtQ8&feature=youtu.be

 

Nice video about the conservation project for the Pallas's cat :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neX11UHXfu0&feature=youtu.be

 

The Mishmi Takin enclosure has always annoyed me, as you can never get a good look at them as there appears to be nowehere to view them without being in your car and with a fence between your car and them.

 

I would rather see snow and amur leopards than a female polar bear. Fantastic though it is, the HWP can always use a few new exhibits.

 

A really good little video there, thanks for the link. Great news to see they have produced 6 kittens too.

 

Lifted from the blog;

In the Highlands at the Wildlife Park there are Japanese Macaque babies, capercaillie eggs, satyr tragopan chicks, snowy owl chicks, Scottish wildcat kittens, Pallas’s cat kittens, northern lynx, Bukhara deer and European bison calves

 

New Polar Bear enclosure.

HWP claim to have the third largest Polar Bear enclosure in the world (I am not questioning that). Columbus is listed by the internet as being the largest in the world and HWP as the largest in Europe. Who is number 2 and does anyone have the actual sizes?

Will the new enclosure for the expected female be the biggest in the world? Hopefully it will have to cater for mother and cubs (until they are shipped off).

 

I would imagine that Orsa Bear Park is bigger than Columbus. It's certainly bigger than HWP and The Scandinavian Wildlife Park in Denmark is also very large.