Longleat Safari & Adventure Park Longleat Safari Park News 2019

So far as you can see on the video he's settling in so well in his home since arriving from Japan and now the only 2 male Southern Koalas in Europe and outside Australia

 

Went to Longleat for the first time in over a year today and I have to say I was really really impressed. I visited with my Mum and when we stopped in the African Village we saw a sign for a 20minute VIP Tour of the monkeys. We waited for about ten minutes before one of the jeeps arrived. It was just us in the jeep with our guide (I'm terrible at remembering names) who was excellent. Not only did he give us commentary for the monkeys but also the other animals we saw on the way (inc; flamingos, eland and crown cranes). He also answered my very long list of questions. Note- you can't pre-book this tour and they only run it when it is quite and there are no VIP-experiences on.

The Tapiar have now moved to the old warthog enclosure just as you enter African Village. This enclosure was being used to house Cameroon sheep during Animal Park this Summer. On the topic of the Cameroon sheep, I wasn't able to see them as they were apparently in a paddock at the top end of what used to be wallaby wood. However, you can no longer walk up there. The Cameroon sheep along with the Somali sheep and pygmy goats, I was told rotate paddocks. None of them were in with the lemurs today. I had a good view of the pygmy goats who were in their normal enclosure and I also managed to spot a few Somali sheep who were in the paddock behind. I was told by the driver on the tour that there is a plan for a new species to go in the old Tapiar enclosure.

There is only 1 female European Elk (did they ever get a second one?). If I'm honest she didn't look that happy her drive-past enclosure is much to big and far too open for just her. She was sat down in the corner as far away from the car's as possible. There were only two wildebeest in the African reserve - I was hoping there would be more by now! Notably, in with the monkeys, there was only four female blackbuck. I remember the heard used to be much larger so it was a shame and a bit of a shock to only see four. In contrast with this, the Roan Antelope heard looked much bigger and I saw lots of baby Eland.

I wasn't lucky enough to see the tiger cubs (or mum) I'm afraid but, I managed to get a great view of Dad, Red. I saw 6 cheetahs in total but only 1 was out in the main drive-through. I didn't see any Hyenas either which was a bit of a shame as I was looking forward to that. Whilst driving through the wolves I managed to spot one of the Timber wolves in the enclosure next door. The timber wolves moved to an off-show enclosure earlier this year so it was a treat to see one!

I managed to see all five koalas. The three girls, Dennis and the new male was also visible through a window which was a nice surprise. I loved, the giant otters! There was only one African crested porcupine when there is normally two so I think one has passed away. They were quite old.I saw all 5 gorillas on the boat trip. They were all getting along very well and they came very close to the boat - possibly my highlight of the day!

Also, Buster (the former breeding bull Sea lion) is still at Longleat but I believe has been castrated. There was a new male who had his own pen. The keeper said he was one and he was the future breeding bull.

Both the butterfly house and the deer park were closed.

Also....I now have an annual pass! Sorry for the long review hope it was somewhat interesting.

 

Interesting report. I saw five blackbuck females last time I went so presumably one more has died- I think they will just disappear eventually here at this rate. The Deer park is closed during the period the deer are rutting, presumably for safety concerns. I can't quite understand why as its only another drivethrough, while in places like Richmond Park you can walk near the deer at any time of year (warning signs are in plenty of course).

 

Does the park still have the water Buffalo In with the monkeys?

 

No, the three they had have all passed a way a while a go now.

 

That’s a shame. Thanks for the response!

 

A 2nd female moose was brought into the park from Scottish Deer Centre I think.

The 3:0 Timber wolves were moved off show but on Animal Park 2019 only 2 names were mentioned(cannot remember which ones) so one of the brothers has passed but all 3 are a good age I think

 

Check the Wolves out https://www.longleat.co.uk/news/crying-wolf-at-longleats-fire-alarm-test

 

Tapirs have now moved and they are now located just before the African village

 

Visited on Sunday, mainly to see the funky marsupials - I had only actually visited once before, back in 2008 - the place was a little underwhelming back then, barring the wonderfully bizarre Jungle Cruise. These days it feels much more rounded and the mammal collection in particular is considerably more interesting. The walk-around section is now very much an interesting small zoo rather than a token add-on as is so often the case with safari park walking sections. Indeed, probably uniquely for UK safari parks, for the nerd the walk-around is probably the main attraction! To illustrate, and as I've just typed this up anyway for my own benefit (!), in the walk-around section (including Jungle Cruise), we saw the following mammals:

Southern Koala
Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat
Red-necked Wallaby
Long-nosed Potoroo
Arabian Rock Hyrax
Aardvark
Giant Anteater
Six-banded Armadillo
Nepalese Red Panda
Kinkajou
Ring-tailed Coati
Giant Otter
Asian Short-clawed Otter
Striped Skunk
Fennec Fox
California Sea Lion
Meerkat
Binturong
Patagonian Mara
Cape Crested Porcupine
North American Tree Porcupine
Barbary Striped Grass Mouse
Guinea Pig
Common Marmoset
Guereza
Western Lowland Gorilla
Egyptian Fruit Bat
Domestic Donkey
Kune Kune Pig
Common Hippopotamus
Domestic Goat

A line-up of small mammals to put many traditional zoos to shame! (there were quite a few other callitrichids labelled as well but the exhibit is a time-share and the others weren't visible on any of our passes)

For completeness, the safari drive (including African Village) had the following mammals visible:

Asian Elephant
Timber Wolf
European Wolf
Spotted Hyaena
African Lion
South African Cheetah
Amur Tiger
Rhesus Macaque
Ring-tailed Lemur
White-fronted Lemur
Southern White Rhinoceros
Grant's Zebra
Brazilian Tapir
Rothschild's Giraffe
Bactrian Camel
Pygmy Goat
Cameroon and Black-headed Sheep
Ankole Cattle
Roan Antelope
Scimitar-horned Oryx
Common Eland
Eastern Bongo
White-tailed Gnu
Red Deer
Pere David's Deer
European Moose

Plus the following other species (* = in safari/African Village):

Ostrich*
Emu
Chilean Flamingo*
Grey Crowned Crane*
Sacred Ibis*
White-faced Whistling Duck*
White-backed Vulture*
Pink-backed Pelican*
Eastern White Pelican
Blue-and-Yellow Macaw
Military Macaw
Rainbow Lorikeet
Domestic Chicken
Domestic Duck
Domestic Turkey

Common Boa
Common Kingsnake
Mexican Blind Cave Fish
Blue Mbuna
Goldfish
Cuban Crocodile
Black-and-White Tegu
Golden Poison Dart Frog
Cane Toad
African Spurred Tortoise*
Greek Tortoise
Beaded Lizard
Nile Monitor
Red Tegu
Green Iguana

Desertas Wolf Spider
Camel Cricket
Death's Head Cockroach
Giant Hissing Cockroach
Bird-eating Spider
Giant Millipede
Macleay's Spectre
Giant Spiny Stick Insect

NB: this list is what we saw; there is minimal signage in the safari drive so there may be species on show that we missed.

 

Presumably just a pair or so of White-tailed Gnu? Do you happen to know if they came from Newquay, or the Lake District(was Trotters) place that had or has them?

No Blackbuck in the monkey drive through?

 

Just two gnu - no idea where they came from, sorry!

Can't comment on the Blackbuck as we didn't chance the monkeys so only saw the reserve through the fence - only the macaques were visible but there were plenty of places some Blackbuck could be hidden.

 

Oh I see. Yes, you wouldn't see them if you didn't go in...there are probably just four females now. I normally avoid monkey reserves because of the damage aspect, but last time I went I risked going through there just to see them and didn't hang around for monkeys to start climbing on the car- warden asked me to slow down!

 

One from each as it happens!

 

Thanks. I should know that but forgotten...good to see another UK holder. I think Safari Parks are better than a conventional zoo for species like this.

 

Interested to know why you think that? Black Wildebeest seem to only get on with each other in very small groups. Also, they have always done very well in Newquay's 'Savannah'.

 

Its probably a personal preference to see them in the extra space afforded by an open setting. I saw video of a decent-sized group of about a dozen or more in a European safari-type park( may have been BeekesBergen?) and they were tearing about bucking and kicking etc. You don't see that much in very small groups. Newquay currently have five I think- the largest UK group but the enclosure looks rather dismal with poached ground and housing in the background. I can just about remember when Whipsnade had Wildebeest, there I think the big paddocks suited them well and its a great shame they don't have them nowadays, IMO its their biggest ommision.

 

Festival of Lights starts tomorrow

 

I too would like to see Black Wildebeest back at Whipsnade. The Duke of Bedford's refers to the difficulty of keeping more than two or three individuals together -- presumably they had more space there than at Newquay. However, there have historically been disagreements in the Newquay group, which however can be seen doing all the 'wildebeest stuff' on occasion.

 

I had experience of the original ones at Marwell. To my knowledge the male, a longterm resident of the defunct BelleVue Zoo in Manchester, was completely incompatible with the two females and couldn't be kept with them, but then he had been kept alone previously . The males are often very aggressive I'll agree. But I think it depends on the individuals- as I said there are somewhat larger groups in Europe that appear to live harmoniously. I think space may be an important factor as well.