Marwell Wildlife Marwell Zoo News 2015

Many thanks for that.
It shows quite a few species that have now left the collection, but also it shows just how many species are either in non-breeding situations or those species that have been drastically reduced compared to past years. For instance: just a pair of Bongo left, quite sad really. Yet a huge increase in Scimitar-horned Oryx (though this is partly due to incoming animals to be used for possible reintroduction). Primate numbers are low, like the Sulawesi Crested Macaques which are now at their lowest numbers ever.

 

Also noted is the death of the male Red Mantled Tamarin - He was the last in Europe

 

Again it shows a decline in mammals numbers and birds this year as well,some of the antelope groups are now very low,some have not bred for sometime anyway.

 

Yes his name was "Chico" , bless him!

 

Are they going to get lions for their new exhibit "Wild Explorers"

 

Unfortunately no

 

First of all I must commend Marwell for publishing its animal inventory so soon. If only all zoos were as quick.

Secondly, the inventory clearly shows that although we moan at how many species have left the collection in recent years, there is still a very sizable animal collection there, albeit too many species that are currently held are not conservation dependent.
species.

If I've counted correctly, although 13 taxa left the collection in 2014 (including, most regrettably, those Greater kudu), 11 new taxa arrived (if you include a known subspecies of Cheetah), so really 2014 was quite a good year which saw a net loss of only 2 taxa.

However, the inventory shows that a whopping 40 or more species are single sexes. (It's impossible to be certain of the exact number because the sex of some of the fish and invertebrate species isn't known.) That's a very high number of non-breeding animals.

 

A net loss of 2 species is not something to applaud.
I can't look at the list at the moment, but I suspect most of the New species are not mammals. The net loss of around 30 mammals in 5 years had to slow down at some point, but the damage has already been done.
It's easy to keep the overall total up by adding the odd species to a walkthrough or a few invertebrates, reptiles or fish in small tanks, but that doesn't convince me.
Marwell is one of the largest zoos in the UK, it should be using that space which zoos like London & Bristol don't have and largely leave these animals to the likes of them.
The Takin are going, they only have serval because London wanted to move theirs on and the bat eared Fox enclosure was rumoured to being given over to another red panda one.
This in a year Whipsnade brought in 4 'new' antelope species & lost no mammal species I can recall - that is worth applauding!

 

I'm not applauding a net loss of 2 species, merely observing that it could have been so much worse. Of the new taxa, three are mammals, although I don't suppose we can really include the known pure subspecies of Cheetah, as Marwell has Cheetah already. So that's two new mammal species (Silvery Marmoset, Yellow Mongoose), but, of course, neither of these is particularly rare or unusual. Of the others, there are three new bird species, of which the most exciting, from a conservation point of view, are the Blue-crowned Laughing Thrushes (but, very disappointingly, a bachelor group - although I don't know the sex of the three that died during the year); two amphibian species; and three invertebrate species. Although Polyphemus Flower Beetles may not raise the pulse of many people, particularly general zoo visitors, all new arrivals, regardless of class or phylum, are to be welcomed.

 

The last Golden Lion Tamarin at Marwell has died,as the last two posts have said things have slowed down in loss of species,but the Bat Eared Foxes are due to go,and the Antelope numbers apart from SHOryx keep going down,have been told there is no future at Marwell for Sable so they will go in time,Yellow Mongoose Marwell have had them before,the Thrushes were all male.

 

In an earlier post I said there was a net loss in 2014 of two species. I have, however, just noticed a few discrepancies. Comparing the latest inventory with the 2013 one, I observed that on 31 December 2013, Marwell had two male Ringed Teals, but these do not appear on the 2014 inventory. Assuming, as seems likely, their omission is an oversight and assuming they departed the collection at the same time as other waterfowl (the two Black Swans and the single European Eider), the net loss is actually three species.

Two other discrepancies are worth mentioning: In the latest (2014) inventory we can see that on 1 January, Marwell is recorded as having a single Natterjack Toad and a colony of no fewer than 15 Sands Lizards. But neither species is listed on the previous inventory for 31 Dec. 2013. Indeed the last time either species occurs on the inventory is several years earlier. Almost certainly both species were present in 2013 and in previous years but, for some reason, were not listed in the annual inventories.

 

No future for Sable? Such a damn shame, a personal favourite. Hope another collection picks up the species.

Seems they're turning the place into a generic zoo. Obviously hoof stock isn't sexy enough!

 

As Okapis said, there is no real slow down of species leaving the collection, and indeed I don`t believe there ever will be, until a certain person in charge of the animal collection is satisfied that he has only got what species he wants there! The meagre amount of new animals arriving is just like putting a sticking plaster on a hole in a leaking boat.

 

Well, from the original post the question was asked - why was there only two snow leopards on snow.
The female cub was off show as she was going to depart to another collection.
The male cub is now becoming more dominant over his mother and the step was taken to rotate them every other day in the enclosure. Neither adult snow leopard will breed again, as they have been retired from the breeding program.

 

Some good news for a change Marwell to get Lesser Kudu from Edinburgh who are going out of them.

 

Think you may have got things a bit wrong- There are still 3 snow leopards on show, the father is on the right hand side and the mother and FEMALE cub are still both together in the left hand side. The female isn't going for another few months. The male cub however has been moved to an isolation area because of the increasing dominance over his mother and he is due to go quite soon. There was never a situation where they were being 'rotated' so don't know where you got that from? Lastly the adult pair haven't been retired from the breeding programme, they just didn't get a breeding recommendation this year due to cub placement potential at the moment and the current cubs departure timeframe. There is still a possibility of them breeding one more time from that pair in a year or so.

 

Apparently the Bat Eared Fox move isn't happening. Plus until they go you can't count them as a loss!?

 

No your right have not gone yet,but was told they would be going to make way for new Red Panda area.

 

The male Warthog Hercules has died leaving one female left at Marwell his daughter,female Pygmy Hippo to go to Edinburgh.