Snow leopards will be leaving the collection, and being replaced with a new species of leopard: From their facebook page.
Interesting! Is their enclosure at the park off show? I wonder if they will be one of the zoo's involved in the future reintroduction programme of Amur or Persian leopards!
The Snow Leopard's current enclosure wasn't as they were moved to Basecamp whilst a new enclosure below the elephant sand paddock was being built for them. Guess this will be for the new leopards now... you can see it from quite a distance, so might be possible to get a glimpse. They have replied to someone on facebook, and looks like it will be a reintroduction program:
The only thing that might make this worthwhile would be if any extra income funded an onshow (on foot) enclosure for the bears!!
Says on zootierliste that Brown Hyenas are back in the collection? Is this true, and I'm guessing if so, still off-show?! Any news on the new leopards as well?
I suspect this will be due to an idiot editing ZTL without checking their information - but I would *love* it if this is accurate.
Samira the Barbary lion has died: "Samira: 10.07.2003 - 10.05.2016 Port Lympne Reserve is saddened to announce the death of Samira our disabled Barbary lioness. Her disability was the result of a carrying injury caused by one of her parents picking her up incorrectly when she was around three days old. Samira suffered a bite wound above her shoulder which damaged her front leg and compressed her spine. In order to treat the wound Samira had to be hand raised by keepers. As she grew Samira was given numerous treatments to improve her mobility and strengthen her leg. These included hydrotherapy sessions at a local kennels and electrotherapy treatment by one of David Beckham’s physiotherapists. Although she always walked with a limp she led a full life and even went on to have cubs of her own. Samira was a favourite with visitors and staff alike. She would limp over to the fence and collapse in a heap rolling onto her back to draw a crowd of concerned visitors. Then as a keeper approached to reassure the public Samira would get up and run off. She was a real drama queen who loved to interact with the public. Throughout her nearly 13 years at Port Lympne keepers and our team of vets have been monitoring Samira’s condition and treating her. From the beginning we did not expect her to live as long as a healthy lion. It was obvious over the past couple of winters that she was becoming more arthritic and her mobility worsening. This was managed successfully with glucosamine tablets and short courses of pain killers. Each spring her condition would pick up as the weather improved. This spring Samira did not bounce back and her condition continued to worsen. She needed stronger, constant pain relief. Her movement became severely compromised and we could not provide her with an acceptable quality of life. Following discussions with the Trustees, Animal Department and Vet Team we made the difficult decision to euthanise Samira. This was considered to be the most necessary and humane course of action. We are sure that our visitors and supporters will be as saddened by this news as we are."
Sad news about Samira. Going back to the leopards, I understood that there were currently two enclosures for snow leopard: the smaller one at base camp and a larger open-topped affair at the top of the park which has been offshow for a long time. If a new one is being built below the elephant enclosures (which I didn't notice last year), then I wonder what the eventual picture will look like. I look forward to more news about this, as well as confimation of which subspecies it is.
Port Lympne has welcomed a baby gorilla too Baby Gorilla Wins Visitors Hearts At Port Lympne | The Aspinall Foundation
Not sure if this is news but the Spectacled Bears are now out in their new home- very spacious as its the old Elephant enclosure converted for them. Video shows the old Elephant fencing has simply been covered with electrified mesh to contain them. But presumably they are only visible(if you are lucky) from the trucks....
The Bears came from Antwerp and Tierpark Berlin Male Black Rhino, Zambezi has also returned to Port Lympne from Howletts recently
Statement From Port Lympne Reserve/Issued at 10.00am 16 June 2016 | The Aspinall Foundation Port Lympne Reserve has increased its internal security following an incident in which Kent Police were called to the animal park to investigate reports of two male intruders seen close to animal enclosures at 2.47am on the morning of 15th June 2016
Recent stay I have been visiting Port Lympne ocassionally since it opened 40 years ago and love the location and sense of space . I decided to celebrate a significant birthday by spending the night in the Mansion Hotel with family members . The stay was wonderful , exceeding my high expectations . The hotel was very comfortable with excellent food and service . A highlight was being able to wander the park early and late . After dinner we watched the gorillas and drills getting ready for bed in the dusk , a Malayan tapir appeared from the dense undergrowth of its paddock and came to say hello . Although it was frustrating that some areas are now not accessible it was still quite a challenge covering most of the paths , many on steep slopes . I saw 1 spectacled bear from the Safari truck , one of the Elephant yards seems to have been converted to a pen for the bears . A holding area , I assume for coatis , was seen though the coatis ( not listed on ZTL ) were in the small cats area . Stock seen on the African Experience were - single black rhino , water buffalo and Grevy zebra ( only zebra seen ) a few greater kudu and roan antelope , large herds of eland , red lechwe and wildebeest , several giraffe , axis deer . The small group of Defassa waterbuck were in the former anoa paddock next to the bongo . I saw 3 male gorillas in the Batchelor area and glimpsed the new baby in the Palace of the Apes . I counted 8 drill , 4 of them quite young . The pair of golden-bellied mangabey do not look young , a third was seen in the attached smaller enclosure ( where did this come from ? ) . Several groups of moloch gibbon , one very cute baby was learning to climb in front of us . Wonderful to see colobus high up in the trees in the open enclosure ( big enough for the trees to survive ) .One of the several groups of Javan langur had youngsters . The big group of baboons are in a permanent paddock below the Safari drive with a big new house . The belted ruffed lemurs have left the collection . Amongst the small cats I saw Carpathian lynx , Scottish wildcat , fishing cat and margay . No Pallas's cat ( walk-through closed , sign said due to birth ) or rusty-spotted cat . A single snow leopard seen at Basecamp plus a pair of lions ( the Lion enclosure by Tiger Lodge is empty ) , a single tiger seen at the bottom plus quite a few cheetahs . Did not see Owston's civet or fosa ( several enclosures labelled ) . A binturong was way up in one of the trees in the former red panda enclosure , they were lower down the slopes . Lots of hunting dogs in various locations , a pair of European wolves and several bush dog enclosures . The big herd of European bison had several calves . The herds of sambar and barasinga were adult only as were the roan antelope herd and water buffalo . Several Malayan tapir seen and black rhino in lots of paddocks . The Discovery Zone looked rather run-down . Did not see the meercat in their small enclosure . Pygmy marmosets in a walk-through 'jungle' section .
A female Rothschild Giraffe has been born - the second Giraffe birth *ever* at Port Lympne and the first pure calf
A brief visit the other day, but only to the woodland/primate area as time was short; There are 3(1.2) G.B. Mangabeys in the cage just above the Tapir/ex Sumatran rhino house. The male is newish and I presume one female is too, the other being from the original non-breeding pair with the elderly male that has gone to AA. Drills- now 8 or(I think) 9- 1.4.4. Thriving group with the new male that replaced 'Gorbi' now fully grown and fathering babies( two new ones). Saw people on 'VIP' experience with keeper supervision hand-feeding De Brazza and Colobus monkeys in their enclosure. Saw new baby Gorilla in Kouillou's large group in the Palace of the Apes. The old Chimpanzee' tower' cage is now empty and looks disused. Briefly visited small cat(and now Dinosaurs) area but nothing much visible except some Coati.(sorry TLD...) Limited time so did not do the Safari ride or see the new Spectacled Bears, or visit the Lion/Tiger area by the road. A pair of Black Rhino made three mating attempts in a short while. The paths in the Pedestrian Zone are quite hard going, particularly after rain. Parts of the woodland areas have now been closed off for some years, I am not sure why but they certainly make the walking route a lot longer as you cannot cut through to the male Gorilla area and IMO the whole place is a lot less visitor friendly than Howletts.
Port Lympne should have some new arrivals brought in recently: 1.1 Mishmi takin. The male was born in Brno and female (2 years old) from Chomutov, both in the Czech Republic (June 2016). Further, some barasingha (2 individuals) were transported to Monde Sauvage in Belgium (June 2016). In exchange 6 coatis made the round trip back. The coatis are supposed to go with spectacled bears, mara and capybara in a new South American exhibit (the former elephant exhibit).
