Im not sure about at the moment but i know that Whipsnade used to hold them and where very successful i think they left around 10 or so years ago? Anyone know more? Hope this is useful to you Regards
Simple answer NONE at all.Used to be kept at quite a few places but i don`t remember seeing any in the U.K.My first ones where offshow at Arnhem.
Here you can look up which zoo keeps which animals in europe: www.Zootierliste.de The main site is in german, but when you click on the right side on the english button you get the whole list in english
Blackpool used to keep them with white storks in what is now the australian paddock dont know what happend to them .
Marwell and the Cotswold wp also received animals from the Whipsnade herd, in fact i'm sure i have seen in IZN that Cotswold were even successful in breeding 1 or 2
Cotswold's were kept in the mixed paddock with rhinos and zebra but I've not noticed any on more recent visits there. Whipsnade had a thriving herd of about forty+ and I was very sorry to see them disappear from there.
Marwell had some in the eighties, coming from Whipsnade as mentioned, but unfortunately didn't stay long. They do however exhibit the UK's only groups of Dama and Dorcas Gazelles.
Thomson's gazelles I too was very sorry when Whipsnade stopped keeping Thomson’s gazelles. I recall the Whipsnade herd numbered more than twenty animals during the late 1970s and early 1980s (and I’m sure it was once larger). I don’t think that any new blood was introduced for decades, so they became increasingly inbred with every successive generation; the numbers started dwindling towards the end of the 1980s. Unfortunately, because they are not of conservation importance, few zoos seem interested in Thomson’s gazelles today
Could be a bit of poetic licence there- I do remember it was a decent sized herd though. I have a postcard that shows a dozen but that was probably only part of the group. I wonder if the last ones were 'disposed of' rather than died out naturally. They used to live in a small triangular-shaped paddock somewhere in the central area near the Giraffe, if I remember correctly.
When I saw them, there could have been around 40. I was expressing surprise at the number and not at your post. After they had gone I think the Ruppell's Griffon Vultures were houses there, and later Sitatunga.
Thomsons gazelles (leave out the P please) are making something of a resurgence in continental Europe. It is yet at an embryonic stage, but Arnhem, Hannover and Poznan maintain successful breeding groups. In the Middle East quite a few zoological institutions maintain the species, including Al Ain Zoo, Abu Dhabi and Safaripark Ramat-Gan (the latter is the originator of some of the European Thomsons gazelle stock). As we all know gazelles are pretty prolific breeders and thankfully Arnhem, Hannover and Poznan have all enjoyed births. So, expect more Thomsons' popping up all over Europe in E.African savannah exhibits all over soon!
I was thinking the same thing as you Bob, they used to have such a nice large herd for so long and all home bred
These were 'Arabian' gazelles, which Blackpool still have. The reason for inverted commas is that the actual species is dubious, but it is a species from the Arabian peninsula. From discussions I have had about keeping gazelles in UK, it would seem that the wet, lush conditions do not sit well with these arid-adapted antelopes. While births have been consistant, early deaths tend to keep populations at a constant size. I'm not sure whether this apparent problem applies to other European zoos, but I would say this is the reason for a dearth of species in the UK.
It is true for several deer and antelope species from warmer climates, particularly nervous species which can't be husbanded intensively, so their calves/fawns are born outdoors and die if weather conditions are bad. So the birth rate may be normal but mortality can be high resulting in no increase, or even a slow dimunition of the population.
I am sure that they where thompsons as i remember them being different to the arabians and keepers told me that they where once thompsons in the paddock.
Yes and one keeper at Blackpool told me they never kept Quokkas but i`ve got i picture of them there.
