Knowsleys heard used to be an amazing site, but since the loss of 4 adult females in 2004/2005 its not quite the same. Juba has never bred.
Woburn is a great drive thru (safari park) I especially like going off season and being the last to go round! There is always plenty of space to pull over and just sit a while but also you feel like you are in with the animals especially the bears! and tigers! West Midlands is good for its mix of animals and the fact you get a return ticket (2007 havent been this year) Does get very busy and you can get stuck as the lead car feeds some animals and i do find some of the animals surround you if you have the windows open looking for food! (they sell food at entrance). longleat a good all round package! But not impressed so much with the safari bit! Looks alot bigger on the telly and you can only go round the once! If you go on a day when the animals are not very lively it is a bit disappointing. Not been to any others! as yet
I think Winsor had a good collection when they first opened but I am unsure of what they had before it closed down, from what I cam remember its last two elephants were transfered to Port Lypmne
Windsor's Asian elephants Yasmine and Davida went to Port Lympne in 1988 when Windsor imported several young African calves. All of the remaining Africans (1.6) moved to Knowsley when Windsor closed in 1993.
It's such a shame that a place like Windsor closed down went there a couple of times remember seeing the Killer Whale and Dolphin shows. never went towards the end when the Egypt theme came into place.
Has anyone else noticed the way WMSP taunt their carrnivores by putting Reindeer, Wallaby's and other potential food sources in enclosures next to theirs? For some reason they block off the top of the enclosure fences, but leave the bottom open for them to lick their lips and salivate.
Is it enrichment or mental torture(well frustration)? I wondered the same thing with the new Cheetah exhibit at Whipsnade where there is a large herd of Nile Lechwe for them to look at in the adjacent paddock. Does the interest/stimulation of nearby 'prey' species add to the predators' captive life, or does the frustration of not being able to hunt the permanently visible 'prey' outweigh the enrichment value?
the Cheetahs at Marwell have the same thing they look out onto the Giraffe/Gazelle field does not seem to bother them have never seen any strange behaviour i think it happens in a lot of zoos
I think that for the majority of the time the cats just quietly watch the hoofed animals, which they are totally used to seeing through the fence. However there must be times occassionally when more unusual activity e.g antelopes fighting closeby, or a birth, might excite them enough to have them rushing up and down the fenceline trying to 'catch' the prey. This is when frustration would be high. Of course its not something one would be around to see very often.
Generally both get on with their own business when they realise one is not a threat, and the other is just a distraction. There is often more of a problem placing carnivores side-by-side. Cheetahs and lions come to mind.
Yes, I've heard many times how lions make cheetahs nervous. What do you think of Whipsnade's new layout- are the Cheetahs far enough away from the lions do you think?.
Can't answer the hyena question, but here's a map of the safari park: http://www.themeparkjunkies.co.uk/cpg133/albums/userpics/10001/safari-map-with-info~0.jpg
I think hyena's coming to knowsley is just a rumour. It would be nice to see another carnivore species at the park, but at the moment i don't see as to where they could go to, since they developed all around the hunting dog area. Personally i would like to see another cat species, possibly a leopard, the hybrid leopard from wmsp could go to knowsley, and wmsp could focus more on the amur leopards that they have (i'm sure they alternate days out in the enclosure with the hybrid?)
The Hyena story is not a rumour it was told to the Bartlett Society Northern Groups members by one of the senior members of staff when we visited the collection earlier in the year.As for the Hybrid Peopard it has been moved back out to tha enclosure in the middle of the Arrica reserve and is not down with the Amurs.
Wmsp has Amur leopards, since wen. last 2007 i went, the waz the african leopard, but no amur, pleze tell mee more info