West Midland Safari and Leisure Park West Midland Safari Park 2020

to start the new year off 7 lion cubs are born Randy lion's paws full after mating with 2 lionesses and birthing 7 cubs

 

Evening, quick question for the zoochat hive mind. Does anyone know when West Mids first acquired lechwe? Cheers in advance

 

Twelve African wild dogs escaped their enclosure during storm Ciara killing six Persian fallow deer and ten Barbary sheep.

African wild dogs kill 16 animals at West Midlands safari park

 

Very sad as I would have thought in a storm you would have locked animals like sheep and deer safely away so they were protected but maybe not!

 

I'm more surprised the dogs weren't locked in during the storm! The only good news here is that at least they were safely returned to their enclosure, which hasn't been the case with some other escapes in recent years.

 

A good example that wild dogs born in the zoo could be released into the wild again without any problems.

 

That should still be a very black mark at their next Zoo Inspection.

 

Are there no weather warnings in England? It is not the case that a strong storm sets in within minutes....

 

There were plenty of weather warnings, a week or more before the storm hit!

 

And more for this weekend too!

 

You can't just lock up wild deer and sheep- they are timid creatures that like the open and can't just be herded in unless trained to do so on a very regular basis. But yes, the dogs should have been secured before the storm. They have paid for this error though as the Persian fallow are the only group in the UK- this puts the number remaining down to about 6-8 I would think, but more importantly is what sex ratio remains- if more females were killed it is worse than if it was mostly males.

 

All well and good saying they should be locked up but they are animals, and theirfore cannot you exactly reason with them, esp if they are used to have 24hr access outdoors.

Probably dug their own den outdoors too, which they would head too instead of housing.

 

Nice to see a balanced comment here, rather than the negativity that seems to be triggered every time something goes wrong in a zoo.

 

I do think it’s fair though to question what could have been done to avoid this outcome and consider what lessons can be learned for a future where the climate is increasingly extreme and unpredictable.

 

I am sure there will do but its not as black and white as people on here have commented.

 

Which comment above is black and white though?

 

All the ones saying they would have thought the dogs would have been locked up. It may have not been as simple as that. Or it may have been but still talking about wild animals that can be difficult even in the best of scenarios.

 

Didn't want to create a new thread just for this but ive just booked a coach trip for here for just over a weeks time. This will be my first time here so anything to definitely not miss? My main aim is to see the elephants and Cape buffalo but anything else that is really worth keeping my eye out for? Dont know how much time I'll get on the foot safari side. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

I would just note that:
a) No-one has actually condemned the zoo for this, just stated that a different action would have been better.
b) It seems undeniable to me that the dogs should have been locked up, even if only in retrospect.

 

And all I have done is pointed out a balanced view to those views.

I agree with the second point but it just not as simple as that.