West Midland Safari and Leisure Park West Midland Safari Park News 2022

Controversy at the Safari Park Safari park under fire after axing free entry for people with these jobs

 

I will be using my free return pass to visit tomorrow with @Brum. There was a message on the website that Giraffes may be off show due to the building work (which is a bit of a relief as they are such bullies and block the gateways until some one feeds them) and that penguins will be off show as well.

Does anyone know if that is due to improvements or is it due to the current risk of avian diseases?

I am looking forward to driving through the Indian Rhino enclosure. It surprised me on our last visit as I thought they would be a bit feisty (especially as it was a female with calf) but they did not bat an eyelid and we passed by very close.

It was also brilliant to park next to and listen to the Dhole.

 

As alluded to above, me and cliff visited today and had a rather enjoyable visit. The park was pretty empty so the drive through portion was an absolute joy rather than the heavily congested hell it can be, it also allowed us to linger at the rhino calves and the dholes, as well as just being able to meander at our own pace.

Stuff I noticed/think may be new -

European Glass Lizard on-show in the first enclosure in the reptile house, don't recall seeing them there last time but may be wrong.

Giraffes off-show due to construction work on their new house.

New lodges and African animal accommodation seem to be going up quickly.

Penguins were on-show despite us being told they weren't.

All in all a good visit with active dholes being the highlight, closely followed by seeing the lions up on their giant rock. Something I thought they'd never use and if they did then I wouldn't be there!

 

West Midlands Safari Park have now reinstated free entry for carers.

 

Update from WMSP

"We have made the decision to close our gates to guests tomorrow, Friday 18th February, due to the weather warnings for Storm Eunice
We're sorry for any disappointment caused to guests who were planning on visiting, but hope that you understand that our priority is to ensure that our animals are kept safe and warm while the Park is closed.
If you have pre-booked tickets, we'll be sending an e-Gift Voucher via email, so you can book online for another occasion.
We will reassess the conditions for the weekend and hope to be back open as normal on Saturday 19th, ready for half term!
Keep an eye on our social media channels for any further updates.
Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you back at the Park soon "

 

Male Red Panda has just arrived and his name is Sanka

 

Check out the rhinos in their new home Log in or sign up to view

 

Here's the TV Ad Discover it all at the Safari Park in 2022! and the news is from 15th April, you can visit the new African Walking Trail and see giraffes, rhinos & elephants on foot for the very first time!

 

as it's been really exciting I do believe about the future plans when I spoke to bintarong last year. The future plan is of course bring in new elephants so that they can breed which will be really good and more hoofstock when the unglate house completed

 

Only direct imports from the wild .... I could see. The hope for young elephant is slim and unlikely within the UK.

The new facilities look neat.

 

Namibia elephant import did say that quite a few individuals are still heading to a unknown location so perhaps West midlands could receive these elephants

"Another 20 elephants are still to be captured. Their ultimate destination is not yet publicly known."

Or what would be the best option in my opinion moving Howlett's breeding herd to West midlands allowing Five the ability to mate naturally with Coco and her son Sutton to form a bachelor herd with Coco, Impy, and Mchumba.

 

I did think the lack of young cows could be solved with this sort of solution, for example Five and Latabe at West Midlands and the Colchester cows, and a lot of other middle age cows originated from the wild. I understand not as many cows can come from the wild anymore but if they are displaced or orphans with nowhere to go then it wouldn't be an awful idea to obtain them this way.

 

Do UK/European zoos still import wild caught elephants?

 

yes but sometimes from other zoos

 

When was the last wild caught elephant brought directly to a UK zoo?

 

Would imagine (without checking) it would be the Asian trio at Woburn, arriving in 1997 from Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

It takes guts and determination and fighting the myth that African savannah elephant are on the brink and thus CITES requires a moratorium on exports. In reality we have over 600,000 Africans left with only bush elephants at risk or in much deleten numbers. As we are talking African savannah elephant I hardly see the justification there.

So, get off your high horses politicians and science buffs and give imports a nod and a big *** to DA in the UK.

The bigger and sadly emotions overplayed unscientific approach to elephant conservation in situ with this rationale is untenable.

 

Perhaps we'll see two planes in the sky pass each other, one carrying a herd of elephants for rewilding in Africa, the other going in the opposite direction, carrying rescued or surplus elephants from Africa to some UK zoos...

 

I really doubt any wild elephants will come to the UK - the EAZA have already said they were and remain opposed to the import of the elephants from Namibia to the UAE and have also said that these animals will not be included in the African elephant EEP.

Their statement has been included here:
https://www.eaza.net/assets/Uploads...022-3-Elephant-import-AlAin-EAZA-response.pdf

 

which means it'll have to be from other zoos and safari parks