£100 to be precise.(In Thailand you can have an elephant RIDE for a few Baht!) The new 'Asian Elephant Centre' seems not to have been started yet- its being built 'this winter' apparently. Also planned is a very large building with seperate facilities(stalls and larger holding areas) for a variety of African hoofed species they are proposing to specialise in future. Other geographical zones(drive-thru) are also mentioned for the future. Somali Ass and Okapi are also mentioned but we believe that Okapi will not be obtainable for some years yet... With this sort of new Development, Woburn will soon equal Whipsnade in terms of their animal stock and they will enter a new level of competition for visitors- they are literally only 12 miles apart...
definately right about whipsnade gone are the bontebok, thompsons gazelle , musk oxen, warthog, bighorn sheep , moose, cape buffalo, lowland nyala and more. With all those huge paddocks i would have thought there would be more african hoofstock especially, the asian area is fantastic though, i would like to see banteng, elds deer, phillipine deer and vietnamese sika deer in there too, i am surprised there are no sika deer there as whipsnade were instrumental in bringing new deer into europe from vietnam along with mulhouse, munster and poznan.
werent whipsnade interested in Philippine spotted deer bfore chester got them. but i agree whipsnades hoof stock collection has lost the gems they once had.
kiang, Whipsnade do have sika deer in a big group (38 individuals) at present. I think it is the Taiwan sika, but they are not assigned to subspecies level on ISIS. I will check the ZSL annuals for you.
They also used to have a group of dark(black) Sika which I've never seen anywhere else. They were labelled as Cervus. n. keramae but I cannot remember where they originated from. They used to be I think in one of the paddocks to the left of the main walk from the entrance. I haven't noticed them for many years though.
i maybe wasn't clear i was talking about the vietnamese sub-species, they played a big part in establishing them in europe and do not have them.
I think the reason Whipsnade have lost so many of their ungulate species is to do with the early 1990's recession when London Zoo(and presumably Whipsnadetoo?) nearly closed down. Whipsnade felt the need to generalise and modernise its collection. Everything at ZSL became 'conservation' orientated and this filtered into Whipsnade too. Now they had to pay their way too so they underwent a big change. They swept aside many of the hoofed animals people weren't that interested in seeing. At the same time they inititated new developments and housing for the high profile species they intended to use to popularise the zoo- white rhino, elephants, big cats, lemurs etc. Many of the large hoofed stock enclosures still seem very empty as a result of that 'purge'- only the Asian plains area remains as a harkback to those days..
I just got a reply from Woburn concerning the WCCE. Apparently funding could not be fully secured and thus the original plan could not be followed through. Instead a new Elephant House is due for completion next month with a capacity of 12 elephants. No mention though of any importation plans to increase the current grouping. Any takers for going out to Woburn and find out? You can also then check on when the Somali wild ass are due in!
Uh Oh.... So the major Asian Elephant breeding centre won't happen. I guess they will build an enlarged Elephant barn instead. Still, they obviously intend to obtain some more females...
its good to hear of some news at what they are doing there, hope they can add a few more cows to the herd
Woburn are currently building a new elephant Barn- I believe to hold up to ten more animals. The structure is already up. The existing house for the three elephants they already have is VERY poor- a dark box-like structure with a tiny yard and no public viewing at all. The paddocks are simple but okay. The bull is not that large but he has small pointed tusks. All three were together in the paddock on my visit.
They obviously intend too as they are building this new house for an increased herd. When and where they come from after its finished, I have no idea. Maybe if they cannot import from Thailand anymore, they could add animals from the European groups which are breeding. Of course, there is the Twycross situation too- but I don't think those 4 females are going anywhere soon...
in 2005 i went to woburn. i dont think its as good as whipsnade. for us aussies who havent been its basically a drive trhough zoo, which in itsel is superb, but doesnt take very long. there is a smallish section which you can walk through, but its rather run down, and im sorry to say, a reflection of the mediocrish standards of many small english zoos...lots of rotten timber fences, wire and mud. it does have an outstanding lemur walkthrough though. on the elephants... the guidebook i picked up actuallu allocates a 5 page spread to the eles and their future role in the EEP. conceptual plans show a hugeish barn surrounded by vast paddocks, and set within an asian forest with a framework of timber bridges and boardwalks spanning pools and streams, accessible to the elephants. in a clearing it featured an ampitheatre, and what appears to be an indoor cinema centre. looked good on paper, will see how it translates down the track
Glyn- for an update on this look on Page 3 of this thread and read Jelle's post. It seems they haven't got the funding for any of this this and its no longer a reality.. Instead there is a new house going up to house a larger herd of elephants but not on the scale that you read about... That house is being built now.
There are some very good things at Woburn: *Walk-through squirrel monkey enclosure: a big hit with visitors, since copied by ZSL *Walk-through Australian exhibit: another big draw and since copied by Marwell *Drive-through bear exhibit: is this unique in the UK? *Drive-through monkey exhbiit: becoming rare in safari parks these days! *Elephant encounter: you get to touch the elephants *Rainbow landing: free-flight aviary where you can feed lorikeets, since copied by Edinburgh (right down to the title!) Sure it doesn't have the range of species that Whipsnade does but it's still got a lot going for it.
Bears- of the carnivore drive thru's this was the best. The bears, there are a good number, showed themselves well, sitting or crossing the road. There are wolves in with them too so it is a pretty unique display. Its set on a hillside with rough grass and bracken. Monkeys- very few monkeys were in evidence- I think they have four species but I only saw a few Barbary Apes and Patas. This would have been an empty reserve apart from the Bongo antelope..
