They are down to 9 cats now. (lions) 3 prides. 3 in each ( unsure who is in whos pride ) But the individuals are Adel, Ares, Dani, Simba, Carla, Alisa, Maria, Julie, Crystal. cezar, Johnny senior and Johnny jnr passed away. Poss one of the females too!!
yes its a shame but i doubt lion country will ever be empty as in the future they want a breeding pride.
What have we got to look forward to... Project Polar finished (all 4 enclosures) Phase 2 Project Polar before Easter Arrival of new polar bears Extending the Wallaby enclosure Painted Hunting dogs in their full new enclosure Perhaps the start of the NOAH project (incl Indian Rhino) Wonder what else we can expect this year?
That would be nice but goes back on what they previously said - that they would rescue other animals as the money was donated for rescue animals. The prides are Adel, Ares and their mother Alis (was Cezar's) Simba, Dani and their mother Maria (was Johnny Senior's) Carla, Julie and Crystal (sisters) (was Johnny Junior's) As already stated in this thread Frida, the mother of the three girls also died, she'd been struggling for a while.
When i visited on the 28th December it was said at the Polar Bear,talk that it would be atleast 12-18 months if not longer,for all of Project Polar to be completed!!
That does not surprise me. Its a massive undertaking. They got on with the first one quickly so they could have a Polar Bear on display. Its not so important now to quickly have more. I wonder if after, say, the second phase is done, whether they might even fast-track another project(s) over this.
Possibly it went into a fund devoted to 'rescue' but not necessarily just Lions? i.e. if there weren't any Lions needing rescue, could they obtain breeding Lions from other sources in due course and spend the other money from fundraising on other species' rescue?(e.g. the Mexican polar bear)
I'm just grateful they were rescued and got to live their lives in lion country! For the "passed" ones and present. They are wonderful park, they have a neat collection. Land of the Tigers, Leopard Heights. lion country. Project Polar! I haven't been since Victor Arrived so must go back
No someone said, possibly in conversation at some point, that they would use those enclosures for other rescued lions. Things change.
The recent developments at YWP certainly sound exciting-good luck to them, there are certainly some other collections that should take note. I really should find a reason to pay a visit! I'm intrigued - Who owns the park and where does it get the money for these developments from? Does it get high visitor turnover? Who are it's closest rivals?
Presumably the ones that remain are the younger ones and seem mostly females. Perhaps they could 'rescue' another male or two in order to create more socially complete groups again.
If they do that, they would become the first new holder of Orangutan in the UK for many years, since Paignton in...(was it 1996?) and Paignton themselves became the first new ones for many years before that also. Like you I hope they get Sumatrans- there are insufficient holders(IMO) in the UK.
Regarding your final question, YWP really has been taking advantage of a massive gap in the market; barring falconry centres, there has always been very little in the way of zoological collections in the northeast of England. If one assumes you mean collections of a similar or larger scale to YWP - thus disregarding small collections such as falconry centres and specialised locations such as Tropical World in Leeds and the seal sanctuary at Mablethorpe - the nearest rivals would be the following: Flamingo Land, located 63 miles north of YWP but probably not a big competitor as it is a theme park first and a zoo second, and is rather more difficult to reach. However the nearest major collection north of here is all the way up at Edinburgh Zoo, 250 miles away! South of here, the nearest large zoo is Twycross Zoo, 75 miles away - followed by Woburn Safari Park 120 miles away. To the east lies more or less nothing but a meagre number of small collections and then the North Sea. To the west, the nearest major rivals would be Chester Zoo - 100 miles away - and Blackpool Zoo, 117 miles away.
The park is owned by Yorkshire Wildlife Park Limited - but there is an associated charity as well, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation. I have heard it said that one of the major original investors in the park 'owns/occupies a senior position in' the company that does all the building work, which probably helps with costs, but I've never seen official confirmation. Well, we know in 2014 they had 500,000 visitors by the end of October: Yorkshire Wildlife Park Anecdotally, it's rarely quiet in the car park! Not really anyone - which is part of the secret of its success. There are a few nearby small collections (like Tropical Butterfly House, which is much more than it sounds but still small, and Wetlands Wildlife Park, mostly small mammals and domestics), but the nearest big zoos are Flamingoland, then Chester and Twycross - both two hours away. It fills an empty niche!
It's also a lot harder on the pocket as you (generally) have to pay for a zoo & theme park combined. Additionally, I don't think it's always open for the entire year.
Flamingo Land isn't open for the entire year as you say, although in the winter they do have selected open days just for the zoo. I myself have taken advantage of this a few years ago and I plan to in the next few weeks. Saying that, the entry for the zoo and theme park is ridiculously high.
I think the arrival of the lions was a much bigger success than anyone anticipated and set them on the road to this success, along with a great eye for making the most of any publicity opportunities and delivering what people want in, as has been pointed out, something of a void waiting to be filled.
