Various pinnipeds were housed in the moat round this island. Yes Califirnia sealions were once housed in this exhibit; they were moved to the old Dolphinarium after the dolphins left the collection Indeed there were two seals of two species; according to the annual reports, the common seal was a male, the grey seal a female. Indeed southern sealions were housed here too.
Actually I'm not quite sure which 'island' we are referring to in all this- the larger round one with several tall trees on it(once held squirrel monkeys I remember), or the small one that is hourglass shaped with a few rocks on the top (if that one is still there)? The sealion postcard looks like it is the latter, maybe, from memory, the chimpanzee one too.
Yes we are discussing the latter which is still there and until recently housed otters not the former squirrel monkey island (which once housed gibbons prior to that).
Does anyone know who the father of the male reticulated giraffe Bashu is? He was born at Artis in 2012 to Iwana and was her second calf but I can't find any mention of who his father was.
Surely it was the Gibbon Island!!! Later big group of squirrel monkeys. Where would a catch-up for chimps be????
According to old maps in Lucy Pendar's excellent book the enclosure that housed otters and seals was an island for chimps. Different times!
As "ajmcwhipsnade" has pointed out, checking old Whipsnade maps confirms that the otter / pinniped exhibit was originally the chimpanzee island. This is also explicitly stated in the book "Whipsnade: Captive Breeding for Survival" (Elspeth Huxley; 1981).
I stand corrected! I certainly would not like to work chimps on that island. Pinnipeds and primates were seperate enclosures. I wonder if some maps of Regent's Park show the cetacean pools, projected at about the same as the Cotton Terraces.
Probably older than you think...... The book by Elspeth Huxley, mentioned in my last post, reports that the male chimp attacked the keeper (Phil Bates, later Senior Overseer), knocked him over and tried to throw him into the moat. The keeper had to spend several months in hospital recovering from his injuries.
On London zoos Facebook page it says three female otters will be moving to Whipsnade so London can have a new breeding pair. Great to see otters back at Whipsnade!
Why? Would be even better to have breeding pair and leave the knackered old stock at London Waterbirds? There were also Californian sealions for a short period in the early 2000s whilst work was done on their exhibit, although only for a matter of weeks so I am told
I first saw this pool in the mid 1950's. It was always THE SEA LION POOL, long before the 'Marine Mammals' dolphin pool. I think there were Californian sea lions and seals but at11 or 12 years old I was not wise enough to know! Does anyone remember pinnipeds in the old bear pit at Regent's Park with the automated seal rotor to excercise them????
Yes I remember grey seals in this exhibit chasing the automated fish dispenser. This pit was converted into a seal pool in 1960 when its previous inhabitant, the giant panda "Chi-Chi", was moved to an exhibit near the Clock Tower.
Are any ZooChat members, who are also Fellows of the Zoological Society, attending the Fellows' Preview of the new Whipsnade Aquarium tomorrow? I'm booked for the 3:00pm slot. It would be nice to say hello to any ZooChatters who will be there tomorrow.
Just to clarify it's three scimitar-horned oryx (not gemsbok) that have been born recently and, I believe, two more calves are expected in the next few days.
