Notes from West Midlands Safari Park

Animals can adapt to their environment

It could be argued keeping lots of species together is enrichment

Animals are fed from a stand, containing hay. Need to ensure all animals can reach the stand and are eating from it

Can feed deer and goats from car - Obesity and nutrient requirements must be maintained

Predator and prey species are near to each other. Were seen watching and observing each other through a fence. Enrichment?

Wolves and Dholes pace the boundaries and look under the fence regularly which could suggest they are stressed

Shelters all face the road - lack of privacy

Animals are identified by ear tags

Keepers are sat in cars monitoring animals in each section. Control towers monitor whole park

Baby animals are in road which could be dangerous with cars driving past - couldn't be released into wild as desensitised to human activity

Elephants are provided with a treetrunk for enrichment. Is it good enough? Purpose?

Severn Valley Railway runs nearby the back of the park. Trains regularly run throughout the summer. Noise? Fear?

Educational signage is not informative - just status, habitat, diet, distribution

There is nowhere for the White Tiger or White Lion to hide, so they sit with their back towards the road

If the temperature is cold, the animals who are more used to warmer climates become docile and sleepy

Giraffe was seen to have overgrown hooves

Rhino was seen chasing a giraffe, keepers had to herd the rhino to stop it. Stressful for giraffe

The Elephants learnt to pick up stones and through them at cars

White Lions are not endangered and not own species

Only the reptile house provides sufficient education. However, Mark O'Shea was bitten by a King Cobra so are not allowed to do demonstrations anymore

Woburn Safari Park fired their welfare officer after he claimed the Elephant enclosure was unsafe. The elephants escaped soon after!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/financialservices/8396394/Bull-elephant-escaped-from-Woburn-despite-warni...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-19329812

Animals listed on WMSP website do not correlate with the animals in the park. Enclosures also had wrong species in

EntertainmentRides, sea lion shows, interaction between animals in drive-through, penguin talk with feeding, firework displays (Appropriate??)

ConservationAdders in Reptiliary, at least 95% of donation goes to charity, Addax are rented from government of origin country

ResearchAllow HRP students to go there, tested location collars in park for use in the wild

The Aye-aye in the bat cave is listed in a studbook, though the keeper does not use him

C

Cheetah enclosure is on SSSI land - limitations

Notes from the visit

More info from class