The History Of Whipsnade Zoo-00-5636

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Whipsnade Zoo - the early days

In its early days after its opening in 1931, Whipsnade Zoo was first known by the name of Whipsnade Park Zoo and later Whipsnade Wild Animal Park. It is run by the Zoological Society of London; the same company that operates London Zoo in Regents Park and the charity is focused on conserving animals as well as their natural habitats.

The zoo's fist inhabitants were pheasants, jungle fowl, muntjac deer, wombats, skunks and llama. By 1932, the zoo's collection of animals received a boost when a travelling circus handed over their animals after going bankrupt. Many of these animals arrived at the train station in Dunstable and were walked to the zoo along the country roads.

WWII

During WWII, the zoo was turned into a place of refuge. London Zoo in Regents Park was in danger of being attacked and the animals needed to be re-homed, as the noise of the bombings was terrifying them. Ming, Tang and Sung, the world-famous giant pandas, were part of the group of animals that were moved but unfortunately in 1940, Whipsnade Zoo was bombed and sadly, a three-year-old giraffe by ...
... the name of Boxer was scared to death by the explosions.

Nowadays, all that remains of the bombings are a scattering of ponds throughout the zoo that created craters when the bombs hit and were later filled with water and various birds and fish.

Free-roaming animals

Whipsnade Zoo is one of the few places where visitors can see some birds and mammals roaming freely. The zoo is proud to provide visitors with the chance to see Chinese water deer, muntjac deer, mara, wallabies, Indian peafowl, junglefowl and prairie marmots. In the past parrots, cranes and macaws also had free range of the zoo.

Recent years

The ‘Discovery Centre' at Whipsnade is a huge hit with children as a whole range of animals are available for an up close and personal look. The primate, the reptile and the insect houses are all located here and small monkeys, crocodiles and various ants and spiders can all be seen here.

In 1996, a new house for the elephant population was built and the new paddock area outside was especially impressive. The old house is a Grade II listed building and remains at the zoo but became the home for the resident lemur population after being deemed too cramped for the elephants. ‘The Lions of the Serengeti' section is currently home to three African lions and the zoo celebrated after a successful breeding programme welcomed four new cubs into the world in 2006. An Asian rhino calf was also born in the zoo that year and in early 2007, a baby Asian elephant was born.

In Easter that year, the new walk-through lemur enclosure was opened followed by the birth of a sea lion pup. The greater one horned rhinos enjoy indoor heated pools and their new enclosure allows the general public to get close to these magnificent but sadly endangered species. ‘Cheetah Rock' is part of a conservation scheme in Tanzania and the zoo hopes that it will become part of a breeding programme for their nine resident cheetahs.

The arrival of Billy

Most recently, the zoo welcome William Windsor; AKA Billy the Goat. He was used as a mascot for the British Army for eight years and he is now living out his retirement years at Whipsnade Zoo.

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Whipsnade Zoo is one of many attractions in http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/. Bedfordshire on Sunday has all the latest information on http://www.bedfordshire-news.co.uk/.