Latest news with #Species360
BBC News
04-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Whipsnade lion triplets are two males and a female, zoo reveals
The first health check of three lion cubs has revealed that two of them are males and the third is a at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire said 11-week-old cubs were doing well but one of the males had a heart murmur and the other was not walking as Northern African triplets were born to lioness Winta and Malik - both three-year-olds - at the attraction on 25 veterinary officer Dr Taina Strike said the cubs' mother, Winta, was doing well and one of the triplets would be "under close veterinary observation for the next few weeks". Winta was one of two lionesses moved to Whipsnade from Antwerp Zoo in May zoo said scientific studies in 2017 showed that of the two distinct subspecies of African lion - Northern and Southern - Northern lions faced greater threats in the wild and were therefore "in most need of vital conservation attention". Dr Strike added: "Not only does the health check allow us to assess their progress and boost the immune systems of the young cubs, but every opportunity to examine an animal boosts our veterinary knowledge and expertise, which we can directly apply to animals we and our colleagues around the world are protecting in the wild."Predators team leader Steve Merrick-White said the siblings were "already developing strong personalities – the female is really feisty and bold, whilst one of the males is a little quieter but can fix you with a good glare"."These three cubs are important for the conservation breeding programme for their sadly threatened subspecies," he cubs' vital statistics will be added to Species360, a zoological record-keeping software system used to manage the welfare, health, and population data of animals under human care. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
12-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Animals totted up for Marwell Zoo's stocktake
All creatures great and small have been counted at a Hampshire zoo during its annual process saw keepers at Marwell Zoo near Winchester meticulously log every mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, invertebrate, and fish in the official count, a legal requirement of the zoo's licence, saw more than 500 animals across 145 species totted up.A colony of Humboldt penguins, a rare okapi calf and a critically-endangered, cotton-top tamarin baby are among the new arrivals added to the zoos stocktake this year. The herd of Przewalski's horse foals, which were once extinct in the wild but have seen a comeback thanks to conservation efforts, also grew by four in the past other arrivals in 2024 included Warjun, a male snow leopard which came from the Czech Republic; and Cherry, a female red panda introduced as a companion for Tashi, Marwell's resident male red results are shared with zoos around the world using the ZIMS Species360 database. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
