Marwell07-house.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Marwell Zoo is a zoo situated in Colden Common near
Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, in the English county of Hampshire. It is owned and run by the
registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...
Marwell Wildlife. The zoo is home to 1,208 animals of 149 species. The charity undertakes a range of educational and conservation activities, with a particular focus on Africa in addition to work from its base.


History

The zoo was founded by Dr John Knowles, opening in 1972. He sold a Rolls-Royce of his to buy some zebras. It was one of the earliest zoos in Europe to place an emphasis on animal conservation. Within a few years of its establishment, it became an important breeding centre for several species, some (e.g. the Mongolian wild horse) already extinct in the wild, others (e.g. the snow leopard and Siberian tiger) close to extinction. The park is situated in the estate of Marwell Hall, a Grade I listed building originally built around the year 1320 by Walter Woodlock and largely rebuilt in 1816 by William Long. In the 1500s, the Hall belonged to the Seymour family, and there is a local legend that
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
married Jane Seymour there. Between September 1941 and March 1944,
Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer of the World War II era. They were primarily a repair and overhaul shop, but also a construction shop for other companies' designs, notably the Supermarine Seafire. The company also unde ...
used the area (part of the managing director's personal estate) as an airfield to support the manufacture of military aircraft at its nearby factory in Eastleigh. After the end of World War II, the area was returned to agricultural use until the establishment of the zoo. In 1977, a giraffe called Victor tore a muscle in his leg, collapsed on his stomach, and was unable to get up. The press suggested that he had slipped while trying to mate and compared his situation to the splits. All attempts to get him on his feet failed, and his plight became a major international news story. Portsmouth Dockyard made a hoist to attempt to raise him onto his feet. He died of a heart attack very shortly afterward in the arms of his keeper Ruth. The publicity turned Marwell into a major tourist attraction, and interest was revived the following summer, when Victor's mate, Dribbles, gave birth to a female calf named Victoria. In 1991 Dr John Knowles was appointed an OBE for services to conservation. In 1999, the zoo lost all of its penguins (22 African and 5 macaroni) to avian malaria. There were other cases in the UK but Marwell was the only zoo to lose its entire colony, which had arrived only two and a half years before to stock the new ''Penguin World'' exhibit. After consulting with experts, the exhibit was restocked with Humboldt penguins, which whilst endangered in the wild, are present in greater numbers in captivity. In 2003, after constructing a new enclosure for critically endangered Amur leopards, a female leopard (Jade) escaped and fell from a tree to her death after being shot with a tranquiliser dart only days before the official opening of the exhibit. Following a replacement after the death of Jade, in 2005 the first cub born to the new Amur leopard pair, Amirah, escaped into the male's enclosure and was killed by her father. On 18 November 2007, a female Amur leopard cub (named Kiska following a public vote) was born as a result of a European Conservation Breeding Programme. Both the park and charity changed their name to "Marwell Wildlife" in April 2009, to promote awareness of conservation work beyond the park. The charity had previously been called the Marwell Preservation Trust, and the park had been Marwell Zoological Park. In August 2022 another female giraffe died unexpectedly.


Animal exhibits

The park includes a number of themed areas, including: *Roof of the World is themed along the Himalayan mountain range and exhibits snow leopards in a naturalistic environment. *Lemur Loop is a walkthrough exhibit that opened in 2017 and allows guests to get up close to the primates. It is home to black-and-white ruffed lemurs, crowned lemurs and
ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' ge ...
s. *Penguin Cove was refurbished in 2012 and is home to 14 Humboldt penguins * Aridlands is home to addax, Arabian oryx, Przewalski's horses,
meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...
s and yellow mongooses. * Fur, Feathers & Scales, formerly Australian Brush Walk was redeveloped in 2015 and currently includes a walk-through aviary for African birds (including hamerkop, waldrapp ibis, village weaver, Mount Omei liocichla and Madagascar teal), Cold Blooded Corner, a reptile house housing rare species' such as Gila monster and Solomon Islands skink, a
partula snail Partula may refer to: * ''Partula'' (gastropod), a genus of snails of the family Partulidae *Partula, a Roman goddess of childbirth; see List of Roman birth and childhood deities In ancient Roman religion, birth and childhood deities were thoug ...
unit, Egyptian tortoises and swift parrot aviaries. 2019 also saw the redevelopment of an enclosure for the red pandas. * Life Amongst the Trees is home to siamangs,
Asian small-clawed otter The Asian small-clawed otter (''Aonyx cinereus''), also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its web ...
s, binturong, golden-headed lion tamarins,
bearded emperor tamarin The bearded emperor tamarin (''Saguinus imperator subgrisescens'') is one of the two subspecies of the emperor tamarin. It is mostly found in the tropical forests of southwestern Brazil and eastern Peru. This omnivorous member of the Callitrichid ...
s, coppery titis,
white-faced saki The white-faced saki (''Pithecia pithecia''), called the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of the New World saki monkey. They can be found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. This species lives in the und ...
, bokiboky and Visayan warty pig. Nearby live
lowland anoa The lowland anoa ''(Bubalus depressicornis)'' is a species of buffalo endemic to Sulawesi. Its closest relative is the mountain anoa, and it is still a debate as to whether the two are the same species or not. It is also related to the water ...
and pygmy hippopotamus.


Animals

The zoo's exhibits in 2011 included (in addition to those mentioned above in the Animal Exhibits section): * 219
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s of 59 species; including tamarins,
meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...
s, servals, Amur tigers * 181 birds of 37 species; including Humboldt penguins, village weavers, northern bald ibises and greater flamingoes * More than 50 reptiles of 17 species;
Kleinmann's tortoise Kleinmann's tortoise (''Testudo kleinmanni''), also called commonly the Egyptian tortoise, Leith's tortoise, and the Negev tortoise, is a critically endangered species of neck-hiding tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native t ...
s, crocodile monitor * More than 11
amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...
s of 3 species; including Rio Cauca caecilians * More than 26 fish of 19 species. * More than 720 invertebrates of 14 species; including leaf-cutter ants and Partula snails In particular, Marwell houses a large collection of ungulates, including: * Addax * Arabian oryx *
Blesbok The blesbok or blesbuck (''Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi'') is a subspecies of the bontebok antelope endemic to South Africa, Eswatini and Namibia. It has a distinctive white face and forehead which inspired the name, because ''bles'' is the Afri ...
* Dorcas gazelle *
Grévy's zebra Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), also known as the imperial zebra, is the largest living wild equid and the most threatened of the three species of zebra, the other two being the plains zebra and the mountain zebra. Named after Jules Grévy, i ...
* Hartmann's mountain zebra * Plains zebra *
Java mouse-deer The Java mouse-deer (''Tragulus javanicus'') is a species of even-toed ungulate in the family Tragulidae. When it reaches maturity it is about the size of a rabbit, making it the smallest living ungulate. It is found in forests in Java and perhap ...
*
Kirk's dik-dik Kirk's dik-dik (''Madoqua kirkii'') is a small antelope native to Eastern Africa and one of four species of dik-dik antelope. It is believed to have six subspecies and possibly a seventh existing in southwest Africa. Dik-diks are herbivores, typi ...
* Lesser kudu *
Lowland anoa The lowland anoa ''(Bubalus depressicornis)'' is a species of buffalo endemic to Sulawesi. Its closest relative is the mountain anoa, and it is still a debate as to whether the two are the same species or not. It is also related to the water ...
*
Mountain bongo The bongo (''Tragelaphus eurycerus'') is a herbivorous, mostly nocturnal forest ungulate. Bongos are characterised by a striking reddish-brown coat, black and white markings, white-yellow stripes and long slightly spiralled horns. They are the ...
* Okapi * Przewalski's horse * Pygmy hippopotamus * Roan antelope *
Rothschild's giraffe Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018. Taxonomy and ...
* Scimitar oryx * Somali wild ass * South American tapir * Southern white rhinoceros


Conservation

The main, current Marwell Wildlife conservation programmes include Managing Biodiversity in Hampshire, assisting Grevy's zebra and its ecosystem in Kenya; supporting threatened species in Zimbabwe and managing the population of small, vulnerable populations; and reintroducing the
scimitar-horned oryx The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a ''Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. A captive bre ...
to the
Sahara , photo = Sahara real color.jpg , photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972 , map = , map_image = , location = , country = , country1 = , ...
. The zoo has been involved in reintroducing wild horse, golden lion tamarin, roan antelope and scimitar oryx to the wild. The oryx was extinct in the wild, but more than 200 calves have been born and reared at the zoo since 1972 and many of these have been released back to the Sahara with animals from Whipsnade Zoo and
Edinburgh Zoo Edinburgh Zoo, formerly the Scottish National Zoological Park, is an non-profit zoological park in the Corstorphine area of Edinburgh, Scotland. The land lies on the south facing slopes of Corstorphine Hill, from which it provides extensive v ...
. The charity carries out a range of research and education activities and provides the office for the IUCN antelope specialist group. Marwell Zoo has had notable success breeding various endangered animals including:
black and white ruffed lemur The black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata'') is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller populati ...
(critically endangered),
scimitar-horned oryx The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a ''Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List. A captive bre ...
, Amur leopard (critically endangered) and snow leopard. In July 2015 a critically endangered Sulawesi-crested macaque baby was born. October 2018 saw the birth of a Hartmann's Mountain Zebra at the zoo. First time mother, Dorotka, is genetically very important to the European population and the last successful breeding of the vulnerable species at the zoo was back in 1997.


Facilities

The family attraction additionally includes five children's playgrounds, various food kiosks, two indoor picnic lodges, and Bushtucker Bites, as well as picnic areas on Marwell Hall lawn and various other areas across the zoo. There is a hotel adjacent to the park. The Marwell Wildlife Railway (MWR), was a gauge railway operating around the front half of the zoo site. It was commonly known as Marwell Zoo Railway, although its locomotive is lettered MWR to reflect the former name. The line ran for a little less than a kilometre, and was served by two stations, ''Treetops Junction'' and ''Park End Halt''. The line opened in 1987 and operated using the original rolling stock. It operated daily during school holidays, and at weekends for the rest of the spring, summer, and autumn. It is usually closed during the winter months. Rolling stock on the railway was supplied by
Severn Lamb Severn Lamb, sometimes known as Severn-Lamb, are manufacturers of various forms of transport systems and equipment, principally aimed at the leisure market. They are based at Alcester in the England, English county of Warwickshire, but sell thei ...
. The only locomotive was a steam-outline locomotive named ''Princess Anne''.Locomotive details a
Miniature Railway World
website.
There were four passenger coaches, each capable of seating 16 adult passengers. The coaches were roofed, but open-sided. There was a 4-wheel open wagon for maintenance trains. The Marwell Zoo Railway ceased operating in 2022.


References


External links


Marwell Wildlife website
{{authority control 1972 establishments in England Tourist attractions in Hampshire Zoos in England Buildings and structures in Hampshire Zoos established in 1972 Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire