Jump to content
 







Main menu
   


Navigation  



Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
 




Contribute  



Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
 








Search  

































Create account

Log in
 









Create account
 Log in
 




Pages for logged out editors learn more  



Contributions
Talk
 



















Contents

   



(Top)
 


1 History  





2 Animal exhibits  





3 Animals  





4 Conservation  





5 Facilities  





6 References  





7 External links  














Marwell Zoo






Deutsch
Français
مصرى
 

Edit links
 









Article
Talk
 

















Read
Edit
View history
 








Tools
   


Actions  



Read
Edit
View history
 




General  



What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Get shortened URL
Download QR code
Wikidata item
 




Print/export  



Download as PDF
Printable version
 




In other projects  



Wikimedia Commons
 
















Appearance
   

 





Coordinates: 50°5935.39N 1°1639.85W / 50.9931639°N 1.2777361°W / 50.9931639; -1.2777361
 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


Marwell Zoo
Marwell Hall, March 2016
Map
50°59′35.39″N 1°16′39.85″W / 50.9931639°N 1.2777361°W / 50.9931639; -1.2777361
Date opened1972
LocationOwslebury, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
Land area140 acres (57 ha)
No. of animals1208+ (2019)
No. of species149 (2019)
Annual visitors511,000 (2006)[1]
MembershipsBIAZA,[2] EAZA,[3] WAZA,[4] IUCN[5]
Major exhibitsRoof of the World, Into Africa, Heart of Africa, Life in the Trees, Wild Explorers, African Valley, Fur-Feathers-Scales, Energy For Life: Tropical House, Aridlands
Websitehttp://www.marwell.org.uk

Marwell Zoo is a 140-acre (57 ha) zoo situated in Colden Common near Winchester, in the English county of Hampshire. It is owned and run by the registered charity 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[edit]

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.[6] 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.[7]

The park is situated in the estate of Marwell Hall, a Grade I listed building originally built around the year 1320 by Walter Woodlock[8] and largely rebuilt in 1816 by William Long.[9] In the 1500s, the Hall belonged to the Seymour family, and there is a local legend that Henry VIII married Jane Seymour there.[10] Between September 1941 and March 1944, Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft 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.[11][12]

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.[13] 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.[14] 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.[citation needed]

In 1999, the zoo lost all of its penguins (22 African and 5 macaroni) to avian malaria.[15] 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[16] 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.[16] 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.[citation needed]

Both the park and charity changed their name to "Marwell Wildlife" in April 2009,[17] 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.[18]

Animal exhibits[edit]

The park includes a number of themed areas, including:

Giraffes
Penguin Cove
A male white-faced saki

Animals[edit]

The zoo's exhibits in 2022 included (in addition to those mentioned above in the Animal Exhibits section):

In particular, Marwell houses a large collection of ungulates, including:

  • Arabian oryx
  • Blesbok
  • Dorcas gazelle
  • Grévy's zebra
  • Hartmann's mountain zebra
  • Plains zebra
  • Kirk's dik-dik
  • Lesser kudu
  • Lowland anoa
  • Mountain bongo
  • Okapi
  • Przewalski's horse
  • Pygmy hippopotamus
  • Roan antelope
  • Rothschild's giraffe
  • Scimitar oryx
  • Somali wild ass
  • South American tapir
  • Southern white rhinoceros
  • Meerkats

    Conservation[edit]

    A herd of scimitar oryx grazing

    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 to the Sahara.[20]

    The zoo has been involved in reintroducing wild horse, golden lion tamarin, roan antelope and scimitar oryx to the wild.[citation needed] 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.

    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 (critically endangered), scimitar-horned oryx, Amur leopard[21] (critically endangered) and snow leopard.[22] In July 2015 a critically endangered Sulawesi-crested macaque baby was born.[23]

    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.[citation needed]

    Facilities[edit]

    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.[24] There is a hotel adjacent to the park.[25]

    Wild Explorers Playground at Marwell Zoo, Hampshire, England
    Marwell Wildlife Railway

    The Marwell Wildlife Railway (MWR), was a 15 in (381 mm) 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[26] 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, but ceased operating in 2022 [27]

    Rolling stock on the railway was supplied by Severn Lamb. The only locomotive was a 2-6-0DH steam-outline locomotive named Princess Anne.[28] 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.

    References[edit]

    1. ^ "Marwell Wildlife New Visitor Record Set". marwell.org.uk. Marwell Wildlife. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "BIAZA Find a Zoo". biaza.org.uk. British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "EAZA Member Zoos & Aquariums". eaza.net. European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. Archived from the original on 19 August 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Zoos and Aquariums of the World". waza.org. World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Members Database". iucn.org. IUCN. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Building Marwell zoo from scratch". BBC News. 13 October 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  • ^ Knowles, John (2009). My Marwellous Life: In Zoos and Conservation. Book Guild Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84624-365-3.
  • ^ "About Marwell Hall". marwell.org.uk. Marwell Wildlife. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ Page, William (1908). A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3. Victoria County History. pp. 332–335.
  • ^ "Owslebury". Hampshire County Council. Archived from the original on 24 June 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Wartime secrets of Marwell Hall". Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Marwell Hall Airfield". Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "South Today > Tell Tom > 1977 - Victor the giraffe". BBC. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ Victor the giraffe. BBC. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "UK penguins struck by avian malaria". BBC News. 11 October 1999. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ a b "Rare cub ventures into public eye". BBC News. 28 February 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  • ^ "You can call us Marwell Wildlife". Marwell Wildlife. Archived from the original on 6 November 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Marwell Zoo announces sudden death of giraffe". BBC News. 17 August 2022.
  • ^ "Marwell Wildlife Penguin Cove" (PDF). marwell.org.uk. Marwell Wildlife. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  • ^ "Marwell Wildlife Conservation". marwell.org.uk. Marwell Wildlife. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  • ^ "Endangered Amur leopard born at zoo". BBC News. 18 August 2014.
  • ^ "Snow leopard cubs revealed at zoo". BBC News. 17 July 2013.
  • ^ "New arrival to send crowds wild at Marwell". Daily Echo. 15 August 2015.
  • ^ "Marwell Zoological Park". britishzoos.co.uk.
  • ^ "Marwell Hotel". www.marwellhotel.co.uk.
  • ^ See Marwell entry at Hampshire's Miniature And Narrow Gauge Railways.
  • ^ "Road Train at Marwell Zoo | Plan your visit". Marwell Zoo. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  • ^ Locomotive details at Miniature Railway World website.
  • External links[edit]

    Media related to Marwell Zoo at Wikimedia Commons


    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marwell_Zoo&oldid=1226554576"

    Categories: 
    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
    Grade I listed zoo buildings
    Hidden categories: 
    Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
    Articles with short description
    Short description is different from Wikidata
    EngvarB from April 2018
    Use dmy dates from April 2018
    Coordinates on Wikidata
    All articles with unsourced statements
    Articles with unsourced statements from June 2021
    Articles needing additional references from July 2023
    All articles needing additional references
    Articles with unsourced statements from July 2023
    Commons category link from Wikidata
    Articles with ISNI identifiers
    Articles with VIAF identifiers
    Articles with LCCN identifiers
    Articles with BGCI identifiers
    Pages using the Kartographer extension
     



    This page was last edited on 31 May 2024, at 11:33 (UTC).

    Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.



    Privacy policy

    About Wikipedia

    Disclaimers

    Contact Wikipedia

    Code of Conduct

    Developers

    Statistics

    Cookie statement

    Mobile view



    Wikimedia Foundation
    Powered by MediaWiki