ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULT - MARWELL ZOO

Another university project ive had to do, is pretending to be an Environmental Consultant investigating Marwell Zoo and its suitability in terms of active conservation efforts.

A Brief History of Marwell:

Marwell Zoo covers 140 acres in Hampshire. It is situated in the estate of Marwell Hall, which was built around 1320 by Walter Woodlock. Ownership passed to the Seymour family in the 1500's and it is believed to be the place Henry VIII courted Jane Seymour. During WWII, an area of the estate was used as an airfield.

Marwell Hall

The zoo was founded by John Knowles and opened in 1972. It was one of the earliest zoos in Europe to place an emphasis on animal conservation. In 1977 a male giraffe tore a muscle and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Press suggested this occurred during mating. Attempts to help him to his feet failed and it became an international news story. He died of a heart attack. The publicity turned Marwell into a major tourist attraction when the female gave birth.

In 1999, Marwell lost all its penguins (22 African and 5 Macaroni) to Avian Malaria. Marwell was the only zoo to lose its entire colony. It was re-stocked with Humboldt penguins, which are endangered in the wild but common in captivity.

In 2003, after constructing a new enclosure for Amur leopards, a female escaped from its enclosure and fell from a tree to its death. The female was replaced and a cub born in 2005. The cub escaped from its enclosure into the male’s enclosure and was killed. On 18^th November 2007, a female Amur leopard cub was born as a result of a European Conservation Breeding Programme.

Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) cub

Marwell Zoo is home to over 1200 animals and 235 species. They have the largest collection of ungulates in the UK.

A bit of conservation history at Marwell:

Marwell Preservation Trust was established in 1972 to manage Marwell Zoological Park. A complementary education service supporting wildlife conservation and environmental goals was subsequently developed and the Trust established a record of supporting a range of in-situ conservation initiatives. Recently, the Trust invested resources to establish and develop its own portfolio of international conservation projects. Its new identity of Marwell Wildlife seeks to address causes of extinction and manage vulnerable populations of threatened species to ensure their survival.



Current projects include:

BRITISH WILDLIFE - Marwell contributes to the conservation of biodiversity in Hampshire and the surrounding counties of southern England. Beginning with responsible stewardship of the land owned by Marwell, habitat and species restoration projects and biological surveys are undertaken and monitoring to evaluate the impacts of land management. Marwell works formally within protected areas.

SAHARA - Long term aim is to reintroduce Scimitar-Horned Oryx back into the Sahara. Marwell works with like-minded organisations and plays an active role in establishing and developing the Saharan Conservation Fund, which aims to conserve the wildlife within the Sahara and the surrounding grasslands.

Scimitar-Horned (Oryx dammah) Oryx

KENYA - The flagship for work in north Kenya is the Grevy’s Zebra, which is threatened by competition from livestock, habitat degradation and hunting. The aim is to help secure the future as part of a broader contribution to the conservation of its ecosystem. Marwell is supporting the national strategy for Grevy’s zebra conservation and the work is also supported by the Dutch Zoo Conservation Fund.

Grevy's (Equus grevyi) Zebra

ZIMBABWE - the Marwell Zimbabwe Trust (MZT) was established in 1977. it makes long-term contributions to the conservation of some of Zimbabwe’s most critical wildlife resources. It works with the Parks & Wildlife Management Authority on an agreed plan for the conservation of the country’s rhino populations. It also has a mandate to determine the population size and distribution of cheetah and to reduce human-predator conflict. An important function of the MZT is to provide opportunities for the training and development of local conservation professionals. MZT is based at Dambari Field Station near Bulawago.


In 2009, Marwell Zoo:

·         Did a review of national and international biodiversity conservation programmes.

·         Supported development of a new plan for MZT.

·         Did post-release monitoring of the addax and Scimitar-Horned Oryx in Tunisia.

·         Did ecological monitoring surveys and habitat restoration of Eelmoor Marsh SSSI in Hampshire.

·         Captive bred and released 65 sand lizards on heathlands in Dorset.

Sand Lizard (Lacerta agilis)

Environment: In 2009, Marwell used 3.5% less energy, including 5% efficiency in heating animal houses, reduced waste by 20% and increased recycling by 88%.