Easy as one, two, three

After a raft of new arrivals over the summer our Hoofstock team has been carefully picking the perfect names for some of the zoo’s youngest residents.

Amongst the youngsters receiving a new name are the red river hoglets, born in July, African Wild Ass and Grevy’s zebra born in August, a Kirk’s dik-dik born in September as well as a sitatunga born in October.

They have all settled into life at Marwell well, bonding with their mothers and getting to know their extended family groups.

Red River Hoglets

We welcomed three little piglets in July and they’ve been going from strength to strength with mother, Lisala, father Kermit and big brother Matonda who puts up with a lot.

The triplets are growing quickly and guests will be starting to notice the changes in their coat patterns as their vivid markings start to fade.

They’ve been given Swahili names – Moja, Mbili and Tatu meaning One, Two, Three, so they’ll always be linked as triplets.

African Wild Ass

In August we announced the arrival of one of the rarest mammals on the planet, a Critically Endangered African wild ass.

The foal quickly became a favourite with guests, particularly those with photographic skills, thanks to it’s energetic displays and large floppy ears.

Keepers have now confirmed he’s a boy, and they’ve named him Qalin, which means silver, to reflect that he’s the 25^th African wild ass foal to have been born at Marwell.

Grevy’s zebra

Keepers were surprised to turn up for work a week later to another new arrival, this time a Grevy’s zebra foal, born shortly before everyone arrived for work.

The foal has now been confirmed as female and in accordance with the naming conventions for Grevy’s at Marwell she’s been named Xyla.

Grevy’s are named a little like storms because keepers work through the alphabet when naming them.  The previous foal was Windsor, born in 2022 in the late Queen’s jubilee year.

Kirks dik-dik

Only the second Kirk’s dik-dik ever to have been born at Marwell this tiny new arrival proved tricky to spot for the first couple of months.

Born to mother, Caramel and father, Jos, Keepers have now confirmed that this lovely bundle of joy is a boy and they’ve given him the name Aadan.

Sitatunga calf

Amongst the most shy of all of the animals at Marwell, our Sitatunga welcomed an unseasonal new arrival in October.

With weather conditions very wet we’re pleased to say he’s been very sensible and has been warming up under the heat lamps in his house regularly.

He’s now often seen out with the rest of the group and is gaining in confidence every day.

Born to father Tumnus and mother Winnie, this little one has been given a name that compliments his mum’s beautifully – Dubu, meaning Bear in Swahili.

Don’t forget:

Guests can visit all of these animals plus Pumpkin the banteng calf and Nkutu the okapi calf between 1pm and 4pm on the day of their Glow Marwell booking and members can visit between 1pm and 4pm on Glow Marwell dates.

Don’t forget the zoo is open from 10am until 4pm on Sunday 24 December and normal opening hours will resume from Sunday 31 December.

Marwell Zoo, owned by conservation charity Marwell Wildlife, covers 140 acres with adventure play areas, cafes and ice cream stops as well as hundreds of animals including giraffes, tigers, meerkats, leopards and all three species of zebra.