These are pictures from a rather quick planned visit to Whipsnade with my girlfriend. The day chosen was new years day and it was certainly a great start to the year, we were very lucky to have such fantastic weather and it was pretty much complete blue skies for the entirety of the day.
As usual the group of lions were resting at the beginning of the day which lasted throughout, this was expected but it would have been nice to see them a bit more active! Interestingly the lions at Whipsnade always seem to spend all their time around their house, whether or not this is because they seem to be locked out all day and want to be inside I do not know, but they certainly make a lot of use of the roofed area around the viewing area.
Above is a picture of the entire group. Spike in the middle with the three castrated boys to his right with a female at the end. With two of other females to his left. The three males are easily noticeable with their heads being a lot bolder and bigger than the lionesses.
One of the younger males was a fantastic poser as you can see below, giving a couple of really nice photos. These three castrated boys at Whipsnade seem to have fared a lot nicer than the boys at Woburn. Perhaps it is because the group environment is a lot more stable, and Spike is firmly in charge, whereas the Woburn group has no male at all, so the testosterone levels in those boys may be a lot higher, due to the lack of a breeding male, but this will never be clear.
Towards the end of the day as the park was closing the house was open so the majority of the group went inside. Whilst inside they started to roar, and the in the house the noise reverberated around so you could hear it from all around the park, it was fantastic to hear!
Thought it would be nice to finish with a photo taken from the lion enclosure at the end of the day as the sun sets. We were very lucky to have such fantastic weather during the Christmas Holiday and it was a great start to the new year.
