Longleat reveals huge plans to bring Hippos back

Phoebe Hobbs
·3-min read
Sonia and Spot called Longleat home for fifty years before they sadly passed away.
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Longleat has announced plans to reintroduce hippos next summer in an ambitious conservation effort. The 9000-acre safari park submitted their proposal to introduce a 'pod' of hippos to Wiltshire Council today (Friday, November 15).

If approved by planners, Longleat would build a new hippo house and make improvements to the grazing paddocks and Half-mile Pond. The park's newest residents would also have their own indoor pools. It is hoped that the hippos would breed and form a self-sustaining family, or 'bloat'.

Two hippos named Sonia and Spot previously lived at Longleat for over fifty years. Sadly, Sonia died in 2023 and Spot earlier this year.

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Simon Askew, Interim Chief Operating Officer, said: “We want to be part of the European Breeding Programme for this iconic species. Our hippos were much-loved by visitors and staff alike and we want to enable their return as part of our commitments to conservation and education of this incredible species.”

“Hippos were first introduced to Longleat in 1967, just a year after the Safari Park first opened. Sonia and Spot were the most recent and could be seen living peacefully alongside other animals that reside in and alongside Half Mile Pond including sealions, gorillas and colobus monkeys. Plus, more recently, native beavers who made the area their home.

“If we are able to bring them back to Longleat, they would have access to the largest free range water habitat in the UK for hippos in human care and seven acres of grazing land. Advances in hippo care means we want to invest in the modernisation of the housing available.

“Continuing the story of hippos at Longleat would enable us to play an invaluable role in raising public awareness about conservation issues. Longleat has an opportunity to become a key part of the European breeding programme for this species."

He continued: "This plan uses the space we have to house one of the largest groups of hippos in Europe and be a UK and international leader in the care and conservation of Hippos. This is significant investment for conservation and for Longleat."

Sadly, hippopotamuses have been classed as 'vulnerable' by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Hippos are also very popular with tourists: earlier this year, a baby pygmy hippo called Moo Deng became an internet star after cute videos of her playing at a zoo in Thailand went viral.

Longleat is located at the Marquess of Bath's stately home Longleat House and houses 64 species of animal, from aardvarks to zebras, wolves to wombats. Many of the animals roam freely and can be seen from Longleat's drive-through safari, which was the first to be opened outside Africa.

You can see opening times for the park and book tickets online.

In the plans submitted today, (Friday 15 November) it has asked Wiltshire County Council for permission to build a new hippo house on the site of the existing structure as well as make improvements to the grazing paddock and Half Mile Pond.

It will also feature indoor pools for the hippos and a classroom for educational talks, behind the scenes tours and group visits.

If planning permission goes ahead, the aim is to bring hippos back to Longleat in summer 2025. Wiltshire Council will determine the fate of the application at a later date

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