Hello and welcome to the first episode of the turtle files in 2026! I know you’ve all been avidly waiting for the thrill that is learning about the turtles of the Reptile House, so let us dive straight in! One of, if not the most peculiarly popular turtles in the reptile house is the Chinese…
In October 2025 we welcomed the infamous Haggis the pygmy hippo to Wingham Wildlife Park. As she is currently off show on the new side of the park, I thought I’d give you all an update on how she is getting on. Now first I want to give some of you a bit of background…
Happy New Year, I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year. As we go into the New Year, many of us like to set ourselves new challenges or goals. Instead of asking my team what New Year’s resolutions they have, we thought we’d do something a little different and set some resolutions…
Since I was little, I always dreamed of working with the giraffe. Just like most zookeepers, I was lucky enough to interact with these magnificent animals during experiences at zoos and watch them run across the savannah out in Africa. It’s hard not to fall in love with them. There’s something so awe-inspiring about being…
As a zookeeper, you are rarely alone when working. There is almost always either another keeper with you or an animal watching your every move. Today I wanted to shine a light on how important teamwork is not only to us keepers but also in the animal kingdom too! The primate section is a team…
From a very young age I have wanted to work with animals in some capacity. As a child I wanted to become a palaeontologist, just like many others I was fascinated by dinosaurs. This was due to one of my favourite films growing up; The Land Before Time. This dream was then fuelled after watching…
File 2: Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) This episode of the turtle files has us investigating our largest turtly-cool resident of the reptile house, the Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). The alligator snapping turtle is classified as vulnerable by the ICUN. Its main threats in the wild are predation from humans, removal from the wild…
Hello everyone. This past month the mammal team has had lots of very exciting news. I’m sure if you have been following our social media you may know where this is going. First up which is one we are very proud of is… Naked mole rat babies. Now this might not be the most exciting…
Next Monday marks International Sloth Day, so this week my blog will be telling you all the weird and wonderful facts about our Linnaeus’ two-toed sloths, we have two sloths (located upstairs in the chimpanzee habitat); Sid is our male and Noco is our female. There are 7 species of sloth- which are split into…
I have spent a fair share of my life in zoos. Either working hard at the zoo I work at or playing hard at a zoo I’m visiting. During my time in these zoos, among all the captivating animals in their enclosures that get cared for by an amazing team of keepers, is an array…
