March 20th is International Day of Happiness so I thought today I’d talk about some of the little things that make our animals here at Wingham happy.

Favourite foods

Spreads such as peanut butter and jam go a long way here especially when it comes to our bears. You can’t get much better than watching our 3 tucking into a peanut butter sandwich or rummaging through their log piles because their sneaky keeper has put honey in the middle of it. Many of our primates also enjoy spread, lots of sticky fingers to clean after that.

Nuts come in all shapes and sizes even as big as coconuts, which the porcupines (and bears) will happily gnaw on. All of these are great especially with their shells on as it takes the animals a little longer to get into the special treat inside. You will very likely see our parrots enjoying them as they are an important part of their diet.

As you walk into the park you may be greeted by a couple of white faces in the form of our arctic wolves, shadow and ghost. While they are wild animals rather than dogs they still enjoy many of the treats you may give to your dog at home. Pigs ears, tripe and those dried out chicken feet are among the many things our boys look forward to. Eating them is not the only thing a wolf can do with them either, the smellier it is the more likely they are to have a good roll on it.

Blankets

You may or may not have seen our orangutans fully as one thing they definitely love are blankets. Belayan is often sitting in his tunnel looking down on everyone with a blanket wrapped over him. We are very careful what type of blanket we give out as they will sometimes rip them apart. Fleece blankets are the best.

Toys

Tennis balls are also fun for many of the animals here and we go through quite a few of them. They may be intact but sometimes we cut them so we can hide things inside. There are other treat balls as well ranging from tiny ones designed for your cat up to big ones the horses and bears will roll around. I know I’ve said bears many times and I’ll likely say it again but that’s bears for you.

Believe it or not bubbles! Many animals here love bubbles (the normal kiddy ones of course, not the magic un-popping ones). A very unlikely creature who adores them is Luna our female Jaguar. The savage beast she usually is turns into a delicate little kitten as she pops them gently with her paw and nose.

The smooth coated otter ‘pups’ will scream at us to give them more bubbles which they chase after at full speed leaping in and out of their pool. I have not tested just how long they will enthusiastically play with them but they haven’t given up yet. Water pistols are also a firm favourite of our otters and it is definitely a funny sight watching an otter trying to grab the water in its mouth. I’ve also used a watering can to pour water over them and our girls will sit underneath it with their mouths open.

Insects

Insects are also greatly appreciated by many of our animals especially locusts, be it our primates, reptiles or of course the bears. Mika our female moon bear gets very excited and will chase after them. I have often put some in their wood chip pit outside and watched her charge full speed the second she’s released to where I’ve put them. I don’t need to tell her I’ve got them, she can definitely smell them. Don’t forget we have a wish list for our animals filled with things we know will make them happy!

Keepers

Now what makes a keeper happy, well that’s an easy one, I think I speak for everyone here at Wingham when I say our animals. Come rain or shine we’ll be here to see their happy little faces looking to see what we’ve brought them. (And maybe cake)

About Sarah - Head of Carnivores

When our previous head of carnivores moved on to another job, Sarah stepped up from her position as senior keeper in this section to take charge of the section as a whole. Her love for cats doesn't stop at work as she's also a cat owner at home.