Hi – it’s Ava again, here with an autumn update for Wingham Wildlife Park! I visited during half-term with my sister Bea, my Nanny and my twin cousins, Isabelle and Grace. They hadn’t been to WWP for 5 years and I couldn’t wait to show them around!
When we arrived, we noticed a crowd gathered around the Arctic wolves’ enclosure so we wandered over. Two of the striking white wolves were lounging on the grass across the lake, now that’s the life! Arctic wolves normally munch on Arctic hares, musk oxen and seals, and live in temperatures as low as -53°C! At that temperature, skin can freeze in just a couple of minutes, so they need those thick coats to survive. Not much is known about Arctic wolves though, since there are so few left in the wild.
This time, we came prepared with mealworms for the meerkats, which we bought right at the entrance. The meerkats were a bit greedy even though they’d just eaten breakfast, they swarmed us for the mealworms! I didn’t realise the worms were alive so I had a bit of a surprise when I opened the lid!
Next we made our way to the red panda enclosure, my personal favourite. At first we couldn’t spot them but soon enough, a little red and white face peeked out from behind a branch! The red panda gradually climbed down, putting on a show for everyone. Those striking white patches on their faces help them recognise each other and communicate in the forest.
Then we headed to some of the amazing bird species at the park. I never realised how noisy the kookaburra was, he really does sound like he’s laughing! Across the walkway, the bright blue hyacinth macaw was also very talkative, showing off its loud squawks as it tucked into some breakfast.
We walked a bit further to the monkey area, where we found some metal bars we could swing on like chimps. Bea climbed all over them, I’d say she’s a natural chimp! Nearby the ring-tailed lemurs were zooming around their enclosure like speedy little race cars, having a blast. Inside the monkey building were the tamarins with their cute fuzzy faces, and the tiny black Goeldi’s monkey with shiny bead-like eyes, watching us closely. And then there was the two-toed sloth, which always seems to stay in the same spot! Downstairs a baby chimp was trying to climb the glass but then threw an onion at my cousin! Luckily, the glass was between them, don’t be fooled by this cute face!
On our way to the big cats we saw the Patagonian Mara, which looked like a mix between a rabbit and a capybara, though I have no idea where they got those skinny legs! The puma was hiding, but the jaguar was snoozing with some epic snoring. The lions, Clarence and Brutus, were rescued from a French circus in 2011. They have emotional scars that are hard to heal, and Clarence even has a physical scar on his hip. One of his eyes is darker because of head trauma, which makes one of his eyelids droop. Brutus sadly passed away from lung cancer two years ago. There’s a special page about him on the Wingham website.
Since Mandrill Island was nearby, we made our way for a Twix milkshake that was even better than expected! On our way out, we spoke with a zookeeper who explained the jaguar wasn’t really snoring, she thinks it was grunting to communicate with other jaguars over at Howletts Zoo! She lives between the two zoos and can hear jaguars from both. I wonder what they’re talking about!
We saw some people doing a “Keeper of the Day” experience, and one of them was my friend Joseph! I’d love to do “Keeper of the Day” myself, it looks like so much fun! They were feeding different animals and learning what it’s like to care for them. I might just add this to my Christmas list.
Since it’s Halloween, there were fun craft activities, too. We had so much fun decorating giant leaves we found around the park to look like ghosts and witches, getting covered in paint was all part of the fun.
That’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed hearing about my half-term adventure.
I’ll be writing another article in a few months – see you then!
Ava x
