Junior Journalist Ava – Summer 2024 Visit

Hi – I’m Ava, and this is my little sister BeaBea. Welcome to my first article for Wingham Wildlife Park!

I was really excited for my first trip as a junior journalist, and I hope you enjoy my article just as much as I enjoyed my time at the Wildlife Park.

It has been a few years since I last visited and there are so many new attractions. I was especially excited to visit the Nocturnal House, Mandrill Island and the giraffe viewpoint. I’ll also share some facts I learned about the animals and talk about my favourites.

My favourite new attraction was the giraffe viewpoint. I loved going into the raised indoor area to watch the giraffes. Most of them were inside, probably because it was cooler than being out in the blazing hot sun. One giraffe had very unique markings, which I thought were amazing. Can you spot which one?

While we were up there, we met Alice, one of the staff members. She was sitting at a desk with real hand moulds of five great apes: the chimpanzee, bonobo, gibbon, gorilla, and orangutan. Look how huge this one is compared to my hand!

Next, we wanted to find a place for lunch and came across Mandrill Island, where we sat down to eat. It was really sunny, and we enjoyed watching the capybaras swim and play around in their little pool area. Aren’t they cute!

In the lake around the island, there were turtles swimming around, which was adorable. When I counted them, there were around nineteen or twenty!

Next time I visit, I want to try one of the milkshakes at the café there – they look so good!

Another new attraction was the Nocturnal House. I was surprised at how dark it was inside, but as the animals are nocturnal, it made sense! Inside we saw bush babies, sugar gliders, mole rats, clouded leopards, an owl, Gila monsters and Egyptian fruit bats. These cool new attractions made my visit even better because you can see animals that would usually be snoozing during the day!

Now, I’ll share some facts I learned about a few of the animals. Pelicans: They can live up to 30 years, have a massive pouch in their beak and eat fish and various amphibians. Flamingos: They mostly stand on one leg, can live up to 50 years and don’t turn from grey to pink until they’re about 3 or 4 years old.

Next, I’ll tell you about some of my favourite animals (any guesses from my t-shirt?). The red pandas: The female red panda is named Mai Xlang, born on 20/06/2013, and the male is 3 years old. They spend most of their time asleep in trees, which is where they were when I spotted them. Did you know that red pandas are actually endangered? This means that there aren’t very many of them left in the wild. They’re in trouble because their homes are being cut down and sometimes people hunt them. We need to protect red pandas, which is why my Nanny adopted one for me at Whipsnade Zoo. It’s a way to help these amazing animals!

I thought the meerkats were very cute too, and when we went to see them, a bunch of them ran up to me!

The lions were also one of my favourites, mainly because of their majestic roars, which reminded me of Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Finally, the newly hatched tortoises in the reptile house were the cutest! They were so tiny and impossible not to love.

Lastly, here are a couple of top tips for when you next visit: Bring 50p to buy goat food and at the entrance remember to buy some mealworms to feed our furry little friends, the meerkats! I think Bea makes a good meerkat but don’t try feeding her any dried insects, hehe!

That’s all I have to share today.

I hope you enjoyed reading my article, see you all again in the Autumn!

Ava XX