For the last reptile/invert blog of the year, I thought we could give a little highlight to probably one of the most popular snakes kept in captivity and as pets: the corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus). With their inquisitive nature, relatively small size and the variety of colours available it is hardly a surprise that these…
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…
This week my blog is all about our amazing volunteers that we have working at the park. They are part of the keeping team here and it is important to us keepers to make them feel like they are as well. So, I’d just like to say a massive thank you to all the current/previous…
This week we’ve been celebrating Animal Enrichment Day! Caring for animals goes far beyond simply feeding, cleaning and housing them. Here at Wingham Wildlife Park, we’re big on enrichment and make sure our enclosures are as stimulating as we can. If you’ve not heard of enrichment before, this is a broad term for ways in…
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…
All around us there are signs of the change in seasons, from the abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables as the harvest season peaks, to changes in the behaviour of animals as summer birds begin to migrate. My blog this week is going to be about focus on the change of season and what that…
