1st October is National Hair Day so, with this on the horizon and to celebrate I thought I would base my blog on some of the uses animals have for theirs (or rather their fur). Camouflage The most obvious reason for an animal’s fur is camouflage. This is extremely important for predators as they need…
We have been very busy training new behaviours including crate training with many species recently and I wanted to update you on what the animals have been learning. Macaws So, I’ve been making friends with the macaws and teaching them to follow the target. They’ve picked it up nicely and allowed me to move onto…
If you remember from a previous blog of mine that majority of the primate keepers’ least favourite job is cleaning the Mandrills. Since then, we have a new keeper, Holly, who has fallen hard for the cuteness of the mandrill troop. So, she has asked me to write a blog about them and here we…
Our meerkat mob recently went from 6 to 10. Last year we welcomed 3 pups into the group however this year we went one better with 4 being born. The group includes Ken (Alpha male), Kiara (Alpha female), Pinkie, Axe, Bo, Koshka and then the 4 pups. However, we don’t know the genders at the…
I’ve got another Guess Who for you this week (find my previous Guess Who here). This time all the animals are found here at Wingham to give it a zookeeper week theme. All the answers can be found at the bottom for you. 1:• I come in lots of colours• I love to make a…
This blog is going to focus on training for blood draws. This is being undergone on several species at the park and hopeful many more in the future. Why do we need to take blood? Blood samples can give an insight into the health of the animal. They can be taken from a healthy animal…
This week I’ve found it difficult to decide what to write this blog about. Not because I was stumped on ideas but because I actually had several ideas up my sleeve! However, I think there’s one topic you’d like to be updated on since his arrival at the park. It just means my other topics…
You may be wondering what we feed our leaf eating (browse) animals during our winter months when there are much fewer leaves available for them to eat. Well, the answer is browse silage, but what is it? First there are a few questions to ask, beginning with; What is a browse feeder? Within the animal…
On Friday 20th May 2022 we will be celebrating World Bee Day. These celebrations are in aid of raising awareness about the threats to these pollinators. In the UK there are more than 250 species of bees often seen buzzing from flower to flower. For me it’s as difficult to imagine a life without bees as it…
28th April is National Superhero Day and what makes a good superhero? Well, super powers of course! While we consider all the superpowers we could possibly have, many animals already have some. Ok, so I’m not talking X-ray eyes or laser beams but they’re still pretty amazing. Naturally, I’ve got to look at my own…
