This week my blog will be about our mischievous mob of Meerkats Suricata suricatta. Our Mob We currently have 6 individuals called Amara, Candy, Kalia, Sandy, Enzo and Kovu. They are all quite different in shape, size, colour and personality much like us really. To the trained eye they’re quite easy to tell apart. Most…
This week my blog is about our mischievous group of Brown Nose Coatis or Coatimundi Nasua nasua. Coati at Wingham Wildlife Park Our group is made up of 3 females, Penelope, Honey and Ice and are found in a mixed enclosure with the Raccoons. Coatis are a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), usually easily…
You may have been to Wingham recently to see the animals and their keepers going about their business. Perhaps you took a stroll along the top to see the pumas, jaguars and of course the lions. As you walk pass the lions you may stop briefly at the next enclosure and turn to the sign…
This week my blog to you will be about some of the spikier members we have on the Mammal section. If you hadn’t already guessed, it will be about our three African Crested Porcupines, Hystrix cristata. In the last few years we’ve successfully bred from them and some of you may have been fortunate enough…
In this weeks blog I’ll be informing you all about our Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat Phloeomys pallidus, not a common species within animal collections (we are 1 of only 4 collections in the UK to have them). They are also known as the ‘Cloudrunner’ as they mainly live high up in the canopy of trees, which is…
With record breaking temperatures last week some of you may be wondering how we help to keep our animals comfortable during the summer. Well, keeping cool can be a lot of fun and our keepers use a variety of methods to make sure our animals don’t get hot and bothered. With animals native to locations…
In this weeks blog it gives me great pleasure to talk to you about the colony of Egyptian Fruitbats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) here at the park and compare them to the ones we might find in our own back gardens. For me bats are such an underrated species but are so important to have in the…
Whether it be buying the animals extra treats, making things at home for them, coming in on our days off to see them or spending more of our day with them than with our own family and friends, zoo keepers definitely love their animals. Some even to the point of having them immortalised on their…
As an animal lover you probably already know about the unique black and white Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), it has captured the hearts of many worldwide, but what about an equally adorable and closely named species the Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)? The better known Giant Panda gets a lot of media attention and is the…
You may have heard zoos talking about enrichment for their animals but what does it mean? Enrichment is providing animals with different things to improve their environment based around their natural instincts and behaviours. As zoo keepers we want to stimulate the animals to get them to think about and enjoy their environment. We want…
