April 2008

TV Star Ruby Wax to open our New Lemur Attraction - 5th April

Cotswold Wildlife Park is unveiling its brand new visitor attraction, a £250,000 interactive walk-through experience, Madagascar.  One of Britain's best loved TV presenters and pioneering stand-up comediennes, Ruby Wax, will officially open the exhibit on Saturday 5th April at midday.

A year in the making, Madagascar takes visitor/animal interaction to a new level. Visitors get to experience the incredible wildlife of Madagascar and witness almost thirty Madagascan animals up close within the exhibit. The idea behind the new attraction is that the wildlife is as free to roam the exhibit as the visitors. Madagascar is a revolutionary way of seeing the island's many fascinating and endangered animals at close quarters, in this large, open-air exhibit.

March 2008

A new species for the Park

March saw the departure of some old favourites – the spider monkeys, and the arrival of an exciting new addition to the park – the Purple faced leaf monkeys.

Only found on the Island of Sri Lanka, this endangered monkey is facing many threats in the wild, most significantly the destruction of its forest home. Currently only found in three zoos in Europe, it is hoped that with careful planning and successful breeding, numbers in captivity can be increased. As their name suggests, this species is specially adapted to eat a wide variety of leaves that would be impossible for most other primates to digest. This provides keepers with the challenge of providing a selection of leaves all year round to keep the monkeys in good health.

Our female and youngster came to us from Belfast Zoo and will soon be joined by a male from Twycross Zoo in the Midlands. It is hoped they will form the basis of a successful family group and we have our fingers crossed for many offspring from them in the years to come!

March 2008

Goodbye Gertie - farewell to an old favourite

Many of our visitors who have been to the Park before will have enjoyed seeing our group of five Spider Monkeys, in their enclosure near the Owls. A particular favourite was Gertie, an elderly female who was one of the founder animals of the Park – she was in an enclosure in the Walled Garden on the day the Park first opened, Good Friday 1970.

Our group of females was made up of individuals from different sub-species, and under current zoo captive breeding programme guidelines, it is not appropriate to breed from such animals. They were all getting on in years, and so we have sent them down to enjoy a comfortable retirement at Reaseheath College, near Chester, which is run by a former senior keeper of the Park. This has freed up their enclosure and enables us to take on a pair of Purple-faced Leaf Monkeys, which we hope will breed here as part of this rare species co-ordinated captive breeding programme.

The Spider Monkey group was moved on 12th March, 2008. For some days before, Gertie had been a bit listless, but on the morning she was due to travel, we found her in a very weak state, barely able to stand. It was clear that her age-related health problems, of which there have been a number in the last couple of years, had really caught up with her. We called in the vets and very sadly took the decision to euthanase her. We really didn’t feel that she would survive the journey to a new home, but to keep her here, separate from the group to which she was so bonded when it was clear that she did not have long to live, seemed pointless and even cruel. Her keepers and our vets all agreed that it was very unlikely that she would respond to any veterinary treatment. Her keeper of 28 years, Bryan Taylor, wrapped her in a blanket and cradled her while she was given a fatal injection, and she very quickly slipped away.

It really is the end of an era, because Gertie is the last mammal (apart from various members of the Heyworth family!) who was a part of the Park on its opening day, nearly forty years ago.

March 2008

A Sad Farewell

Regular visitors to the Park will notice that our lovely old male White-handed Gibbon, Winston, is no longer with us. He died of age-related natural causes on 10th March 2008 at the age of thirty.

Winston came to us in 1982, having originally been born in a Zoo in Germany. He paired up here with Purdey, who is still with us, and they successfully raised seven youngsters here at the Park, of which the youngest, Jara, remains here with Purdey.

February 2008

A New Arrival

Love could be in the air for Akela the Cotswold Wildlife Parks' Asiatic Lioness, as she welcomes the arrival of a new mate.

Chandra's arrival to the Park is particularly poignant. Not only is he Sabu's brother, (our much loved male Lion, who sadly died in November), but he is also no stranger to the Cotswold Wildlife Park. He first came to us back in 1994 as a young Lion and we are delighted about his return.  Hopefully, nature will take its course and both Chandra and Akela will successfully breed soon, to ensure the continuation of a very important blood line of this greatly endangered species - the Asiatic Lion.

These beautiful Lions are now critically endangered and are part of an internationally co-ordinated conservation breeding programme. Recent studies have discovered numbers have diminished so greatly, that only 350 are now left in the wild.

Chandra was born at Chester Zoo in October 1994, came to the Cotswold Wildlife Park until 1996, then to Bristol Zoo Gardens. Our female Akela was born at Helsinki Zoo in 1994 and moved from there to us in August 1996.

Photograph taken by Tim Alban and reproduced with kind permission of Bristol Zoo

February 2008

Life in Cold Blood - Our Reptile House Re-vamp

We've had a major face-lift of our Reptile House, which will be home to some of the rarest and most intriguing Reptiles in the world.  The Reptile house has now been reopened to the public and the renovation work is entering the final stages of completion.
 
The newly revamped Reptile House has been kitted out with new displays, replicating each individual Reptiles' natural environment. Everything from waterfalls to deserts, tropical rainforests to freshwater pools will feature. Visitors will also experience the realistic sounds heard in the wild as they walk through the exhibit.

Some of the species on display will include: the deadly Gaboon Viper (which have the longest fangs in the snake world), Mata Mata Turtles, endangered Jamaican boas (threatened with extinction in the wild), and the striking Green and Black Poison Arrow Frog.

The Cotswold Wildlife Park will be one of the only places in the UK that visitors will be able to see our recently born Morelet's Crocodiles and Green Anacondas too.
 
Sir David Attenborough's recent TV series Life in Cold Blood has sparked a resurgence in all things amphibian and reptilian. Visitors will be able to see some of the Reptiles as seen in the series, including: the Mozambique Spitting Cobra, the Beaded Lizards (one of only two venomous lizard species found anywhere in the world), Argus Monitor Lizard (which Sir David described as "Dragons of the Dry"), and the Meller's Chameleon.

January 2008

Wolves help with recycling

Grey Wolves at the Cotswold Wildlife Park have turned Green, all in the name of recycling. Unwanted Christmas trees have become the newest addition to the Grey Wolves enclosure. Not only recycling the trees, thereby helping the environment, but also making a great hide-out for the Wolves. This way the trees have a far greener end.

Keeper Emily Boyes came up with the idea, "Wolves naturally use trees as shelter in the wild and as Fosseway Garden Centre were inundated after Christmas with trees, we saw an opportunity to do something positive for the environment and re-use them. The Wolves love their new trees. It's like Christmas all over again for them."

December 2007

Become a Keeper for a Day

Following the success of our Keeper for a day trial in 2007 we are now offering one-to-one Keeper for a day experiences at weekends throughout 2008.

Robert Estabrook, who participated in the Keeper for a day trial, could not recommend the experience highly enough; "it was the best birthday I've ever had, the staff were brilliant and made it a day I will never forget."

For more details and to book online click here

November 2007

Death of Sabu, our Asiatic Lion

We are very sad to announce the death of Sabu, our male Asiatic Lion, at the age of 13 years.

Sabu had been deteriorating for the last 10 days, having contracted a viral infection to which all cats are susceptible. Although domestic cats usually recover from it, it is often fatal to their wild cousins.

In spite of the best efforts of our vets and animal husbandry staff, Sabu continued to lose condition and did not respond to medication. To prevent further suffering, the decision was taken on 21st November to euthanase him.

The Park's remaining female Asiatic Lion, Akela, is in good condition and is being kept under observation for any signs of infection. The Park is looking into securing further lions from other European zoological collections, by whom a successful captive breeding programme for these endangered animals is being carried on.

October 2007

Madagascar NOW OPEN!

We're delighted to announce that our much anticipated exhibit - Madagascar - is now open. Come and experience this multi species enclosure - at close quarters - and discover more about the plight of endangered Madagascan and Island species throughout the world.

The picture shows Sifaka - the "ballet dancing lemur" who is one if the "stars" of Madagascar.

October 2007

Ancient Tree Hunt Comes to the Cotswold Wildlife Park

The Woodland Trust is working with the Ancient Tree Forum and the Tree Register of the British Isles to create a national living inventory of ancient trees in the UK. Members of the public can send in details of any ancient trees that they come across and this is just what some visitors to the Cotswold Wildlife Park have done, notifying the Ancient Tree Hunt Project of a number of our ancient oaks. Read more ...

September 2007

Reptile House Refurbishment

This month sees the start of a refurbishment for our Reptile House, which is a converted barn near the Manor House. It is a very old building so needs some work done to it, and will be much better once completed! It is expected to take 3-4 months, in which time the Gaboon Viper, Water Dragon, Carpet Pythons, Cuban Boas, Madagascan Tree Boas and Morelets Crocodiles will still be on show.

August 2007

Giant Amazon Water Lily Flowering

Visitors may be lucky enough to see the large flowers of the Giant Amazon Water Lily blooming in our outdoor lily pond in the Walled Garden this month. Read more...