News Archive

May 2006

Animal Health, Nutrition and General Health Checks

Keepers weighing a Pied Avocet as part of a routine health check We constantly strive to maintain our animals in the best of health, both physically and mentally. The keepers continually monitor the well being of their charges, which is no easy task; many animals will mask illness in order to avoid being singled out. This is a natural instinct as weak animals are always the first to fall victim to predators in the wild.

As the keepers work with the animals on a daily basis they know what to look for; subtle changes in behaviour, lack of appetite, loss of condition or lethargy are good indicators that something is wrong. Once the keepers have established that there is a problem they will decide on a course of action, depending on the severity of the problem; that could mean either closer monitoring, keeper intervention such as isolating the animal in a quieter, warmer area and seeking advice from the vet - or veterinary involvement.

As well as the keepers' astute observations there are other ways we can keep an eye on the health of our collection; several times a year we collect and analyse faeces for potential parasite burdens, occasionally samples will be screened more thoroughly for signs of harmful bacteria or infections.

Lastly are our visits from the vet; as well as the routine veterinary work, they also monitor the healthy animals. This way they can highlight any potential problems, or make recommendations to help us advance or improve our husbandry techniques.

Diet is also an important factor when it comes to animal health; we aim to give every individual from the smallest Leafcutter Ant to our White Rhinos a nutritionally balanced diet. Depending on species, diets range from specially manufactured species-specific pellets, to meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, leaves, hay and insects. Vitamin and mineral supplements are also used for some species, either in tablet form, as a powder or liquid, or in the shape of salt licks.

For certain species there are seasonal adaptations to the diet, for example, an increase in the amount of protein to the diet in spring is essential to get some bird species into prime breeding condition.

It is also important to make the animals work for their food to keep them mentally and physically active. Keepers use various forms of food enrichment; scatter feeds, hiding the food around the enclosure, food scent trails, and sometimes even offering whole fruit can prove quite challenging.

These are just a handful of the challenges that our keepers have to cope with on a daily basis.

Want to Help?

A visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park can now be even more worthwhile. By adopting an animal, you can provide a helpful contribution towards the costs of keeping and feeding the animals and supporting our conservation breeding programmes... click here for more information