News Archive

Where do our Animals come from?

Louise Peat worked as a keeper in the Walled Garden for nine years, before becoming the Park's Registrar in 2003. This new post gives her responsibility for all animal transactions between the Park and other zoos or breeders (there were 455 such transactions in 2003 alone). She also organises all the Park's animal records, work experience volunteers, updating of our web site and many other tasks. Here she answers some of the more frequently asked questions about her work.

Several questions are asked by visitors about our animals, such as, where do we get our animals from? What happens to the animals we breed at the Park? and How much do certain animals cost? They are often surprised at the answers ...

Zoo animals are rarely sold, the majority being loaned, traded, exchanged or donated between Zoological collections, often as part of co-ordinated UK, European or International breeding programmes. Before we can move any animal to another collection, we must first ensure that it is not related to any prospective mate at its destination. This is important because many of the species we keep are endangered and some are on the verge of extinction in their natural habitats, so genetic diversity is vital. To use a geeky analogy, if your computer crashes you can restore your data using a back-up disc after the initial problem has been resolved: without that back-up disc your valuable information is lost forever.

Similarly, zoos aim to maintain a healthy back-up of an animal species.

Breeding Prospects Optimised

Because zoos share the same aims, we work together with the aid of individuals (usually keepers or scientists on the staff of a zoo), who maintain studbooks for each species to make sure that the breeding prospects of those endangered species in captivity are optimised. The studbook holder monitors the total captive population of their species and recommends which animals should be paired in order to maintain a healthy unrelated stock, thereby ensuring a viable captive population. This studbook system has become so successful that for several species kept and bred here at the Park such as the Amur Leopard, Asiatic Lions, Pink Pigeons and Bali Mynahs there are now more individuals in zoos than there are in the wild.

There is an immense sense of satisfaction in the knowledge that an animal bred at the Park is playing an important role in the survival of its species.

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