January this year is particularly exciting as we are celebrating Century the giraffe’s 20th birthday! As mentioned in previous editions of Word from the Wild Century came to us in 2010 from Longleat Safari Park, where he was the 100th Giraffe born there, which is the reason for his memorable name.
He is a popular animal amongst keepers and visitors due to his friendly nature and persistent curiosity. Always keen for food, Century very much enjoys his birthdays as he usually gets treated to something special on the menu!
DID YOU KNOW?
A giraffe’s tongue can be around 45-50cm in length!
The dark colour serves as a natural sunscreen, protecting it from the hot African sun in their wild habitat.
This month also saw Belle the Capybara turn 12 years old. She has been a firm favourite with our Junior and Trainee Keepers over the years, due to her friendly nature and so it’s only right that we celebrated her birthday in style with a hand-made cake!
Belle has since retired from taking part in encounters, instead she now enjoys the peaceful life living in a mixed-species enclosure with the Patagonian Mara, Crested Screamer birds and Giant Anteaters, going about her day at her leisure.
Even Simon Cowell was very taken with Belle when he visited in 2023!
You can find her in the enclosure at the top of the walkthrough, next to the Children’s Farm.
During our annual closure period this year the penguin enclosure has seen an overhaul of the nesting caves. The rockwork on the beach was removed, ready for new and improved nesting caves to be created for our penguins. This means that all pairs will have a better-designed nesting site to match the updated ones by the decking that were completed last year.
After a very successful breeding season in 2025 the four chicks will also be celebrating their first birthdays in the spring. On our social media pages you can find a video introducing each of the chicks as part of Penguin Awareness Day which took place on January 20th.
EXTRA EXTRA!
PARK OPENING TIMES: The Park is currently closed mid-week and open at weekends from 10.00am until 4:00pm or dusk (whichever is earlier), with last admission being at 3:00 pm. From February 6th the Park will be open every day as usual, from 10.00am with last admission at 3.00pm.
Upcoming event – ‘Sip & Sketch’ art class on Saturday 28th February 2026.
Learn to draw the iconic White Rhino with 2x Wildlife Artist of the Year, Tom Middleton.
We’re delighted to host this special ‘Sip & Sketch’ event in the Orangery in February with talented artist Tom Middleton. To find out more, please visit www.tommiddletonart.com
/sipandsketch or email tom@tommiddletonart.com. Places are strictly limited.
Cotswold Wildlife Park is committed to Rhino conservation and works closely with the UK-based conservation charity Tusk to protect Africa’s many threatened species.
For each ‘Sip ‘n’ Sketch’ place booked, a donation will be made to Tusk. To find out more about Tusk, please visit www.tusk.org