SPRING 2004
Rainforest Magic - 2 Feb - 27 Feb
Our Rainforest Magic event proved to be very popular, with school visits taking place throughout the month. Children enjoyed a multi-sensory rainforest experience, learning why rainforests are such special places, in desperate need of conservation.
The day began with a slide-show and an exploration of the sounds, smells, and tastes of the rainforest, followed by a short trail round the Flooded Forest of the Amazon to see some animals. After lunch in the playbarn, pupils had a close encounter with some rainforest creepycrawlies, and finished off the day with either a poetry or arts and crafts workshop. As most of the activities took place indoors, the event was able to go ahead in all weathers - in fact, really wet days added a bit of authenticity! We hope to run the event again next year, so don't miss out!
Pupils from Ballacloan Experience some Rainforest Tastes and Smells
Arts and Crafts and Poetry Workshops
Look What We Made! Ballacloan and Bride Children Show off their Rainforest Collage
Life Links - Secondary Education at the Wildlife Park
Year 7 students from St Ninians took place in the Life Links programme recently, to study Animal Classification. Introduced last year, the programme has proved to be very successful, and is designed to fit into a half day session in order that disruption to the school timetable is kept to a minimum.
Students
from St Ninians Studying Invertebrates
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 A Closer Look! |
Baby
Panda News
The baby red panda born last year is doing well and is
now nearly fully grown, as you can see from the picture. We are delighted
to have bred one of these animals, as they are becoming increasingly
rare in the wild, and are quite difficult to breed in captivity. Mother
panda was not very keen to show off her new offspring to the many visitors
last year who came especially to see him, and who had to be content
with a blurry image on a CCTV screen. Nowadays he is allowed out on
his own!
Baby Panda with Mum Recently
Baby Boa Update
The baby boas born last spring are due to go to new homes in other zoos shortly - something of a relief to the keepers whose job it is to spend hours patiently feeding them in the tropical temperature at which they have to be kept.
One of the babies, Slinky, is staying at the Park to join his older brother Bow in the education team, and another, Tango, now lives with Tina our Manager because she couldn't bear to part with him! The babies have doubled in size since last year and many of them are pretty snappy and aggressive!
"Slinky" - the New Member of the Education Team!
Yum Yum! - Down Goes Dinner
Otter Antics
The short-clawed otters caused a bit of a furore just recently by making a hole in their enclosure and escaping! After some excitement exploring the Park, the male otter decided to go home for dinner; the female, however, got quite a taste for her newfound freedom and had to be recaptured by keepers. Apparently the many weekend visitors who were in the Park at the time enjoyed the unexpected drama!
Can't
Catch Me!
New
Garden
Many visitors
have admired the Oriental Garden outside the red panda enclosure which
Colin and David, the Park's gardeners, created last year. At the moment
they are working on another new garden in the South American Pampas enclosure.
This is going to be a quiet, peaceful area, where visitors can relax and
enjoy the Park's atmosphere.
Opening Times