Wingham Wildlife Park Wingham Wildlife Park News 2018
- Thread starter Quincey
- Start date
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
On Friday, 19th January 2018, at 14:40, some Wingham Wildlife Park staff were fortunate enough to witness the birth of a beautiful female chimpanzee, with Tara and Fritz being the proud parents.
Even though we have a strict regimen of using contraceptive pills, just like people use, the pregnancy started around the same time Tara rose to the top of the females. Whilst Tara’s baby was not a planned birth for the park, she certainly has a bright future ahead of her at the park.
Whilst getting ready to give birth and shortly after, Tara was separated from the group for the safety of the baby. Over the last few days we have been slowly putting her and the baby back with the rest of the group - a process which has thankfully gone very smoothly.
Even though Tara and the baby are in the main chimp housing, we will reserve the right to shut the building for a short period if we feel that the public are a little overwhelming for Tara or the baby during this time. She is a happy, healthy and beautiful baby so we can't wait to introduce her to you as we all watch her grow up with us!
Even though we have a strict regimen of using contraceptive pills, just like people use, the pregnancy started around the same time Tara rose to the top of the females. Whilst Tara’s baby was not a planned birth for the park, she certainly has a bright future ahead of her at the park.
Whilst getting ready to give birth and shortly after, Tara was separated from the group for the safety of the baby. Over the last few days we have been slowly putting her and the baby back with the rest of the group - a process which has thankfully gone very smoothly.
Even though Tara and the baby are in the main chimp housing, we will reserve the right to shut the building for a short period if we feel that the public are a little overwhelming for Tara or the baby during this time. She is a happy, healthy and beautiful baby so we can't wait to introduce her to you as we all watch her grow up with us!
I want to know if the group are of a pure ssp or not....!
Paid a visit to WWP on a gloomy yet 'mostly' dry saturday.
First impressions were mostly positive.The keepers are doing their best,and the park is still in progress.
I had recorded very roughly around 165 species in it's collection (inclusive of the odd few domestic breeds).
The Sun/Moon Bear & Lynx enclosures is in slow progress.The Asian Short Clawed Otter enclosure at the rear of the dino models,nearly complete.
Keepers cleaning out Spix's Night Monkey/Egyptian Fruit Bat/Little Red Flying Fox house,so not on show then.
The few downers i felt. The big cats could have had larger enclosures,and more natural enrichment,ie trees,plantings,artificial or real rocks,a pool for the tigers. The two male lions & jaguars were pacing,but with the former,it may be due to trauma from cramped cages prior to rescue?
There was signage saying the penguin pools water was green due to algae blooms,sunlight exacerbating it (not on the day i visited!) & the chicks dropping their food in the water but 'reassuring' us it was clean and they were working on it. From what visitor photo's i've seen,the waters been green for months.
A bird of prey was in an enclosure but had no ID plaque.
I do hope what i've read somewhere that the macaws had their flight feathers clipped are untrue (they could have been in an aviary covered by a mesh to allow them to fly?)
Understandably,no butterflies at the moment (out of season).
Overall though,i was content with my visit. The chimp house may have been warehouse like but 'seemed' sufficient enough for the small troop. The paths were muddy but that was due to the dreary winters day. Reptile House was ok.(Wish it was bigger!). Most of the animals were out.
Although bus services to/from the park from Canterbury was every half hour on Mon-Sat,don't rely on the return bus stops timetable.Waited 10 minutes past the time,but not too fussed.
First impressions were mostly positive.The keepers are doing their best,and the park is still in progress.
I had recorded very roughly around 165 species in it's collection (inclusive of the odd few domestic breeds).
The Sun/Moon Bear & Lynx enclosures is in slow progress.The Asian Short Clawed Otter enclosure at the rear of the dino models,nearly complete.
Keepers cleaning out Spix's Night Monkey/Egyptian Fruit Bat/Little Red Flying Fox house,so not on show then.
The few downers i felt. The big cats could have had larger enclosures,and more natural enrichment,ie trees,plantings,artificial or real rocks,a pool for the tigers. The two male lions & jaguars were pacing,but with the former,it may be due to trauma from cramped cages prior to rescue?
There was signage saying the penguin pools water was green due to algae blooms,sunlight exacerbating it (not on the day i visited!) & the chicks dropping their food in the water but 'reassuring' us it was clean and they were working on it. From what visitor photo's i've seen,the waters been green for months.
A bird of prey was in an enclosure but had no ID plaque.
I do hope what i've read somewhere that the macaws had their flight feathers clipped are untrue (they could have been in an aviary covered by a mesh to allow them to fly?)
Understandably,no butterflies at the moment (out of season).
Overall though,i was content with my visit. The chimp house may have been warehouse like but 'seemed' sufficient enough for the small troop. The paths were muddy but that was due to the dreary winters day. Reptile House was ok.(Wish it was bigger!). Most of the animals were out.
Although bus services to/from the park from Canterbury was every half hour on Mon-Sat,don't rely on the return bus stops timetable.Waited 10 minutes past the time,but not too fussed.
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Well, this has certainly piqued my interest. So they’ll have both species once this construction is complete? Any word on planned timescales? Any word on where they’ll be coming from? Little bit exciting!
I have read that the Asiatic Black Bear will be onshow in a couple of weeks , but haven’t seen anything about Sun Bears, I think that may be a mistake
Either way, more bears of any species is definitely a positive thing!
The bears are already there, but won't go on show until 'private viewings ' next week according to the zoo's website
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
Does anyone know how old the bears are? Looking at more photos on facebook makes me think they still less than 2 years old.
No - I thought the same as you but when I asked for more info on them / where they had come from on Facebook I did not get a response.
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
I visited today, will write something properly later, but both bears are fairly small. Not babies, but certainly not adults. The ruff isn't developed in either of them, but I can't find much on the web regarding their development. Based on absolutely nothing I would say they were 13 and 16 months old.
littleRedPanda
Well-Known Member
Wingham's facebook doesn't have the usual message option, but a form which asks for your email, so hopefully that will be seen in office hours.
teamflamingo
New Member
The new otter enclosure will be a mixed exhibit. They’ll be sharing the space with binturongs.
I visited Wingham for the first time today. It will take me some time to sort out my thoughts about the place because it is rather different from any other zoo I have ever visited: perhaps I will then write about the things I liked and disliked in some detail. I will confine myself to news here and I will post some photos in a few days time.
The Ascos are in their new home, but the water was too cloudy for the underwater viewing to be much good. The dens for the binturongs are nearly ready. The cloudy has been in her new enclosure for a few days, but is not settled yet - she was quite distressed at being shut outside in the sunshine while her den was cleaned (she could have gone to sit in the shade, but she stayed near the door). The lynx was much cooler about things. The bears look well. There are at least 3 more netted enclosures under construction beside the dinosaurs. I have no idea what they might hold eventually - they might be big enough for leopards.
The Ascos are in their new home, but the water was too cloudy for the underwater viewing to be much good. The dens for the binturongs are nearly ready. The cloudy has been in her new enclosure for a few days, but is not settled yet - she was quite distressed at being shut outside in the sunshine while her den was cleaned (she could have gone to sit in the shade, but she stayed near the door). The lynx was much cooler about things. The bears look well. There are at least 3 more netted enclosures under construction beside the dinosaurs. I have no idea what they might hold eventually - they might be big enough for leopards.