Wildwood Discovery Park Wildwood news

Along with many other UK collections, Wildwood will also be closing tomorrow:

"PARK CLOSURE - FRIDAY 18TH FEBRUARY
The Met Office have released an Amber Weather Warning for the South East due to high winds caused by Storm Eunice, this may uproot trees or cause branches to fall. In case you haven’t visited our park before, we are in a woodland area and have an awful lot of trees!
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Our animals and visitors' safety are our top priority and so we have made the decision to close the park to visitors tomorrow.⛔"
 
Announcement yesterday on Wildwood's Facebook page that £34,952 has been raised to help reintroduce the red-billed chough to Kent. The funds raised will cover the necessary costs for the first year of the project, with the releases expected to begin this summer.

The new Kent population will be the first of several reintroductions along the south coast of England to join up the remaining isolated and fragmented populations.
 
A few recent updates:
The ravens currently have a brood of very young chicks, at least three.
Nesting behaviour from the white stork pair by the entrance is ongoing, hopefully they successfully breed again this year.
A trio of Lake Chapala Garter Snakes (Thamnophis eques obscurus) are currently on display in the reptile house.
the Ocellated lizards are emerging from their hibernation and are once again visible in their outdoor enclosures.
 
A red kite was found waterlogged at the park last week and taken in to be cared for; it has since been released. A photo of the bird and short clip of the release can be found on the park's facebook page.

Sand lizards are now on display in the reptile house, though these are the central European subspecies (Lacerta agilis argus).
 
A red deer fawn was born about a month ago.

The white stork pair had 6 chicks this year- 3 were parent reared and 3 were hand reared, all are now basically as big as their parents.

The three young ravens all fledged and have since left the collection.
 
Three of the young white storks hatched at Wildwood this year have now moved to Cotswold Wildlife Park. Here, they will be assessed and mixed with a flock of other young storks that are soon to be released into the wild at the Knepp Estate in Sussex.

Information comes from Wildwood's Facebook page.
 
Some footage from The White Stork Project's Instagram, showing the new cohort of 37 captive bred storks. 33 were bred at Cotswolds, plus there's 4 additional birds from Wildwood (the 3 chicks mentioned above plus an additional young female bred at Wildwood Escot last year, who had been living at the Kent Wildwood site for several months.) The three hand-reared chicks from this year remain at the park for now.

White Stork Project on Instagram: "This week we welcomed our latest cohort of 37 captive-bred White Storks to @kneppwilding. 33 of the birds were reared at our partner site @cotswoldwildlifepark but this year we’re also delighted to have received four birds from @wildwoodtrustuk in Kent, who have become involved in the project for the first time. All the birds were fitted with @btobirds and Darvic leg rings and eight of them were given GPS tags. All being well they’ll be released in a fortnight so keep your eyes on the skies next month! Thanks must also go to @sussex_emerald, @josiethebirder, @aldinamafranco, Jethro and Alex for their heroic ringing and tagging efforts - and to everyone else who made the day such a success! @durrell_jerseyzoo #storks #whitestorks #rewilding #reintroduction #birds #nature #wildlife #knepp #kneppwilding #birdringing #gpstagging"
 
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Swampy said:
Some footage from The White Stork Project's Instagram, showing the new cohort of 37 captive bred storks. 33 were bred at Cotswolds, plus there's 4 additional birds from Wildwood (the 3 chicks mentioned above plus an additional young female bred at Wildwood Escot last year, who had been living at the Kent Wildwood site for several months.) The three hand-reared chicks from this year remain at the park for now.

White Stork Project on Instagram: "This week we welcomed our latest cohort of 37 captive-bred White Storks to @kneppwilding. 33 of the birds were reared at our partner site @cotswoldwildlifepark but this year we’re also delighted to have received four birds from @wildwoodtrustuk in Kent, who have become involved in the project for the first time. All the birds were fitted with @btobirds and Darvic leg rings and eight of them were given GPS tags. All being well they’ll be released in a fortnight so keep your eyes on the skies next month! Thanks must also go to @sussex_emerald, @josiethebirder, @aldinamafranco, Jethro and Alex for their heroic ringing and tagging efforts - and to everyone else who made the day such a success! @durrell_jerseyzoo #storks #whitestorks #rewilding #reintroduction #birds #nature #wildlife #knepp #kneppwilding #birdringing #gpstagging"
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Great stuff - was super to see the chicks born at CWP this year and see their progress and such a good scheme for the two zoos to be involved in.
 
As part of a collaborative rehabilitation project with the Beaver Trust, Wildwood have taken in a pair of orphaned Eurasian beavers from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. They will remain at the park until they are old enough to be released back into the wild.

Information comes from the Wildwood Facebook page.
 
A new male Eurasian elk (14 months old) has arrived at Wildwood Kent. He arrived yesterday (12th October) and is still settling in but can be seen from the Wilder Blean viewing platform next to the bison enclosure.

Information comes from the Wildwood Facebook page.
 
Updates at Wildwood:

The red and most of the fallow deer are now mixed together; the black fallow are still in the topmost paddock, which prior to the fallow held the soay sheep ram.

The top end of the loop between the top forest has had the path removed and the black fallow deer extended up to the red & spotted fallow deer paddock. Visitors now turn left to view the elk then backtrack down the path between the deer & bison to continue round the park

A new male Arctic fox named Albert arrived recently, and is already mixed with the previous two foxes, Teddy and Flo.

One of the old pine marten enclosures has been demolished, and a new one will be constructed I think on the same site.

The wolf viewing platform is closed for refurbishments.

There are two pairs of beavers, in separate halves of the renovated beaver enclosure.
 
The pair of Eurasian elk (female Caramel, who has been at the park since 2013, and new male Jurgeon) have been introduced with the view to breeding them.
The article about this also says that there is a possibility that the calves born to this pair could be used in the rewilding of wetland habitats in the UK.

The article can be seen here:
Eurasian elk: UK breeding programme begins at wildlife park
 
DesertRhino150 said:
The pair of Eurasian elk (female Caramel, who has been at the park since 2013, and new male Jurgeon) have been introduced with the view to breeding them.
The article about this also says that there is a possibility that the calves born to this pair could be used in the rewilding of wetland habitats in the UK.

The article can be seen here:
Eurasian elk: UK breeding programme begins at wildlife park
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Do Elk struggle in the British climate IE; skin diseases or is it just issues with certain individuals? I know Longleat lost both their females and Knowsley lost their male although unsure what they died from
 
Embu said:
Do Elk struggle in the British climate IE; skin diseases or is it just issues with certain individuals? I know Longleat lost both their females and Knowsley lost their male although unsure what they died from
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Elk were once native to Britain last I checked, they should be used to the climate, so I don't think that's the issue.
 
Embu said:
Do Elk struggle in the British climate IE; skin diseases or is it just issues with certain individuals? I know Longleat lost both their females and Knowsley lost their male although unsure what they died from
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Very susceptible to parasites and quite exacting as to diet.
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Wildwood have announced the opening of a new enclosure for their arctic foxes which they describe as being the UK's first arctic fox walkthrough enclosure.

Information comes from the Wildwood Kent Facebook page.
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It is the former red squirrel walkthrough. Unsure if red squirrels remain on display at the park, other than the 'off-display' breeding enclosure visible over the fence by the reptile house.
 
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