Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens News 2024

Lafone said:
Enjoyable day at CWP today though it was rainy and cold all day up to the last few hours before closing. Pretty busy still though which was good for ticket sales. The gardens have started looking really good despite the chill and persistent rain.

Great to see a domestic Bactrian camel calf out in the enclosure with the others; looked like a very new arrival. Appeared to be from the same mother as the calf last year as the older calf was with them and they were away from the main group along with the male, but that's just based on observation. Very pretty youngster and good news for the herd.

Two of the Masked Lapwing chicks were visible and wandering around with mum and dad, am guessing the other one may not have survived but the two remaining ones looked good and were active, foraging around and then running back under the parents for warmth.

The Golden headed thrushes in the Tropical House were busy building a nest in the first set of branches near the entrance and there was lots of mating activity particularly among the Fody.

The building and works at the second Anteater enclosure has made more progress with a roof now in place and landscaping around the new gates.

Lots of ducklings have arrived on the lake, some wild mallards and what appeared to be young for a pair of Gadwall.

CWP reported on Facebook more than 80 white stork eggs have been laid so far this year and a few were visible during standing and turning, there was a lot of nest sitting going on so looking forward to lots of chicks!
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Love this time of year, birds breeding season
 
Strathmorezoo said:
Love this time of year, birds breeding season
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Me too! Great in zoos and while out and about on nature reserves etc too. Loads of goslings at Frampton yesterday along with first signets of the year for me.

I so enjoy the white storks at CWP and their chicks. CWP shared the egg news on the 19th so I suspect even more since then. Plus first chicks for the wild group CWP's get released to.

https://fb.watch/rKlSBQBYSE/

And the lake is great for young birds - perhaps we will see another red breasted goose this year and the bar headed geese might repeat their breeding from last year too.
 
Lafone said:
Great to see a domestic Bactrian camel calf out in the enclosure with the others; looked like a very new arrival.
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Thanks for sharing this and we will look out for the calf on our next visit.

Lafone said:
Two of the Masked Lapwing chicks were visible and wandering around with mum and dad, am guessing the other one may not have survived but the two remaining ones looked good and were active, foraging around and then running back under the parents for warmth.
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We have also only seen two chicks on our last couple of visits, so I think you are correct that one hasn’t survived.
 
Glad you enjoyed your trip to the park, it really is lovely at this time of year even though it’s been a rather miserable spring!
 
2 Pieces of March 2024 News Not Mentioned:

On March 10th, the zoo announced that (0.0.4+) domestic goats (breed(s) not specified) were born and are on exhibit.

To celebrate Mother's Day, mammal keeper Abbie introduces us to the latest arrivals on the farm! If visiting the Park, please ensure you check our... | By Cotswold Wildlife Park and GardensFacebook

On March 29th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a (0.1) giant anteater named Zena to the Jersey Zoo in Jersey.

Meet Zena the anteater! | ⭐️ Meet our new giant anteater! ⭐️ Zena is a one-year-old female who has joined us from Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens. Found from Honduras... | By Jersey ZooFacebook

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On April 26th, the zoo announced that (0.0.3) emus hatched which are now on display in the Children's Farmyard area.

We've welcomed a few new arrivals in the Children's Farmyard recently. As well as our goat kids, we're delighted to announce that we also have three Emu... | By Cotswold Wildlife Park and GardensFacebook
 
At the Wildlife Park this morning in lovely sunny weather with stunning flower displays. As well as seeing the three Emu chicks running around in a pen in the children’s Farmyard area and the young bactrian camel, we also saw two young ring tailed lemurs clinging to mother up a tree in the Madagascar enclosure. Haven’t been in the Madagascar enclosure on our last couple of visits, so I don’t know how old.
 
Cotswoldgent said:
At the Wildlife Park this morning in lovely sunny weather with stunning flower displays. As well as seeing the three Emu chicks running around in a pen in the children’s Farmyard area and the young bactrian camel, we also saw two young ring tailed lemurs clinging to mother up a tree in the Madagascar enclosure. Haven’t been in the Madagascar enclosure on our last couple of visits, so I don’t know how old.
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Sounds like a lovely day, nothing better than the flowers in the sunshine.

Great news on the lemurs, one was mentioned but two is even better! Didn't see them the other day as too cold, great to know they are out and about.
 
Lafone said:
Great to see a domestic Bactrian camel calf out in the enclosure with the others; looked like a very new arrival. Appeared to be from the same mother as the calf last year as the older calf was with them and they were away from the main group along with the male, but that's just based on observation. Very pretty youngster and good news for the herd.
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I still can't get over how lanky and adorable camel calves look when they're that young, it's just so cute bless.

Also my guess is maybe the mother is doing so to give the calf more space and not to feel overwhelmed? Most mammals do tend to keep their young away from other members when they're born to give the baby time to bond with the mother.
 
I don’t suppose anyone knows if Monty the male white rhino is still at the park? We are frequent visitors and noticed he was nowhere to be seen today. His usual stall in the rhino house was empty and had no sign of being lived in (no hay or water as usual) and definitely wasn’t out in the paddock as Molly and Queenie were out there being called indoors for the night. I knew he was possibly going to be moved on after the last 2 calves were born, but wasn’t sure whether it has happened already?
 
Bethany said:
I don’t suppose anyone knows if Monty the male white rhino is still at the park? We are frequent visitors and noticed he was nowhere to be seen today. His usual stall in the rhino house was empty and had no sign of being lived in (no hay or water as usual) and definitely wasn’t out in the paddock as Molly and Queenie were out there being called indoors for the night. I knew he was possibly going to be moved on after the last 2 calves were born, but wasn’t sure whether it has happened already?
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He was there last weekend (Sunday) though that doesn’t mean he hasn’t moved of course.

Were the cows and youngsters in the main house or the other one - he is usually out with them or on his own and not with Molly / Queenie.
 
Lafone said:
He was there last weekend (Sunday) though that doesn’t mean he hasn’t moved of course.

Were the cows and youngsters in the main house or the other one - he is usually out with them or on his own and not with Molly / Queenie.
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Cows and youngsters were both in the main house as the owner was visiting them with a few people. Molly and Queenie were being called in by a keeper (took a while for them to listen!) but Monty’s usual part of the house looked completely empty and he wasn’t in his outside area either. We try to visit at least once a month and I definitely remember seeing him over Easter so thought it was a bit unusual for us not to have seen him!
 
Bethany said:
Cows and youngsters were both in the main house as the owner was visiting them with a few people. Molly and Queenie were being called in by a keeper (took a while for them to listen!) but Monty’s usual part of the house looked completely empty and he wasn’t in his outside area either. We try to visit at least once a month and I definitely remember seeing him over Easter so thought it was a bit unusual for us not to have seen him!
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He may well have moved then. I’d have thought we would have seen a crate or what have you but you never know.

Hope he hasn’t of course as he’s quite a magnificent rhino to see thundering about.
 
Lafone said:
He may well have moved then. I’d have thought we would have seen a crate or what have you but you never know.

Hope he hasn’t of course as he’s quite a magnificent rhino to see thundering about.
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When I went with my mother there during winter. There was a large green crate open in one of the smaller paddocks near the house if I remember right.

So it might have been they were getting him used to the crate before moving him if they have done so?
 
In the walled garden where the macaw parrots were housed / by the tropical house an extensive metal structure has been built! Apparently this is a new enclosure for the weaver birds and a new species which is off show will be housed there. I find the structure being built is over robust for small birds! Has anybody else heard?
 
trachycarpus said:
In the walled garden where the macaw parrots were housed / by the tropical house an extensive metal structure has been built! Apparently this is a new enclosure for the weaver birds and a new species which is off show will be housed there. I find the structure being built is over robust for small birds! Has anybody else heard?
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I saw they were working on it. Perhaps a ground dweller to also go in there. Will be nice to have it back in use!
 
Visited the Wildlife Park today and saw Monty with Henry, Susie and mothers in the paddock, so Monty must have just been off show when Bethany visited on 4 May. I have wondered whether he sleeps in the building up near Little Africa, rather than with the others in the main building?
I don’t know what the new structure in the walled garden by the Tropical House will be for, but construction is slow and it certainly looks very robust for just the weaver birds. The two surviving masked lapwings now look like small adults, with their masks beginning to turn yellow.
The two young ring tailed lemurs are now more adventurous, jumping around merrily, before going back to ride on their mother.
I understand a dog jumped into the dwarf mongoose enclosure, but by the time we arrived the dog had vacated and the three mongoose were to be seen safe. The porcupines in the same enclosure appear to have been separated for some time, I don’t know whether to breed?
 
Cotswoldgent said:
Visited the Wildlife Park today and saw Monty with Henry, Susie and mothers in the paddock, so Monty must have just been off show when Bethany visited on 4 May. I have wondered whether he sleeps in the building up near Little Africa, rather than with the others in the main building?
I don’t know what the new structure in the walled garden by the Tropical House will be for, but construction is slow and it certainly looks very robust for just the weaver birds. The two surviving masked lapwings now look like small adults, with their masks beginning to turn yellow.
The two young ring tailed lemurs are now more adventurous, jumping around merrily, before going back to ride on their mother.
I understand a dog jumped into the dwarf mongoose enclosure, but by the time we arrived the dog had vacated and the three mongoose were to be seen safe. The porcupines in the same enclosure appear to have been separated for some time, I don’t know whether to breed?
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Glad to hear Monty is still there! And indeed that the mongoose were safe.

There's always a few leaping up things though rarely ending like that... people need to read the 'all four paws on the ground' signs.
 
Lafone said:
Glad to hear Monty is still there! And indeed that the mongoose were safe.

There's always a few leaping up things though rarely ending like that... people need to read the 'all four paws on the ground' signs.
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Sadly not every dog owner has there dogs as well trained as Mr Heywood does his black labs who trot at his heels when he walks them round the park.
 
Lafone said:
It’s a wonderful place and it’s not vast so don’t be worried about going around a couple of times to see everything.
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Somehow with CWP I have always felt a bit 'claustrophobic'...
it's a fair deal of space and decently walkable but most of the animals are concentrated into half of that area.
So if you want to see the clouded leopards and Little Africa then it's a decent but sparse walk.
And Walled Garden nice as it is is a bit like a tardis methinks with how much is there yet it takes up a mere fraction of the entire park...
 
dillotest0 said:
Somehow with CWP I have always felt a bit 'claustrophobic'...
it's a fair deal of space and decently walkable but most of the animals are concentrated into half of that area.
So if you want to see the clouded leopards and Little Africa then it's a decent but sparse walk.
And Walled Garden nice as it is is a bit like a tardis methinks with how much is there yet it takes up a mere fraction of the entire park...
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The only part that really feels like that is the Walled Garden, but I can see why it feels like that, especially on very busy days where you have a lot of people in there.
 
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