Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens News from Thrigby Hall

Piece of February 2025 News Not Mentioned:

On February 14th, it was announced that the zoo transferred a (0.1) lar gibbon named Oreo to Welsh Mountain Zoo in Wales.

Welsh Mountain Zoo on Instagram: "Love is most definitely in the air this #ValentinesDay as we welcome Oreo the Lar Gibbon to the Welsh Mountain Zoo as a possible perfect mate for Jake! Oreo comes to the Zoo from Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens on the recommendation of the European Ex-situ conservation breeding programme (EEP). Breeding and conservation, as part of a wider global network of Zoo’s and animal organisations, sits at the heart of the Welsh Mountain Zoo’s ethos. Successfully pairing gibbons like Jake and Oreo is a crucial step in ensuring the future of this endangered species. Discover more with our ️ Zoo News below https://ow.ly/j3aN50UZfn0 : ©️Shaun Wilson #welshmountainzoo #supportingconservation #zoo #largibbon"

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On May 25th, the zoo announced they acquired a (0.1) Himalayan red panda named Pumpkin from Exmoor Zoo in Devon which is now on exhibit.

10K views · 245 reactions | Say hello to Pumpkin! | We’re thrilled to welcome a very special new arrival to Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens. Meet Pumpkin, a young female red panda who has just joined us from... | By Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens | Facebook
 
Has there been any news on whether they are planning to get any more Tigers? Or whether they'll be putting something else in the enclosure?
 
Sad news from Thrigby that Nala, the female Snow Leopard, has died after a short illness.

In Loving Memory of Nima

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Nima, our beautiful female Snow Leopard, following a short illness. Although she initially responded well to treatment, she sadly developed an infection and, despite every effort from our veterinary and keeper teams, the very difficult decision was made to peacefully euthanise her.

Nima was 13 years old and arrived at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens in 2013 from Zoo Planckendael in Antwerp, Belgium.

In her time here, she successfully raised five cubs with our male Snow Leopard, Mohan, making a significant contribution to the global conservation of this rare and magnificent species.

Snow Leopards are classified as Vulnerable in the wild, with only an estimated 4,000–6,500 individuals surviving across the mountains of Central Asia. Nima’s legacy will live on through her cubs and the awareness she inspired in so many visitors.

She was a truly special animal — calm, gentle and observant, often watching over her surroundings from her favourite perches. At times she showed a playful side, reminding us all of her unique personality.

Nima touched the hearts of everyone who met her and will be greatly missed by our staff and visitors alike.
 
We visited here on 23/09/2025 for the first time, as part of our zoo-trip in Norfolk. 4 Nights at Caister-On-Sea, 4 animal parks to visit.

We started with this one, as it was only a 10-minute drive from the Haven site, and the weather wasn't going to be great, and we're on a motorbike, so if it were to rain it wouldn't be a long drive.

It's very small, but we were very impressed with all the animals they had, especially with all the cats they have (our favorites).
The enclosures looked different from what we had seen before at other places, with the more round/circular spaces.
We saw the feeding of the Amur Leopard and the Snow Leopard.
It looked like their new Tiger was settling in really well, he looked really calm and relaxed, walking around and lying on the platform.

Highlight was seeing the Owston's Palm Civets! There are camera's in the enclosure and boxes so you can spot them on the screen, but a keeper was just going to feed them. I said "ooh lucky" but she responded with that we won't see them as they just don't really like to come out of their box a lot (heard later from someone who works there, she's been there for 4 years and never even seen them).
But, as she's feeding them (by hand, as she needed to feed the female some glitter for some testing or something ...) both poked their heads out! And when the keeper left, they both came out of their box to eat some more! So we saw both of them really well for a few minutes :D

We then went into the Cat Cloisters, and they were doing some building works at the back of it. New enclosure maybe?
The Leopard Cats had also been fed so they were out, which was nice to see, and the Clouded Leopard was visible too for a bit.

After we went back to the beginning for another last round, and hadn't actually seen the Red Panda's yet, as just as they are coming down from the trees it starts to rain. Luckily we brought poncho's.
It didn't last long, we did another round of the entire place.
The boyfriend then decides to go into the "nature" bit, around the pond/lake, and I didn't really want too, but went outside to take some pictures of the entrance sign. He then calls me to say there are Raccoon Dogs there! So I went over there to see them and a Binturong and some birds/ducks, and it looked really nice around the water too, with a bridge that had all the Chinese horoscope signs/names.

For it being quite small, we actually spend (almost) all day there, we entered just after 10 am and left around 4.30 pm.
 
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