Absulotively wonderfabulouslyful to see Beale ever expanding and diversifyin..g
Given the Little Egret ever expanding range,one would have to modify the map sign,.
So now the kittens are out of the bag, we're thrilled to introduce our two beautiful 7 week young ladies....Maple and Willow. Mum and Dad have both been excellent and they can all be seen every day now (usually around the rocks).
So now the kittens are out of the bag, we're thrilled to introduce our two beautiful 7 week young ladies....Maple and Willow. Mum and Dad have both been excellent and they can all be seen every day now (usually around the rocks). View attachment 636003View attachment 636004View attachment 636005
Thank you! We're very proud of how well their enclosure has matured in the space of a year. We had to let it grow a bit too wild to be honest when Lox had given birth as we wanted to give her space, but the kittens made their den under the big boulders and that's defo the best area to see them. These days, Lox is spending much of her time in the tree again.
That’s a big question. We’ve got several aviaries, but do mean the ones with single species (burrowing owls, kooks, snowys etc) or just mixed?
There are 3 mixed aviaries:
1:sun conures, Patagonian conures, glossy starlings, white shouldered starlings and rufous vented laughingthrushes (only ones in EU), and azaras agoutis
Wild Muscovy is quite rare in UK these days. According to ZTL there are around 7 holders but from the above, Basildon/Beale Trust, which is listed among them, don't seem to have them any more. But Slimbridge, which isn't listed, does. I really like them.
Wild Muscovy is quite rare in UK these days. According to ZTL there are around 7 holders but from the above, Basildon/Beale Trust, which is listed among them, don't seem to have them any more. But Slimbridge, which isn't listed, does. I really like them.
Highlight was the lynx kittens Maple and Willow who were out just after opening and then again right before closing. Lovely looking and a great result for the park. They were very active among the rocks and on the logs with mum. Finn the adult male was super active all day - which was handy as good to watch and enjoy while on an extended enclosure lurk.
Enjoyed the new human nature exhibit with the different mice in particular. Lots of active animals and good weather with sun and showers and not too crowded. Scottish wildcat views were also excellent today.
Was also nice to bump into MrChriss. Thanks for letting a few of us linger right to closing to see the kittens up and about
No we've had them a long time...sometimes on-show, sometimes not. We've put them in an outdoor paddock just for the season, then they'll probably go off-show again until next year! They look pretty good in there though, don't they? I'm just patiently waiting for their signage to arrive.
How adorable are the Lynx kittens! I just showed my boyfriend, and he just goes "Sunday???" haha.
So who knows, we might be going to Beale Wildlife Park on Sunday for a very first visit there.
How adorable are the Lynx kittens! I just showed my boyfriend, and he just goes "Sunday???" haha.
So who knows, we might be going to Beale Wildlife Park on Sunday for a very first visit there.
Yes, that's what pushed us over, haha. Just need to keep an eye on the weather though (drive motorbike, so don't want too much rain), but definately on the list within the next 2-3 weeks.
Had a lovely day at Beale - my first time seeing every species I wanted to see at a zoo with just one visit. Excluding the grey mouse lemur, I think I might have seen every on-show species. Highlights were the prairie dogs, ground cuscus and naked mole rats. All very active and fun to watch. In general, the Twilight Zone was my favourite area of the zoo. It’s amazing what a change in visibility there is between when you first step inside to when you’ve been there 10 minutes. And it helps that many visitors don’t tend to stay for long enough to acclimatise, so the area stays quite quiet.
I only managed a brief glimpse of the lynx kittens, but that’s on me for not staying later. And being able to get some good photos of a wildcat more than made up for that.
My only real criticism is the Shetland pony signage. To me, it appeared misleading, trying to imply that Shetlands are in some way endangered when in reality they’re a dime a dozen.
A) Why say that they’ve not been evaluated by the red list, when they’re a breed not a species? And they have been evaluated - by the RBST, who define them as neither a priority equine nor an at risk equine.
B) Why have “90% population decline on the Shetland Isles since 1822” as the only thing under the ‘population’ heading? It might be true, but the breed’s numbers have skyrocketed in Britain. There are semi-feral populations of Shetlands outside Shetland as well, and they’re also doing well. If anything, talk is now about trying to get the numbers down.
Given that the majority of the UK’s native pony breeds are at risk, I just don’t understand why someone would buy some Shetlands and make signage implying that they’re facing a decrease in numbers. If you want to keep to an at risk Shetland breed, keep Shetland cattle. If you want to keep an endangered pony breed that children can interact with, get an Exmoor or Dartmoor.
But, otherwise, it’s a “must visit again” kind of zoo, even if just to spend a few hours watching prairie dogs.
(As an aside, if there any chance of the lakes/moat being used as a part of an enclosure? Every time I passed the Inner Lake, I found myself yearning to see a hippo swimming within.)
Had a lovely day at Beale - my first time seeing every species I wanted to see at a zoo with just one visit. Excluding the grey mouse lemur, I think I might have seen every on-show species. Highlights were the prairie dogs, ground cuscus and naked mole rats. All very active and fun to watch. In general, the Twilight Zone was my favourite area of the zoo. It’s amazing what a change in visibility there is between when you first step inside to when you’ve been there 10 minutes. And it helps that many visitors don’t tend to stay for long enough to acclimatise, so the area stays quite quiet.
I only managed a brief glimpse of the lynx kittens, but that’s on me for not staying later. And being able to get some good photos of a wildcat more than made up for that.
My only real criticism is the Shetland pony signage. To me, it appeared misleading, trying to imply that Shetlands are in some way endangered when in reality they’re a dime a dozen.
A) Why say that they’ve not been evaluated by the red list, when they’re a breed not a species? And they have been evaluated - by the RBST, who define them as neither a priority equine nor an at risk equine.
B) Why have “90% population decline on the Shetland Isles since 1822” as the only thing under the ‘population’ heading? It might be true, but the breed’s numbers have skyrocketed in Britain. There are semi-feral populations of Shetlands outside Shetland as well, and they’re also doing well. If anything, talk is now about trying to get the numbers down.
Given that the majority of the UK’s native pony breeds are at risk, I just don’t understand why someone would buy some Shetlands and make signage implying that they’re facing a decrease in numbers. If you want to keep to an at risk Shetland breed, keep Shetland cattle. If you want to keep an endangered pony breed that children can interact with, get an Exmoor or Dartmoor.
But, otherwise, it’s a “must visit again” kind of zoo, even if just to spend a few hours watching prairie dogs.
(As an aside, if there any chance of the lakes/moat being used as a part of an enclosure? Every time I passed the Inner Lake, I found myself yearning to see a hippo swimming within.)
Regarding the shetlands signage. Unfortunately that was one of the ones that were done before my time and the lady that did them loved Wikipedia as her main source. Another problem is that the RBST won't allow us to use their graphic on a sign unless we go down the Jimmy's Farm route and commit to having only rare breeds (which isn't feasible at this stage). I've never gotten round to changing it yet as we have limited budget and I'm still working on getting the rest done. But I will get there
We do talk about using some of the water for animals. Again, it's on the radar, but we have a loooooong list of priorities first
1.0 ground cuscus to pair with last year's female joey in The Twilight Zone (the older parents are still with us, but living the quiet life retired off-show...they are 16 years old after all!)
1.0 Swiss Valais Blacknose ram lamb, Rembrandt...such a handsome boy!
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