Highland Wildlife Park Report on HWP Tour with Douglas Richardson

[gentle lemur]

Hello Alan

At what time come the new female Polar Bear?

Nothing definite, but I gathered that a second polar bear enclosure is quite a high priority.
As I mentioned in my report there is a smaller enclosure beside the big one, which would be used to accommodate a new bear initially and train it to respect the hotwires and fences. There is also a third enclosure which Walker usually uses in the evenings (it is the triangular end of the old wolf enclosure, beside the cattle grid at the entrance to the main reserve). This means that they could accommodate a second bear immediately if the opportunity arises.

Alan

 

[Davef68]

[ I think he understands the value of ZooChat, but like many other zoo professionals, he is concerned by some of the rumours and inaccuracies that appear here from time to time. I was able to tell him that I think our walk-and-talk sessions at Chester have helped us to understand the way the zoo works and has reduced the number of silly comments about the zoo considerably. I hope the same thing will happen with HWP now.

I think the problem with that is many zoos are less than forthcoming - they will talk up their 'attractions' and good news, but are less than informative about other news (even 'hatches, matches and dispatches') so we have to reply on other posters who are 'in the know' or have been slipped a titbit by the keepers. I know I have found many things out about Edinburgh through chatting to staff rather than through the zoo's communications.

HWP, it has to be said, are one of the better zoos in this regard. At the same time, you can't expect them to answer every email or letter they get with a detailled response.

 

[gentle lemur]

HWP, it has to be said, are one of the better zoos in this regard. At the same time, you can't expect them to answer every email or letter they get with a detailled response.

Obviously there are limits to the amount of detail that can be provided and some questions may be too speculative to be answered in very specific terms - but Douglas was clear that the staff will always try to answer the questions they receive.

Alan

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I know I have found many things out about Edinburgh through chatting to staff rather than through the zoo's communications.

Yes, I have always found that although the flow of Edinburgh news through official channels can be pretty scanty, the staff are often happy to chat a bit about how things are going at the zoo.