May 2008 - Baby boom!
Narooma is the proud mum again this year of a little baby joey! Narooma, who has successfully reared three babies during her time at the park, can be seen in her paddock proudly showing off the latest addition to the wallaby gang!
Isis the Egyptian fruit bat, who only arrived at the park late last summer, is also the proud mum of one. Isis' baby can be seen quite clearly hanging off mum trying to suckle! Nearly as big as mum, keepers at the park are hoping the youngster will fledge soon and give Isis a much needed break from carrying all that added weight!
Other babies due to make an appearance include: mara, prairies dogs, pygmy slow loris, polecats, meerkats and of course lots of baby ducklings!
May 2008 - Keepers go fundraising Crazy!
The keepers at Shepreth are keen to do their bit for the conservation charities sponsored by the Wildlife Park, and will each be attempting a fundraising activity on 8th September for their chosen endangered species.
Rebecca Willers, Animal Collection Manager, will be swimming 5km in aid of 21st Century Tiger. “What better way to celebrate the park curator's 60th and the male tiger's 10th birthdays on September 8th, then raising money to save the last few remaining tigers left in the wild.”
Other activities being attempted (and their chosen charities) on the day include:
Head Keeper – Kat Lyon – 8 mile dog walk (Madagascar Fauna Group)
Interpretation Officer – Grace Dickinson – Wallowing in the pig mud (World Land Trust)
Interpretation Officer – Chris Knowles – Worms in his under pants! (World Land Trust)
Animal Keeper – Jill Driver – Rowing round Lemur Island (Red Wolf Coalition)
Education Officer – Lanie Sweetman – Hoping everywhere (Amphibian Ark)
Anyone wishing to sponsor any of the keepers please email office@sheprethwildlifepark.co.uk
8th April 2008 - Hedgehogs released... (hedgehog Rehab...click here.)
Kind members of the public from all over hertfordshire offered to take the hedgehogs and release them in suitable 'wild' areas over a period of 4-5 days, supplying the hedgehogs with lots of food and warm shelter until the hedgehogs no longer returned.
"We are very grateful for the response we received from the general public and are pleased that dozens of hedgehogs have now safely been returned back to the wild. A destiny which looked very unlikely back in October 2007!" Rebecca Willers, Animal Collection Manager said
"The staff at the park are very happy that all the effort with these prickly creatures has not been vein over the past 6 months, and are now looking forward to a short break, before the summer abandoned hoglets start arriving!"
8th February 2008 - New keeper talks & feeding timetable...
After feeding your little monkeys, you can watch the keepers feed theirs, or better still come and test their knowledge at one of the many 2008 daily talks:
11.30am – Bug Experience
12.00pm – Lemur Feeding
12.30pm – Nocturnal House Feeding
1.00pm – Raccoon Enrichment
1.30pm – Birds of Prey Experience
2.00pm (Weekdays) Tiger Talk & 3.00pm (Weekends) - Feeding Monday, Thursday & Saturday ONLY
3.30pm – Otter feeding & Wolf Talk
4.00pm – Bug Experience
4.30pm – Bat Talk
5th February 2008 - Pygmy slow loris...
The Nocturnal House is soon to participate in their first EEP, international breeding programme for Pygmy slow loris. These tiny Asian nocturnal primates are due to arrive early 2008, where visitors to the park can see these weird and wonderful creatures of the night up close!
16th July 2007 - New baby potoroo...
We have a new addition to our potoroo family. On July 16th a tiny pink hairless baby, not to dissimilar to a baby rat, was spotted by one of their keepers inside the pouch.
Did you know?
Potoroo's are marsupials in which the female typically has a pouch (called the marsupium, from which the name 'Marsupial' derives) in which it rears its young through early infancy.
The pregnant female develops a kind of yolk sac in her womb which delivers nutrients to the embryo. The embryo is born at a very early stage of development (at about 4-5 weeks), upon which it crawls up its mother's belly and attaches itself to a nipple (which is located inside the pouch). It remains attached to the nipple for a number of weeks. The offspring later passes through a stage where it temporarily leaves the pouch, returning for warmth and nourishment.
12th June 2007 - Potoroo's arrive...
On the 12th June 1 male and 2 female long-nosed potoroos arrived at the wildlife park to take up residence in the nocturnal house along side the Egyptian fruit bats.
Potoroo's are found on the southeastern coast of Australia and the island of Tasmania. They are the smallest of all macropods and are strictly nocturnal.
