Are there any tricks to rearing a penguin? Clare: “Patience, dedication – and not being put off by the smell of fish…!”
A sickly African penguin chick has been nursed back to health with fish soup by dedicated zoo keepers.
Staff at Living Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo and aquarium, have been feeding the chick every 3 hours from 7.30 in the morning to 7.30 at night. The only thing on the menu is fish; at first this was blended into a liquid soup, but the chick has now moved on to solids.
The chick hatched in February to penguin parents Eddie and Diamond....
The charity that runs Paignton Zoo is marking the special day of a special species.
The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, the charity that runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts and Newquay Zoo, is celebrating International Macaque Day on Friday 16th March. Sulawesi crested black macaques (Macaca nigra) can be seen at both Paignton Zoo and Newquay Zoo. The charity supports a successful project in Indonesia called Selamatkan Yaki, which works with the species in the wild. Paignton Zoo staff will give talks with special environmental enrichment at 11.00am and 3.00pm from the boardwalk...
Staff at Shaldon Wildlife Trust are excited to be seeing Harley, the Margay kitten exploring his outside enclosure. Harley has been snuggled up in his heated den area with mum Josefien for the past few months as he would be in the wild.
Margay are also known as the Tree Ocelot; they have flexible ankles allowing them to run head first down trees. One of only 3 species known to do this! Harley is having great fun learning all the tricks of becoming an independent cat!
In the wild Margay have a very varied diet including small mammals, birds, primates, eggs and frogs!...
Dartmoor Zoo, renowned for its international conservation and education programmes, has welcomed 167 young women and schoolgirls to an evening of inspiring talks, expert advice, and close-up encounters with some of the zoo’s smaller amphibian and invertebrate residents.
Arranged by Women in STEM Plymouth (WISP), and sponsored by Babcock International, the event, which was designed to encourage school girls and young women into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), was heralded as a tremendous success.
A happy youngster in Torquay plays in the water with her new toy…
This is Gemini, the two-year-old fur seal pup at Living Coasts, Torquay’s coastal zoo. Her new toy was custom made by dry suit manufacturers O'Three Ltd. of Portland, in Dorset.
Kiesha Summers, from O'Three, explained: “We supplied Living Coasts with dry suits. When we came to visit, both the penguins and Gemini were fascinated by the neoprene hoods – and this gave us an idea. Our clever seamstresses covered a football in 1.5mm double lined Neoprene with a small Velcro opening for a pump.”
The left turn from Bridge Road into Countess Wear Road will be permanently closed from Thursday (14 July).
The change in access to the road is part of Devon County Council’s Bridge Road improvements, and is being introduced ahead of work starting on the new Countess Wear foot and cycle bridge
In the short term the new arrangements will be imposed with barriers and cones but, longer term, the junction will be reconstructed to prevent vehicles turning left off Bridge Road, which will allow more space for pedestrians and cyclists.
Shaldon Wildlife Trust in Devon is delighted to announce the birth of a very rare Owston’s civet.
One of the most endangered species of civet, the Owston’s is a curious creature native to Asia. With its long nose, cat-like whiskers and slender mongoose body, it would be well suited to the pages of a Roald Dahl storybook!
This is an exceptionally special birth as the population in the world’s conservation breeding programme currently totals less than 20 animals.
Mum and Dad, Hoi Dau and Lam, are very important genetically, therefore successful reproduction has been...
Torbay Council’s sustainable travel team, Travel Torbay, are launching a new initiative with local businesses to encourage their staff to leave the car at home and cycle to work instead. This new initiative, which is called Bikes for Business, is offering local companies the opportunity to obtain free reconditioned bikes that can be passed onto staff to increase sustainable travel to and from their workplace. In return, these businesses are being encouraged to work alongside Travel Torbay to develop or amend their organisations Travel Plan.
