KISSES THAT COUNT
Love was in the air at Newquay Zoo on Thursday 26th, with hundreds of Kissesfor the animals and keepers alike. ...KISSES THAT COUNT
Love was in the air at Newquay Zoo on Thursday 26th, with hundreds of Kissesfor the animals and keepers alike. Kisses That Count, a new Cornish charitable organisation, has teamed up with Newquay Zoo to help protect three endangered species the British Sand Lizard, the Columbian Hoffman's Sloth and the Cambodian Pangolin. Face-painted as their favourite animals, Heather & Chloe Wolsey-Ottaway Co-Founders of Kisses That Count arrived at Newquay Zoo with some young friends, to blow Kisses, up-close and personal, to Alvin the skunk, six week old Intan, a baby Yellow Headed Tortoise and Ladybird the cockatoo."Meeting the animals was great," Heather explained. "Together with Newquay Zoo, the Kissing public can make a real difference to the survival of three wonderful species...Kisses That Count has three aims: it's all about offering hope, education and opportunities to communities caught in poverty; it also protects our shared environment and helps save wildlife/habitats that are endangered. It's a simple idea - people send loving, fun e-mail 'Kisses' that cost £1 each, which go directly to charitable projects that change lives all over the world."
"We're global from day one," says Chloe, "by taking the love we all feel and covering the world in millions of virtual Kissea sent through our website http://zoo.barefootrobot.co.uk/cms/www.kissesthatcount.com. As people send Kisses, each area on our website globe turns from chilly blues to fizzing reds, until the whole world is covered in feel-good Kisses. Each Kiss is a £1 donation to the grassroots projects we are supporting and people can choose which projects their Kisses help, proving that love really does make a huge difference!"ZOOS COMMIT TO GREEN FUTURE
All three zoos owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust have now achieved an international standard for environmental management. Newquay ...ZOOS COMMIT TO GREEN FUTURE
All three zoos owned by the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust have now achieved an international standard for environmental management.Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, Living Coasts in Torquay and Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon are the only zoos in the UK to have achieved ISO 14001 after Chester Zoo. Other zoos around the world that have achieved the standard include Copenhagen and Aalborg in Denmark and North Carolina in the USA. Only a handful of organisations in Cornwall have ISO 14001.
Newquay Zoo has introduced a range of ideas to save water and energy and move to more energy-efficient working practices.
Ruth Grant Newquay Zoo's Environmental Officer said: "We are absolutely thrilled to have been accredited for this international standard. Good environmental practice can make a huge difference to the future of the planet. Through the hard work and dedication of our staff we are becoming a high achiever in both sustainable practice and conservation initiatives.
"We now recycle cardboard, paper, glass, plastic and aluminium cans within the Zoo. We have visitor recycling facilities for plastic bottles and cans. We are even using wooden cutlery from sustainable sources in the cafe!"
ISO14001 requires organisations to comply with legislation, prevent pollution and commit to continual improvement. The Environmental Management System provides a public framework for setting objectives and targets.
Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust Environmental Officer Alexis Huggins said: "I'm delighted that all of our sites have achieved ISO 14001 accreditation. It has been a real team effort, with all staff involved in implementation. The ISO 14001 standard requires us to show continual environmental improvement and we will work on our green credentials in the future. We want to increase visitor and local community awareness of environmental issues."
LITTLE TINKA BORN AT NEWQUAY ZOO
Two baby Prevost's squirrels were recently born at Newquay Zoo. Stewart Muir Assistant Director explains "We noticed after a couple ...LITTLE TINKA BORN AT NEWQUAY ZOO
Two baby Prevost's squirrels were recently born at Newquay Zoo.Stewart Muir Assistant Director explains "We noticed after a couple of days that one of the new babies was very under weight and much smaller that the other. This caused us great concern as the baby was clearly not going to survive long if it stayed in the enclosure. So it was decided to give the baby the best chance of survival we could by moving it to the hospital so we could ensure it was getting food. For a few weeks all seemed to be going well but then they baby started to show signs that it was not well and suddenly took a turn for the worse. The baby was so ill that it was decided that in the best interest of the squirrel it should be euthanized. We were so upset at the sudden turn of events. One piece of good news though is that 'Tinka' the other baby has done extremely well and is very confidently running around at great speed to the delight of staff and visitors."
Prevost's squirrels originate from South-east Asia and are known as Beautiful, Ornamental or Tri-coloured squirrels. They are very agile jumpers and climbers and use their tails for balance and as signal 'flags'. They share their enclosure with the Owston's civets who also gave birth recently to two stunning pups.
'PICKLE' THE PENGUIN GOES FOR HIS FIRST SWIM
Staff and visitors at Newquay Zoo are delighted to see Pickle (previous called Ickle Pickle but changed to Pickle as ...'PICKLE' THE PENGUIN GOES FOR HIS FIRST SWIM
Staff and visitors at Newquay Zoo are delighted to see Pickle (previous called Ickle Pickle but changed to Pickle as he is not so Ickle anymore!) the hand reared Penguin doing so well and out learning to swim.John Meek Animal Collections Manager explains "We had to hand reared 'Pickle' as the egg was found cold in a flooded burrow during a bad storm earlier this year. To our delight it hatched and four months on 'Pickle' is taking his first swimming lessons in the main penguin pool. We are introducing him gradually to the main group, so at present he is in the enclosure from 11am to 5pm each day. This will be increased over the next few weeks while he is learning to be a penguin again."
Visitors have a chance to see 'Pickle' and hear his story every day at the feeding time talks at 12:30pm and 4.15pm.RARE TWIN CIVET PUPS BORN AT ZOO
Staff at Newquay Zoo in Cornwall got their first real glimpse of twin Owston's Civet Cubs. Stewart Muir Assistant Director ...RARE TWIN CIVET PUPS BORN AT ZOO
Staff at Newquay Zoo in Cornwall got their first real glimpse of twin Owston's Civet Cubs.Stewart Muir Assistant Director of Newquay Zoo comments "We decided to microchip them at 6 weeks old as they were still staying close to mum and so avoided us having to catch them up. It went extremely smoothly and they were very calm. The microchipping was over in a matter of seconds and as we have a hands off policy with all of our animals this was the only opportunity to take some quick photos before they went back to mum. I think you would agree they are stunning pups and we are very proud as they are the first twin civets to be born outside of Vietnam."
"This species along with many other small carnivores in Vietnam are threatened due to illegal trade. We have been working with many other European Zoo's to highlight the plight of these beautiful animals and help raise funds to support the work of Scott Roberton and his team at the Small Carnivore Conservation Programme based at Cuc Phoung National Park in Vietnam. It is amazing the impact Newquay Zoo can have on projects overseas and we are also working to help other species including the Pangolin in Cambodia and Pacarana in Colombia. If anyone would like to find out more and help support this vital work then please do call or pop in, and to all those who have supported us already I would just like to say a very big thank you, as none of this would be possible without your continued support."
"Although the Civets are nocturnal, they will shortly be in a nesting box which has a special reflective mirror so you can see them cuddled up asleep during the day."
DREAMNIGHT AT THE ZOO
Children meet the animals at Newquay Zoo. The 2nd June saw the first 'Dreamnight at Newquay Zoo' with just under ...DREAMNIGHT AT THE ZOO
Children meet the animals at Newquay Zoo. The 2nd June saw the first 'Dreamnight at Newquay Zoo' with just under 100 children and families enjoying a free evening at the zoo.The mission of "dreamnight at the zoo" is annual and entrance-free evening opening of a zoo exclusively for chronically ill and disabled children, their parents and brothers and sisters.
These very special guests do not often have opportunities to visit our zoos, because they come from children's hospitals or institutions for disabled children.
Lorraine Reed Event Organiser comments "This was a very special evening as children and their families from Little Bridge House in Devon (The Southwest Children's Hospice) enjoyed everything from facepainting, barbecue, animals encounters, ice cream etc. on what was a beautifully sunny evening. The otters came out to play and Connie our African Lion was very intrigued by all the balloons which was lovely as the children got to see her up close. It was a lovely atmosphere and everyone had a fantastic evening. I have to give a very big thank you to all the staff and local businesses who helped support this event which made it all possible. We are already thinking of what we can do for June 2nd 2007 and if anyone would like to help support this event in some way, please do give me a call on 01637 873342."
The sponsors of the night were;
Veals meats for the tasty barbeque food, Delliedewdrop the clown and for making balloon animals.
Millars Arks Soft Toys for a very generous donation of soft toys so every child went away with toy.
The Newquay Zoo shop who also generously donated party bags and prizes and the Catering department for all the sumptuous salads.
Piskie Systems for the free ice-cream which was much needed on this very warm evening.
Skinners Pub Newquay for helium for the balloons which the children loved and also caught the attention of Connie the African lion with all the bright colours.
Special thanks to ;
All Staff who helped out by volunteering their time, Zoo volunteers who played a variety of roles from serving ice-cream to animal encounters.
Also a big thank you to Annie Skilton and staff from Little Bridge House in Devon (The Southwest Children's Hospice) and Sue Turk and staff from Sennen Ward in Treliske Hospital for coordinating the distribution of invites.
Dreamnight at the zoo started back in 1996 by Diergaarde Blijdorp Zoo in Rotterdam and has now grown to include zoo's from all around the world including Australia and Japan.
Each zoo organises this event in its own way, but in all the zoos the children are welcomed and treated as V.I.P.'s. They get a warm reception; they can come into as close contact with the animals as possible and get a more intimate view of the zoo than the average zoo visitor and ask the keepers lots of questions.
It is fantastic to observe all the happy faces of the children, and to see the relatives of the children, who often have a very heavy burden to bear, also having a good time. Meeting similar families, also having a very nice and care free evening without the everyday problems, is another enjoyable aspect of these evenings.
It is also a very special and satisfying evening for the zoo employees and volunteers. Everyone, including the director, keepers, gardeners, technicians, education, restaurant staff etc. all work together for the common goal. Making an unforgettable evening for these children and their families is a perfect team-building experience. Zoo employees volunteer to work that evening. It is fun and a rewarding job to do.
WHAT A 'PICKLE'
A 19 day old baby Humboldt's penguin is doing well at Newquay Zoo after a turbulent first few weeks. Named 'Ickle ...WHAT A 'PICKLE'
A 19 day old baby Humboldt's penguin is doing well at Newquay Zoo after a turbulent first few weeks.
Named 'Ickle Pickle' this baby penguin is being hand reared by staff due to the burrow in which the egg laid flooding during a rain deluged a few weeks ago.
Stewart Muir explains "Two eggs were caught in a flooded burrow and immediately had to be taken into our incubation unit as they were cold. We were expecting the worst, but after a day or so we could hear a tapping noise from one of the eggs. Unfortunately one egg had got too cold and did not survive. To our delight the other egg hatched, and although his first couple of weeks were touch and go, he appears to now be going from strength to strength."
"He current weighs 280g which is a good weight and is being fed pureed fish with multi vitamins and salt tablets with 6 feeds a day. This will shortly be reduced and he will go over to small strips of fish. As we were in the position of having take the eggs away as they had got so cold, we could not then re-introduce the chick to his mum once born. If we had another mum with a baby penguin she could have become a surrogate mother to this baby, but as there was none we are hand rearing the baby ourselves. Once the penguin is strong (at about 6 months old) we will introduce him to the main group where he should integrate well. I should point out that although I keep saying him, it is too early to tell if the baby is a boy or a girl."
Humboldt's penguins are an endangered species but are one of the breeding success stories at Newquay Zoo. Staff report that several more penguins are on eggs at the moment, so fingers crossed!.
'CONNIE' EARNS HER STRIPES AT NEWQUAY ZOO
An enrichment project by Newquay Zoo's Penguin and Zoo Pride Club members proved a great success as Connie the African ...'CONNIE' EARNS HER STRIPES AT NEWQUAY ZOO
An enrichment project by Newquay Zoo's Penguin and Zoo Pride Club members proved a great success as Connie the African Lion spent up to an hour exploring, biting, pawing, and rolling in an papier mache zebra.Jo Prendergast Education Officer comments "The zebra proved a great success and Connie absolutely loved it. As expected Ronnie our male lion paid little attention and watched from up on the high platform as Connie confronted this new and unusual feature in her enclosure. Inside the papier mache zebra we put the lions normal meat and added in bedding from our Zebra enclosure (which we also used to make the tail) so it had some natural smells."
"Connie was really intrigued and showed many of the natural behaviours you would expect to see when a lion catches a zebra in the wild, picking up the zebra and carrying it and biting in the neck area. In fact she was so interested in the zebra smells and playing that she totally forgot about the meat for the first 45mins. We wondered were it had gone for a while, but then spotted that it had fallen out and into a small ditch while she was playing."
Stewart Muir cAssistant Director said "We are introducing a whole variety of new enrichment projects for our animals and now plan to build a full size zebra which will prove more of a challenge for Connie. We hope this will continue to encourage more natural behaviour and prompt more physical and mental stimulation. Connie continued to go back to the remains of the papier mache zebra, which she had managed to completely destroy, over the next day or so and really seemed to be enjoying herself."
The Penguin Club is for 8 to 11 year olds and the Zoo Pride Club is for 12 to 16 year olds. They meet on the first Saturday of every month and enjoy a variety of activities and go on one trip out to another attraction each year. For further information please call the zoo on 01637 873342.
RARE PIED TAMARINS AT NEWQUAY ZOO
Dr Lee Durrell Honorary Director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and John Meek Animal Collection Manager Newquay Zoo. A pair ...RARE PIED TAMARINS AT NEWQUAY ZOO
Dr Lee Durrell Honorary Director of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and John Meek Animal Collection Manager Newquay Zoo.A pair of young Pied Tamarins made the journey from The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (Jersey Zoo) on breeding loan to Newquay Zoo last Wednesday (15th February).
Dr Lee Durrell Honorary Director of the of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Tamarins Keeper Mark Brayshaw made the trip over to Newquay Zoo to bring the Tamarins, meet the staff and pass on their valuable experience in successfully breeding this rare species.
Mark Brayshaw said "The journey over went very well and they were soon settling into their new enclosure. This species is part of the European Endangered Species Programme and we hope that this pair will form the nucleus of a new breeding group."
John Meek commented "We are delighted and privileged to have this opportunity to join this very important breeding programme. This is a Critically Endangered species which means they are at an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild."
"Pied Tamarins are quite shy, nervous monkeys, who will benefit from the tree cover on this island enclosure where they will hunt insects. They also feed on tree gum, nectar and fruit. We will be keeping in close contact with Jersey Zoo who have worked extremely hard with this species and been very successful and hope to have our own successful breeding group here in Newquay."
"The tamarins are now in their new enclosure under a 30 day quarantine after which time they will be able to make full use of their new island home which includes a couple of great climbing trees where they will be able to view the surrounding area."
The pied tamarin is threatened by habitat loss in its native Brazil. This species is a popular pet and urban growth and cattle ranching on the outskirts of Manaus, the state capital of Amazonas have had an effect on the wild population. They are also threatened by the success of another Tamarin species called the Red Handed Tamarin. This is similar to the way that the Grey Squirrel is threatening the population of the Red Squirrel in this country.
Emma Lloyd
Emma Lloyd who presents the afternoon show between 2:30 and 5pm every weekday on BBC Radio Cornwall visited Newquay Zoo ...Emma Lloyd
Emma Lloyd who presents the afternoon show between 2:30 and 5pm every weekday on BBC Radio Cornwall visited Newquay Zoo on 25th January to 'Be A Keeper For A Day'.
This week from the 30th January you will be able to hear about Emma's visit to the zoo on her show, what is happening and the conservation work of the zoo. You will also have the chance to win 'Be A Keeper For A Day' as well as suggest names for the Baby Tapir.
The first Newquay Zoo birth of 2006 is a baby Brazilian Tapir..
Michelle Turton spokesperson at the zoo comments "The baby is an extremely cute little boy about 16 inches high with wonderful stripey markings which would help keep him camouflaged in the wild. He will keep the stripes for about 6 months at which time he will start to turn the brown/grey colour of an adult Tapir.
"Tapirs live in dense forest areas near water. Their snouts are used to sniff and pull leafy branches into their mouths and as snorkels to breathe underwater. They are very strong swimmers and would hide underwater in the wild from predators such as Jaguars."
"Related to Rhinos and horses, Tapirs have changed little in 20 million years. Originating from South America these animals are now vulnerable due to hunting and forest loss. The Tapirs here at Newquay Zoo are part of the European Endangered Species Programme and this is baby number four for mum 'Papita." The baby boy Tapir is being named by BBC Radio Cornwall listeners on the Emma Lloyd Show next week.
ZOO CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR- 29th January 2006
Sunday the 29th January Newquay Zoo will be celebrating the 'Year of the Dog' by giving group/family that visits the ...ZOO CELEBRATES CHINESE NEW YEAR- 29th January 2006
Sunday the 29th January Newquay Zoo will be celebrating the 'Year of the Dog' by giving group/family that visits the zoo that day a special Red Envelope (red is considered a lucky colour in China and wards off eveil spirits). Each envelope will contain a gift of either a zoo sticker, a 25% Gift Shop discount voucher or one lucky person will win the special prize of an animal adoption.
The 29th January is also the Tet Vietnamese New Year. Mark Norris Education Officer comments ' We are running a 'Discover Vietnam Trail' which highlights wildlife, culture and language of Vietnam. We have quite close links now with the Owstons Civet Project and felt this was a great opportunity to talk more about some fascinating animals. The two Civets which we have here are nocturnal but can often be seem up close sleeping, curled up together. They have wonderful markings and are a rare species.
Newquay Zoo has several animals which may surprise you to discover are related to dogs. Red Pandas, Kinkajous, Coatis and Racoons are all part of the Procyonid family (or pro- canid, 'before dogs') which are the 'ancestors' of dogs. Chinese and Vietnamese New Year is partly about celebrating or remembering our families past and present, honouring our human ancestors.
If you hear 'barking' at the zoo, it won't be pandas or dogs (the Zoo only allows assistance dogs on site) - it will be our Prairie 'dogs' or marmots! These rodents picked up their nickname not from being related to dogs but from their 'bark' warning call to warn their neighbours about predators. This is another wonderfully 'noisy' animal we have here at Newquay Zoo, in their own way not that different from all the noise of drums and firecrackers made at midnight across Asia to celebrate and drive away bad luck from the New Year starting on the 29th!. The zoo is open throughout the winter from 10am untill dusk.
CHARITY ACHIEVES 'Investors in People' status - January 2006
Newquay Zoo, a registered charity is delighted to have achieved IIP status. Adrian Hare Operations Manager comments "Over the last ...CHARITY ACHIEVES 'Investors in People' status - January 2006
Newquay Zoo, a registered charity is delighted to have achieved IIP status.
Adrian Hare Operations Manager comments "Over the last two years the zoo has been transformed and developed a wealth of ongoing training and appraisal systems throughout all the departments. One of the overwhelming points to come out from the report was how much the staff enjoy working at the zoo. We are delighted and proud to have achieved IIP status."
Investors in People is the National Standard for organisational excellence in improving performance through people. Recognised organisations demonstrate that they meet the Standard through satisfying a rigorous assessment process.
