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Centre staff have also been asked to clear factories of small birds, drive starlings out of the city of Bath and remove ducks from rice fields in Australia. Jemima, whose father Phillip Glasier opened the centre in 1967, helps with conservation projects around the world, such as a recent breeding programme for rare vultures in India. They can reach 60mph and have very poor brakes.” But we only allow most birds to fly outside-particularly the peregrine falcons. “We have an indoor centre where kites will dart through the air catching bits of meat. “We try to make sure that no one leaves without seeing them fly,” says director Jemima Parry-Jones. Happily, though, it’s mainly for its 250 or so winged inhabitants-there’s a very nice cafe for human visitors.īut the centre’s big selling point is watching its magnificent birds do what they do best. One hundred and twenty rats (cut in half and gutted), eight kilos of mice, 8,400 cockerels…the monthly catering plan at what’s probably the largest dedicated birds-of-prey centre in the world leaves a lot to be desired. The farm breeds its own butterflies, or gets them from conservation projects in tropical countries such as Thailand, Kenya, Costa Rica and Surinam-raising butterflies is a source of income in many rainforest communities.Īs well as all the fluttering, the Insect City section is one of the biggest displays of live insects in the world. Species flapping past your nose include the metallic-looking Blue Morpho, which is as big as a side plate, and the Owl Butterfly, which is almost the size of a dinner plate.
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The sanctuary also has penguins, sea lions and two otters called Starsky and HutchĪ combination of tropical blossoms, fish-filled pools, waterfalls and more than 1,500 free-flying butterflies make this the largest attraction of its kind in the UK. Soon, she’ll be released back into the sea.” But our vet wired her jaw up and within hours she was back feeding herself. “Gemini, one of the seals that came in recently, had taken such a blow that her lower jaw was shattered and six of her teeth came out. Since local resident Ken Jones started the sanctuary in 1958, it’s helped thousands of animals, with numerous heart-warming success stories. The public can see pups at various stages of rehabilitation as they play in the pools, and you can even go behind the scenes in the seal hospital. “A lot of the injuries, such as broken jaws and puncture wounds, are probably due to storm damage, and the bad weather has had other effects too-there have been ten abandoned pups.” “We’ve rescued more than 60 pups since January,” says care supervisor Tamara Cooper. It’s already been the busiest year ever for this 40-acre rescue centre on the banks of the Helford Estuary, dedicated to helping injured or lost seal pups and releasing most of them back into the wild. The chimps aren’t so keen, though, but all the animals have somewhere warm inside!” They just carry on as normal, as do the European bears. “Occasionally, we have snow up here when it’s clear down in the bay. And in the summer, the penguins do parades led by the keeper.
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The zoo has some fabulous exhibits too, including Sumatran tigers, sea lions and snow leopards. Here, there’s always some kind of other backdrop.” In other zoos, you’re looking at the animals and maybe a perimeter wall. “There are views-360 degrees in places-across the sea, mountains and down the Conwy Valley. “We’re perched high on a hill at the edge of the Snowdon range,” says marketing officer Jamie Toffrey. Visit .uk for detailsĪlthough this is a relatively small, intimate zoo, it has a rather special USP-everything around it. “We’ve also recently had two litters of Scottish wildcats born as part of a reintroduction-to-the-wild programme, which was a nice surprise as they’re teetering on the edge of extinction,” says Liza. Though native, one rarely gets to spot many of the creatures in the wild, because they’re nocturnal, shy or rare. “We’ve got everything from harvest mice to Britain’s largest land mammal, the red deer, all in natural habitats, as they would be in the wild,” says spokesperson Liza Lipscombe.Īmong the 40 or so other species at the site-which used to be a dairy farm-are stoats, otters, pine martens, water voles, barn owls and adders. Proving that homegrown animals can be as fascinating as those from the other side of the world, the British Wildlife Centre is dedicated to preserving and promoting the animals that hail from our shores. In fact, in the absence of children, adults tend to revert to a childlike wonder at the animals, reconnecting with nature.” You can even buy drinks-but, says CEO Chris West, “We don’t allow crazy drunkenness. On a lighter note, the zoo also runs adults-only nights, where over-18s can roam the zoo without candyfloss-covered kids pestering them.