Conservation officer Elijah Ford talks about the latest additions to the wildlife park and why staff are looking forward to an imminent increase in its capybara herd.
By Elijah Ford
This month at All Things Wild, we have been very lucky to welcome some exciting new residents.
The first of these were two burrowing owl brothers, Flint and Steel, who arrived from the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary.
They are already proving to be a favourite among our team, mainly due to their very cheeky nature.
Burrowing owls can be found all the way from North to South America, and are most famous for their habit of stealing the burrows of prairie dogs to live in.
This is reflected in their new aviary, which has an underground network of tunnels for them to utilise, and I regularly see them poking their heads out of different holes to see what’s going on.
Elijah Ford from All Things Wild . Picture by Marcus Mingins 4925007MMR1
In the wild, they live off moles, mice, reptiles, insects and sometimes even other birds, and are currently under threat from habitat loss, especially across the USA.
It is our hope that these siblings can one day be an important part of the Burrowing Owl EEP, which is the continental breeding programme to protect the species.
But it isn’t just adorable owls, we have also welcomed two tiny baby Azara’s agouti, Hazel and Pecan.
They can still be a little bit shy, but when you are lucky enough to spot them you will see why we are such big fans.
The Azara’s agouti is a species of rodent (Dasyprocta azarae) found across South America, usually in densely forested areas where they can hide away from any threats.
The male capybara Doba. s
They will follow troops of monkeys across the forests, eating the fruit and nuts that get knocked down from the trees as the primates make their way across the canopy.
They are given the nickname of the ‘Jungle’s Gardener’, because they bury stashes of fruits and nuts all across the forest, but regularly forget where they leave them. The useful result is lots of new tree growth.
All Things Wild is home to three adult agouti, parents Coco and Pistachio, and their offspring from last year, Edgar.
But that’s not all. We are looking forward to welcoming some very popular additions soon.
Earlier this year, we brought in Doba, a male capybara, to live with our two females.
We are pleased to reveal that we are now expecting to welcome a babybara sometime over the summer. Our entire team couldn’t be more excited.
Capybara usually have litters of anything from one to eight young, so we can expect for our herd to grow quite a bit.
The best way to follow along with new arrivals and developments is by following our socials, @allthingswildnaturecentre on Instagram and All Things Wild on Facebook.
To see them in person, why not take advantage of our discounted entry price thanks to the Government’s Great British Summer Saving scheme which ends September 1.
See https://www.allthingswild.co.uk/park-information/ for details.
