Love was in the air at the Zoo during the February half term and to celebrate a week of Valentines themed activities were held from Monday 13th Febraury to Sunday 19th February.

There were lots of lovely leisures for visitors to participate in; including a love birds hunt, love your bugs sessions, make your own love bug crafts and make your own love heart treats for the Macaws and Amazon Parrots.

Love Birds Hunt Trail Competition Results

Congratulations to Poppy Hookings aged 9. Poppy successfully followed the clues around the Zoo to find the love birds and the missing letters which formed the name of a species of animal at the Zoo. She has won a hamper of ‘love’ly goodies.

For the answers to the Love Birds Hunt Trail please click here

The Welsh Mountain Zoo would also like to express their thanks to all other entrants that participated in the competition.

For three days, from Tuesday 17th to Thursday 19th January, Rhod took up the challenge of getting up close and personal with some of the Zoo’s rare and endangered species including Snow Leopards, European Brown Bears, Californian Sea Lions and Bactrian Camels.

Along with turning his hand to presenting a Sea Lion and a Chimpanzee show, Rhod spent a morning assisting the Zoo vet with cleaning and trimming the hooves of two Przewalski’s Wild Horses.

He didn’t shy away from the more demanding jobs and also got to grips with mucking out the paddocks, cleaning the Chimpanzee dens and preparing 7 kilos of fish for a Penguin feed.

Rhod spent his last day putting in to practice what he had learned during his stay and concluded with the rewarding task of releasing a rescued Seal back into the wild after a short stay at the Zoo for care and rehabilitation.

Rhod’s role change was captured on film for the latest series of his BBC television programme, “Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience” – which is due to air later in the year.

Collection Manager Peter Litherland said,

“It was great to have the opportunity to show Rhod exactly what our role entails. He took everything in his stride and wasn’t fazed by the challenges we threw at him. We were really impressed with his efforts to present not only a Sea Lion show but also a Chimpanzee show – it takes months to tell each Chimpanzee apart but he picked up on their names and characteristics really quickly. We really enjoyed Rhod’s time at the Zoo and can’t wait to see the show later in the year!”

In the South American monkey house the pair of cotton-top tamarins is rearing twins. They were born in early September 2011 and are now getting to the stage of sometimes venturing from the parents. For the first week or so it was mum you might have seen carrying the babies, but by now it is just as likely to be dad with the babies on his back – he has to do his share of parental care! In another four or five weeks they’ll be too heavy to carry and will be much more independent.

The cotton-top tamarin is critically endangered due to deforestation in its last remaining habitat in a small area of north west Colombia in South America. Fortunately there is a healthy population in zoos and ours are part of the co-ordinated European breeding programme.

There are also new babies in the Reptile House. The royal or ball python from Central and West Africa is a species we have never bred before, but in the middle of September 2011 four babies successfully hatched after eight weeks incubation. (Please note at present they are currently not on display.)

The royal python is not endangered in the wild, but it is always good to breed a new species and is useful experience for our keepers. Our planned new tropical house will have facilities for a number of species and some may be part of co-ordinated breeding programmes. Breeding non-endangered species is an important part of preparation and training for working with conservation sensitive species.

Born on Friday 24th June at 6:15pm Delilah was up on her feet  and raring to go only two hours later, much to the delight of her Keeper who had been eagerly awaiting her arrival.

Keepers at the Welsh Mountain Zoo – the National Zoo of Wales sought inspiration from the Tom Jones song – the unofficial anthem of Welsh Rugby fans, to finally decide on her name.

The playful youngster has already started to venture outside along with the help of Mum and is set to score a try with Zoo visitors as she explores her enclosure.

Mum and Dad Flanka and Lock named in the aftermath of the Rugby World Cup 2003 – both aged 12 – arrived at the Zoo in 2000 from Whipsnade Zoo and have settled into their role well as the experienced parents have now successfully raised 3 calves.

Weighing a whopping 25 kilos and measuring just under one and a half metres (5 foot) at birth Delilah is already growing at a rapid pace. She will eventually grow to be 2.4 metres (7 feet) and will weigh over ¾ of a tonne.

Camels Keeper Claire Taylor said,
“I am delighted with the arrival of Delilah. It’s been three years since Flanka gave birth so when I found out she was pregnant I was overjoyed. Delilah is doing really well, not only is she growing extremely fast but her confidence is also coming on in leaps and bounds. She didn’t have any problems getting on her feet after she was born and was able to feed from Mum without assistance. She also loves the attention she has been receiving from the visitors and even appears to smile when they take her picture! I am really proud of her progress so far and can’t wait to watch her develop further.”

Jack the Margay

The Margay is a beautiful small cat from the forested regions of Central and South America. We received our male “Jack” a number of years ago but have been desperately seeking a companion for him. Last year a female, “Shirley”, became available from Amsterdam Zoo. After a quarantine period she has now been transferred to the Welsh Mountain Zoo is getting to know her new home and meeting “Jack”, her prospective mate.

Our Azara’s Agoutis, large rodents from Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, have produced three babies. This species, like its very distant relative the guinea pig, produces precocious young that are able to run around soon after birth. Although they are only a few weeks old the three youngsters are already very active, so watch for them out in the Macaw enclosure with the adults.

The campaign which will run from Saturday, May 26 to Sunday, June 10, is being launched by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA). Its aim is to encourage people to visit their local BIAZA zoos and aquariums and to not only have a great day out, but also learn just how much they do for conservation, education and research.

More than 70 zoos, aquariums and wildlife centres across the UK will be taking part and the Welsh Mountain Zoo is already busy planning lots of fun activities to get families loving their zoos.

For the answers to the Spooky Halloween Trail please click here

Congratulations to Eleanor Duncalf aged 7. Eleanor successfully followed the clues around the Zoo to find the ghosts and the missing letters which formed the name of a species of animal at the Zoo. She has won a family ticket to see Aladdin, this year’s Christmas pantomime at Venue Cymru.

For the answers to the Halloween Ghost Hunt Trail please click here

The Welsh Mountain Zoo would also like to express their thanks to all other entrants that participated in both competitions.

Congratulations to Tirion Jones, aged 8. Tirion successfully won first prize in the Pumpkin Carving competition for his attempt to make his Pumpkin look like Frankenstein. Kieron and Erin Roberts, aged 6 and 4, took second place with their scary and spooky Pumpkin and Callum Poupart, aged 6, won third prize with his traditional Pumpkin.

The Welsh Mountain Zoo would like to express their sincere thanks to all entrants in the Pumpkin Carving Competition as the donated pumpkins also aided in the enrichment and the diet of the Chimpanzees and the European Brown Bears during afternoon feeding times on Saturday 29^th and Sunday 30^th October 2011.

Throughout the week the Zoo will be offering free admission to each child that is dressed as a spooky character and accompanied by a full paying adult (this does not apply to any concessionary rates).

A Pumpkin Carving Competition will also run on Friday 28th October whereby visitors will be invited to enter their carved creations into the competition for the chance to win a family ticket to see Aladdin, this year’s Christmas pantomime at Venue Cymru. There is also a chance to win a 12 month adoption and cuddly Halloween Snake.

Keepers are hoping to raise the number of pumpkins at this year’s event and are encouraging visitors to be adventurous with their carvings.

The Pumpkin Carving Competition will be judged on Friday 28th October and the winners will be announced at 3:45pm at the Trading Post Gift Shop.

Afternoon feeding times on Saturday and Sunday will then see Keepers providing the animals with an extra special treat when the donated pumpkins will be placed into their enclosures.

What’s more there will be plenty of other ghostly goings on to participate in; including a ghost hunt, a spooky trail, spooky bites art, spooky animal sessions and much, much more.

Education Officer, Sue Coleman said,
“Although animals such as spiders and snakes are commonly associated with Halloween, it is important to remember that they are remarkable creatures and we can learn so much about them. I will also be explaining some fascinating facts about these creatures in my animal sessions during the week.”

Please see the Shriek Week Activity Timetable for the full list of events planned.