Update on the animals

We thought it was about time to given you an update on some of the earlier blogs.

The fallow deer had 5 babies which are now growing into healthy youngsters. We named one Mischief as she kept hiding from the keepers every day and it would take forever to find her. She was always in the most awkward of places!

The meerkat have settled in nicely to their new home. As soon as we put them in there they started mating but as of yet we haven’t seen any signs of young. All the keepers are keeping their fingers crossed that we get some babies soon! The meerkat have become a firm favourite with the keepers and the public as they are so entertaining, constantly doing something, even if it is falling asleep while sitting up.

Jemima, the runner duck, is doing well and she is growing lots. It’s now very hard to tell her apart from her parents. The guinea fowl are also sitting on some eggs and at last count it was 25 eggs so we are hoping that some of those will hatch soon.

Burrito and Chimicanga, our capybara babies have grown loads. When they were first born they wouldn’t come anywhere near us but as time went on they started eating things out of our hand, at first it was a green bean as they didn’t have to come too close for that but nowadays its bits of apple and pepper. They also let us scratch them on their head and they seem to enjoy it as they close their eyes and start to fall asleep. Their dad Taco loves nothing more than a good belly rub, he rolls over onto his side so we can give him a scratch so we think that the babies are going to be following in his footsteps.

Sita, the cheetah we had from Paignton Zoo has settled in great. She is such an easy cat to work with and very co operative. She loves to lie right on top of the mound in her enclosure so she can see everything. Although she is very co operative she is one of the fussiest cats we have on the park. Her food has to have no skin, feathers or fur on it and it has to be the freshest of meat otherwise she turns her nose up at it!

We mentioned that our rhea had been sitting on some eggs but unfortunalty due to the bad weather their nests got waterlogged and the rhea stopped sitting. Next year we are hoping for some better weather and then some will hatch.

Keep checking back on the blog as things are constantly being updated at the park and we will do our best to keep you up to date with what’s going on.

On the 25th June Dartmoor Zoo received a female southern cheetah, called Sita Johanna. She arrived around lunch time having travelled the short distance from Paington Zoo. She spent the afternoon and that night shut into the house within her enclosure so to let her settle down. We let Sita out on Friday morning under the watchful eyes of all the keepers, and a gathering group of keen public.

Her first steps out into her new enclosure were nervous ones, at first she didn't venture far from her house before returning to it, but with each return to the outside enclosure her confidence grew and she ventured further afield.

The enclosure she occupies is great for cheetah, she is in what used to house the three tigers, Vlad, Blotch and Stripe. This enclosure was actually designed for cheetah when it was built, but until now has never had any in it. With the large hill in the middle of the enclosure and the long grasses it is similar to a lookout point that cheetah would use in the wild. We have added a new platform in the enclosure as well as some bushes and small trees, which when fully established will provide more shaded areas and cover for her.

After only the first 8 hours in the enclosure Sita has already found her favourite spot, she lies at the highest point within the enclosure looking out over the picnic area and into some of the exhibits. Sita is currently occupying the enclosure by herself, but this is not a problem for her as female cheetahs are solitary by nature.

Cheetah are a very important species to keep in zoos as there numbers in the wild are diminishing and are now classed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red list. We are very honoured to of received Sita from Paington Zoo as there is usually a five year waiting list to get a stud booked cheetah.

This has ment our red foxes have come out of the large enclosure, but are on a rotor system with the silver foxes taking it in turns to go into the grassy enclosure next to the cheetah. We are currently planning a new enclosure for both the silver and red foxes.