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.

Our very own Jemima Puddle-Duck

A new arrival has joined the many birds which live in the walk-in enclosure. Four weeks ago, our pair of runner ducks hatched one chick, and the youngster is now thriving amongst the various ducks, geese, guinea fowl and chickens which share this area. Although the keepers do not know whether the new bird is a male or a female, it has been given the nickname Jemima. The wet weather in recent weeks created lots of little puddles for the chick to splash about in, so the name seemed fitting! The chick is growing quickly and has recently been exploring the lake, as always, closely followed by its parents.

In an earlier post we told you about our first fallow fawn of 2009, well we have had five born in total this year. They are all fit and healthy and back with the main herd. At the beginning of July we received six new black cheeked lovebirds from Newquay Zoo to add to our existing flock. Both the black cheeked and the peach faced lovebirds have also bred well again this year.

Fallow Fawn

Dartmoor Zoo's first baby fallow deer of 2009 is now one week old. These photos, taken today, show him lying low amongst the logs in the paddock. He is now becoming more mobile however, and will soon be running with the herd. The keepers are hoping he will be joined by a few more youngsters in the coming weeks!

First Steps

It seems fitting that in first tentative steps into the world of blogging we announce the arrival of a new addition to our collection here at DZP.

Earlier this week we were delighted to discover a new male fallow deer. Whilst he is undoubtedly cute and adorable, eager to explore the paddock he and his family shares with the lama, alpaca, and Pete the ostrich, he has some strong competition for attention in the shape of our newly arrived meerkats.

We recently introduced Sue and Timon to their brand new enclosure outside the Jaguar Restaurant. It's no overstatement to say that the enclosure is fantastic. With glass on all sides and an open top, visitors could not get any closer to these fascinating creatures.

Sue is the older and bolder of the two taking the lion's share of sentry duty whilst Timon spends most of his time foraging and bolting for cover. However, we're also pleased to confirm that he's been taking his responsibilities as the only male in the vicinity very seriously and we have high hopes of baby meerkats before the end of the summer.

We'll be here regularly to keep you posted on developments with these and other stories as they unfold. The world of blogging is quite new to us and we're looking forward to discovering where it takes us.