PICTURES: Baby boom at Cotswold Wildlife Park

New additions include a tiny Giant Anteater pup who is the third breeding success for parents Zorro and Zeta.

The last time they successfully produced an Anteater pup was back in 2016.

The public were invited to help name the newborn via the Park’s Facebook page and chose 'Zena'.

Curator of Cotswold Wildlife Park Jamie Craig said: “Zeta has again proved to be an excellent and diligent mother. We are extremely proud of her here at the Park and it is great to see another healthy baby growing rapidly and exploring her surroundings from the safety of her mother's rather formidable back!”

Elsewhere in the Park, keepers are celebrating the arrival of Bactrian Camel Petra.

She is the first calf sired by first-time father Louis, who was named after Prince Louis of Wales as they were both born on the same day, and experienced mother Cleo.

The wild Bactrian Camel is classified as critically endangered and is thought to be one of the rarest large mammals on earth. Camels have a gestation period of approximately 360 to 440 days.     

Section Head of Primates and Small Mammals, Natalie Horner, said it has been a very busy time on the Primates and Small Mammals section this year.

"Several new births to celebrate include our Colobus Monkeys, Titi Monkeys, Cotton-top Tamarins, Dwarf Mongoose and Naked Mole Rats.

"We're also thrilled with our latest additions to the Lemur troop, including the birth of one of the rarest primates on earth - the Greater Bamboo Lemur.

"With only 30 animals in captivity worldwide, we’re one of only two zoological collections to have successfully bred Greater Bamboo Lemurs this year.

"And our pair of Crowned Lemurs recently gave birth to twins. Female Sava and her partner Izao are first-time parents and are doing a brilliant job of raising their youngsters."

It was also a remarkable breeding year for the White Storks.

Cotswold Wildlife Park is heavily involved in one of the UK’s most ambitious rewilding programmes – The White Stork Project - which aims to restore wild Stork populations to Britain – a sight not seen since the 15th century. 

2022 was not only the most successful Stork breeding season in the Park’s history, with a record 33 chicks reared.

This year’s chicks hatched at Cotswold Wildlife Park in May and were transferred to Knepp Castle Estate in West Sussex for release into the wild in August.

Other breeding successes so far this year include African Straw-coloured Bats, Dyeing Poison Frogs, Prairie Dogs, Binturong triplets, Parma Wallabies, Gundis, Black-cheeked Lovebirds, Pallas’s Cats and White Rhino ‘Queenie’ who was named in honour of Queen Elizabeth II to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee.

For more information, please visit: https://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/conservation/

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Subscriptions from Oxford Mail Subscribe to the Oxford Mail [15/06 12:24] Miranda Norris Great thanks