Current news stories
Obituary: 1st October 2009, Buster the Fox
By David Mills
Sadly Buster passed away this morning at
the ripe old age of 13. He had been ailing for sometime as his body was
shutting down due to kidney failure. Our vet made the final decision this
morning.
All his life Buster had been my friend
and over the years we have spent many an hour together just sitting and
watching the world go by, enjoying each other's company. It was a privilege
to be absolutely trusted by him and he will be sadly missed.
He lives on in his offspring, Frodo and
Pickles, and of course in the thousands of photographs taken over the years.
He is buried in the fox enclosure next to his lifelong mate, Honey, who died
in January.
Otter
Family in Observation Holt (August 2009)
Our otter family, made up of Stirling, Thistle and their three
adorable cubs can now be viewed in our fantastic new observation otter holt.
Visitors enjoy seeing these beautiful creatures at close quarters, through
the glass top. The otters have got very used to the new arrangement are
quite relaxed, huddled together sleeping, occasionally glancing up to see
who's visiting them. The otters can be seen for the duration of the Summer
holiday opening (last day 6th September).
New Life - Cubs, Calves & Kits
(July
2009)
It's been a very productive spring and summer here at the BWC. New
life abounds, with cubs, calves and kits adding to our collection of native
wildlife. Three new otters have been born to parents, Stirling and Thistle,
and are now venturing out of their holt and getting to grips with swimming.
Humbug the badger is nursing two cubs, named Bubble & Squeak. Though they can be seen
in the underground badger sett, we hope they'll be brave enough to come
outside with the adults for late afternoon feeds so visitors can see them in
the daylight. Both otter and badger cubs are already celebrities, as footage
of them was shown on BBC's Springwatch last month. We've had a number
of red squirrel litters and the lively kits are now scampering around their enclosures.
Red deer calves can be seen in the Deer Park and a snowy owl chick (currently
grey, very fluffy and not at all 'snowy') will be seen out and about with a Keeper during the
summer months. Lovely Luna the fox cub is still delighting visitors and growing
daily. She's loving life at the Centre and is as playful as ever.
Jo Brand & Chris Packham Visit (April
2009)
The British Wildlife Centre played host to renowned wildlife
presenter and author, Chris Packham, and Britain's most popular female
stand-up comedian, Jo Brand. Chris and Jo arrived with the BBC's Countryfile
film crew to launch Countryfile's Wildlife Photography Competition, and we
proved to be the ideal venue. Chris, an award-winning wildlife photographer,
showed Jo how to achieve the best wildlife images. His advice paid
off and Jo achieved some excellent shots of our foxes and otters. This
episode of Countryfile will be shown on BBC1 at 7pm on Sunday 10th May. If
you want to pick up tips from the expert, then don't miss it!
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