BWC The Movie! (November
2011)
We are very pleased to
announce the arrival of our brand new souvenir DVD, all about the British
Wildlife Centre; its history, the people, the work we do here and most
importantly our wonderful wildlife. This 35 minute DVD is beautifully
shot by professional filmmakers and takes viewers on a guided tour around
the Centre and a peak behind the scenes. Discover for yourself what makes
the Centre so special for the thousands of visitors (including notables such
as Chris Packham and Dame Judi Dench) who visit each year. The DVD is £11.95
(plus P+P) and is available now! Just call us to order your copy.
Pickles in Countryfile
2012 Calendar
(October 2011)
The wonderful wintry shot
of vixen Pickles (right) was taken by our Head Keeper Matt during last
winter's snowy spell and we are very pleased to announce that it has won the
'In All Weathers' class in the Countryfile Photographic Competition. It was
selected by judges, John Craven, Janet Street-Porter and Chris Packham from
55,000 submitted entries to win a place in the prestigious Countryfile
calendar, sales from which help raise funds for Children in Need. Pickles
the fox will appear on the December page of this popular calendar and so
will adorn walls all over the country during next year's festive season.
Well done Matt!
Badger Buddies (June
2011)
In May we provided a new
home for rescued orphaned badger cub Honey. She'd been partially hand reared
by a rescue centre and was already people-friendly. Honey has been paired up
with another orphaned cub, Titch, who joined us last year, with both cubs
being cared for by badger fan, Laura. The cubs are now firm friends and
Honey is making daily appearances in the photographic pen (by the polecats),
during public opening times.
Flo's Cubs Venture Out (May
2011)
Flo's cubs are gaining
confidence by the day and venturing out but keeping mum in sight. Visitors
are now spotting them regularly and if they're lucky getting a quick
snapshot! Head Keeper Matt has gained their trust and has taken some super
shots of these gorgeous cubs,
see them now on the Keeper's Blog.
Fox News! Welcome to Josh
/ New brood for Flo & Frodo
(April
2011)
Earlier this year we
welcomed a charming and very friendly new fox named Josh, who joined us from
Riverside Animal Centre in Wallington (picture left: being released into his
new home). He settled here so well and is now very familiar with the Keepers
and curious to meet our visitors. Look out for him during your next visit.
Flo our most friendly resident fox has been out of circulation these past weeks as she went to earth to give birth to a new brood of cubs, fathered by Frodo. It will probably be about a month before they start to tentatively venture out with mum, so they're likely to be seen by visitors around late May when they will be confident enough to be out and about when we have visitors.
All White Now! (December
2010)
We thought we'd seen the
last of the snow earlier in the year, but this December has turned the BWC
into a winter wonderland. A few of our Keepers managed to travel in to keep the animals well tended. The work is harder in such conditions,
taking longer to distribute the animals' food as well as the regular
replacement of frozen water with fresh drinking water. Many species
reduce their activity to a short spell in the morning, before retiring to
their warm, sheltered sleeping quarters. Others seems to actively enjoy the
snow and ice. Again we've seen frolicking foxes and ice-skating otters! Of course many animals, such as the Scottish wildcats, pine martens and snowy
owls are built for this weather and take it in their stride. Head
Keeper, Matt, was out with his camera and got some super snowy shots.
See them now on the Keeper's Blog.
New Life in Abundance (June
2010)
We've had another bumper
spring for wildlife newborns. Following last year's litter of two, Humbug
the badger produced three cubs in May. Courtesy of Flo, our very
friendly fox, we now have five fabulous fox cubs just starting to venture
out with mum and delighting visitors. The month of May also saw our first
baby deer of the season, a beautiful red deer calf born to Penny.
More calves are due to the other females of the herd. And we have a pretty
roe deer fawn, born to Willow. After a gap of five years we're
thrilled to report the birth of Scottish wildcat kittens here at the
Centre; Kendra had a litter of three and shortly after her sister Iona had
one kitten. At the end of summer these kittens will be entered into an
organised release programme in Scotland to boost numbers of this
increasingly rare species. Red squirrel kits have added to our
numbers and more are on the way. Many of these are destined for the
Walk-Through Red Squirrel Enclosure. The new group will include females for
the first time and we hope they will successfully breed in the Copse. We've
been lucky enough to acquire two barn owl and three tawny owl
chicks from other wildlife organisations, currently being hand-reared by our
keepers. One or two may be destined to join Head Keeper Matt's free-flying
team later in the year. For all the very latest animal news why not
visit our Keeper's Blog.
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For the very latest
animal news visit our HEAD KEEPER'S BLOG |
