Dragonflies and damselflies have been around since the days of the dinosaurs, with their ancestors the biggest insects ever to exist. Today, they still continue to impress us with their size – the largest bigger than a small hummingbird. More than 6,000 species are known at present and this fascinating book profiles 50 of the […]
Beasts of London is a major new experience due to open at The Museum of London in April. The family-friendly event will bring to life the history of animals in the city, told from the unique perspective of the animals themselves. Created in partnership with the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the animals will be voiced by some well-known names including Brian Blessed, Pam […]
The Amur tigers, camels and wolverine at ZSL Whipsande Zoo enjoyed the recent snowy weather in the Chilterns as the temperatures dropped and the UK gripped by the recent big-freeze …. Main image: Wolverine enjoys the snow at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo For more information on visiting ZSL Whipsande Zoo go to www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo
The Tropical Butterfly House in Sheffield is celebrating its 25th year with a special new arrival – a Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth. A first for the wildlife park, the 29 year old male was born in Amsterdam but has been living in Hamerton Zoo, Cambridgeshire for the last 18 years where he was simply referred to […]
Keepers at ZSL London Zoo welcomed a new arrival earlier this week – a critically endangered Sumatran tiger named Asim. The seven year old male was moved from Ree Park Safari in Denmark as a new mate for resident female, ten-year-old Melati, as part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for Sumatran tigers. ZSL […]
The girl who really, really, really loves dinosaurs (Natural History Museum) With its bright colours and simple observations, ‘The girl who really, really loves dinosaurs’ by artist John Hamilton was a hit with my eighteen-month-old, who not only loved spotting the dinosaurs in the book but also the other animals that appear along the way. […]
Paignton Zoo in Devon has successfully bred two protected Mexican beaded lizards – a first for the environmental park – with zoo photographer Elliye Stobbart on hand to capture the incredible moment one egg hatched. This particular species of beaded lizard – also known as Heloderma horridum – is venomous and found mainly in Mexico and southern […]
A new game created by scientists at international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) aims to educate children on how seabed trawling is damaging to marine wildlife off the Greenland coast. Casting their nets far and wide, players of ‘Tricky Trawling’ must attempt to catch fish out in the open ocean, while avoiding vulnerable seabed-dwelling creatures like […]
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Branton in Doncaster, is home to the country’s only polar bears – Nissan, Nobby, Victor and Pixel. As the nation shivered under the sudden Arctic blast yesterday, four year old Nobby was in his element. The young polar bear found a frozen lake far too tempting and wasted no time plunging into the chilly […]
It’s been a bumper year for grey seal pups at the National Trust’s Blakeney National Nature Reserve in Norfolk with rangers recording 3,012 born over the winter. This is the highest number of births since records began 30 years ago when the first grey seal pup was spotted on Blakeney Point in 1988. A rookery – or […]
Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day and a chance for us to celebrate and raise awareness for the red squirrel – one of our most iconic and much loved woodland creatures. The red squirrel is the UK’s only native squirrel species and was once a common sight in the UK. However, since the larger more invasive grey […]
Visitors to the Victorian aviary at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire can now help Asian songbirds with one tap using new contactless payment units to donate. The ‘Silent Forest: Asian Songbird Crisis’ campaign was launched by European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) to highlight the devastating effect of South-East Asian songbirds being taken from the […]
Next time you visit ZSL London Zoo or ZSL Whipsnade Zoo you may notice some rather colourful new safety signs have replaced the more traditional versions. Creative studios at ZSL London Zoo have revamped the old signage and produced eight new light-hearted and engaging designs that it hopes will capture the attention of its 1.2 million […]
A critically endangered Lake Alaotran gentle lemur has been born at Bristol Zoo Gardens. Weighing as little as an apple, the new arrival is thriving in the care of mum, Alina, who already has two offspring – a daughter Antoka and son Maso – still currently in the family group. Bristol Zoo has kept Critically […]
Children visiting ZSL London Zoo are in for a treat this February half-term as they get the chance to go behind the scenes and find out what it takes to be a zoo vet for the day. Running from Saturday 16th to Sunday 24th February, Vets in Action allows children to step into the role of […]
Chester Zoo has announced the hatching of two chicks belonging to a species that was declared extinct in the wild 47 years ago. The Socorro dove originates from an island located 400 miles off the west coast of Mexico, but vanished from the wild completely in 1972. The birds were wiped out after sheep were […]
The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth is offering guests an amazing opportunity to sleepover with sharks on selected dates throughout 2019. Ideal for families or groups, Sleeping with Sharks provides an unforgettable experience and a chance to become fully immersed in an underwater world to find out what fish get up to at night. Arrive from 6.30pm […]
Noor: Queen of Ranthambhore is a beautiful book featuring a collection of over 200 incredible images of one special tigress taken over a four-year period in Rajasthan, India. Internationally acclaimed photographers Andy Rouse and Aditya “Dicky” Singh were united by a passion for tigers and conservation which led them to embark on a journey to […]
The RSPB is calling on the nation to get involved with this year’s Big Garden Birdwatch which takes place over the weekend of 26-28 January 2019. Now in its 40th year, the Birdwatch is a chance for people of all ages to count the number of birds visiting their gardens to help the RSPB build […]
The SEA LIFE TRUST has been working in partnership with Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) to create the world’s first open water sanctuary for beluga whales in Iceland. Due to open in Spring 2019, The Beluga Whale Sanctuary is one of the biggest developments in captive whale and dolphin care and the first of its kind to […]
The Wildwood Trust is planning to build a giant Red Squirrel Walk-through with hopes to complete and open by Easter 2019. Red squirrels are one of Britain’s most attractive woodland animals and one of it’s rarest. The Kent based conservation charity has been leading a campaign to reintroduce red squirrels back to the UK after they […]
Cotswold Wildlife Park in Oxfordshire welcomed three very special new arrivals to the Primate Section recently – two incredibly rare Lemur species and a new mate for their male Sloth. Writing exclusively for Discover Animals, Natalie Horner, Deputy Section Head of Primates and Small Mammals at Cotswold Wildlife explains what is involved in welcoming new animals […]
The festive season is laden with people, parties and presents – and all that extra excitement can sometimes be just too much for your four-legged friend. Party poppers, fireworks and rich foods can be a real danger to dogs on New Year’s Eve. That’s why it’s important to think about the needs of your pet […]
ZSL London Zoo cares for more than 700 different species of mammal, bird, reptile, fish and invertebrate, while sister site ZSL Whipsnade is home to over 3,500 animals and is the UK’s biggest zoo. At the start of every year, ZSL zookeepers take on the mammoth task of recording every animal for its annual stocktake, counting everything […]
The Great Eggcase Hunt along the Yorkshire coastline was a spectacular success for The Shark Trust in 2018. Large numbers were recorded, with Hull aquarium The Deep finding over 600 shark and ray eggcases during their events alone. Dramatic storms hitting the east coast contributed to the high volume, but more data is needed to […]
A brand new state of the art White Lion Habitat is due to open at Paradise Wildlife Park in April 2019. Until recently, the new White Lion Habitat was home to resident white tiger Baikal, who is currently taking a short holiday at the Park’s sister site, The Big Cat Sanctuary in Kent. Once work […]