Over the last few weeks it’s been all go at Hertfordshire’s newest zoo, Ventura Wildlife’s Zoological Gardens, with the arrival of lots of new animals from across Europe.
The first of the new arrivals were a group of three female straw necked ibis that came from Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic at the start of November. These birds are not commonly seen in the UK and get their name from the straw like feather found on their neck; they are naturally found in Australia, New Guinea and parts of Indonesia.
A new female Parma wallaby, which is one of the smallest wallabies in the world, also joined the zoo from Drusillas Park in East Sussex to provide a partner for resident male ‘Wally’.
After many months of planning, the zoo has welcomed one of their rarest and most endangered additions, a young three-year-old male fossa. The new male, called ‘Stevie’, was brought in from Réserve Zoologique de Calviac in the South West of France where he was born. Fossa are seldom seen in zoos and are notoriously difficult to breed, with only 59 individuals making up the current European endangered species breeding programme (EEP). In the near future, the zoo will attempt to breed Stevie with Orana, their resident female, under the recommendations of the EEP coordinator, based at Zoo Duisburg in Germany.
The zoo has also seen the arrival of some large hoof stock in the form of two young male Grant’s zebra from the Lake District Wild Park and four young reindeer from Basel Zoo in Switzerland.
Zoo Director, Ashley Palmier, explained: “It is wonderful to see the arrival of all these animals after months of careful planning and coordination with other zoos across Europe. This marks an important chapter in the zoo’s history.”
The zoo is located in Ware, Hertfordshire and is open all year round. Visit www.venturawildlife.co.uk to find out more.
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