Baby reindeer arrives and Buta dips her toes at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm
8th May 2014
It's been a busy few weeks at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm with gorgeous new fluffy arrivals and new experiences for some of our other residents. The Spring babies keep on coming as following hot on the heels of our little lemurs and lambs, comes a new baby reindeer! Little Kimi was born a week back and we announced his arrival once his Keepers were happy that he had settled in. Kimi and mum Roxie are getting on well and visitors can come and meet them in the Show Pens and out in their field where you can get up close to these sweet creatures. We’re also welcoming a new camel, who is set to keep our big male Charles company. Five-year-old Camella comes to us from Cotswold Wildlife Park and joins Bactrian Camel Charles in his enclosure.
Our Camel Charles (pictured) is getting a new companion in the fields[/caption] These gentle giants have lots of special adaptations suiting them to be ‘ships of the desert,’ – come and visit them and see which you can spot:
- Feet: They have padded feet with two big toes which give them a large surface area to spread their weight across when walking on sand.
- Humps: Camels are the only animals store their fat in humps on their back.
- Water storage: Around 100 litres of water can be stored in a camel’s fat or body tissues to be used when in arid conditions. They can also drink a lot of water quickly when they get to a lake or river.
- Eyelids: They have three sets to keep sand out, which gives them their long-lashed look.
- Nostrils: Camels can also keep sand out by closing their nostrils.
Meanwhile one of our recent arrivals has been enjoying discovering new facilities at Noah’s Ark. Buta, our beautiful African elephant, went into her pool for the first time – and we caught the fun experience on camera which you can watch below. Buta’s been with us since February, when she moved down from Knowsley Safari Park in Liverpool. She’s been enjoying stretching her legs in the large fields of Elephant Eden and padding around on the deep sand yards in the barn – perfect for good foot health.
The 20-acre site was designed to offer enrichment and welfare advances for elephants already living in captivity and now Buta has started exploring features like the mud wallows and deep bathing pool – all making the environment as fulfilling for her as possible – watch her playing in her pool below!
Watch video
She’s still got private woodland to explore and will soon have the company of a fellow Knowsley elephant, when one of her herd – Nissim – moves down to Noah’s Ark. He’s still in Liverpool, finishing up his training and getting comfortable with his specially-constructed travel crate which will bring him to his new home. We’re expecting to plan the move for this summer if he is ready. We run Elephant Encounter talks each day at 12.30pm and 3.30pm inside the Elephant house, where you can find out more about our burgeoning herd. T
here’s lots to see at the moment at Noah’s Ark and if you book your day tickets online, you can nab yourself a 5% discount on entrance. Your tickets will be valid until December 20, not that you’ll be able to wait that long to come and see all the animals at the Ark! Our zoo season tickets are proving particularly popular with families this year, offering a great value for money – if you visit four times in a year then you’ll have made your money back. Season membership also comes with discount vouchers for family and friends, coupons for discounts on Animal Adoptions and Keeper Experiences – as well as the flagship unlimited entry, which means you can pop in whenever you like, for as long or short a time as you have.
Families often stop in for an hour after school to visit their favourite animals. We are open from Monday – Saturday, 10:30am – 5pm. For more information please visit the Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm website or call 01275 852606.
