Flamingo Land has welcomed a new female emperor tamarin into their animal collection. She has been transferred from Dudley Zoo will be paired up with the male already here.

It seems as though the weather is finally starting to turn colder and winter is on its way. With that in mind, the zookeepers at Flamingo Land are very busy at the moment helping both the exotic and native species found at the zoo to get through the next few months as comfortably as possible.

Thanks For Making 2014 Another Great Year!

Flamingo Land Resort, one of the biggest visitor attractions in Yorkshire, has been named Yorkshire’s ‘Most Magnificent’ Attraction 2014. Voted for by the public over the summer months, the attraction beat off stiff competition including last year’s winner Yorkshire Sculpture Park and the other 15 Yorkshire’s Magnificent Attractions to the accolade.

Although we’re now well into the summer holidays, the babies are still coming thick and fast here at Flamingo Land! This week we’re welcoming a brand new flamingo chick to our flock.

Our flamingos are currently in the middle of their nesting season, and this is the first chick to have hatched from this clutch of eggs. Our famous flamingos are of course where the resort got its name, as one of the first animals to ever arrive here! We keep two species, Chilean and Caribbean flamingos, both of which can be found in South America.

Mara are classified into the same family as guinea pigs and capybaras, which are all native to South America. At Flamingo Land we have Patagonian mara, as opposed to Chacoan, and they can be visible from the treetop walkway in the zoo.

Mara look like oversized hares but their heads are more like a deer. Their backs are fairly grey in colour, with a white fringe towards their rear end, and they have golden brown fur on their front and around their face.

Flamingo Land is pleased to announce the birth of a baby vicuna (cria) born on Sunday 29th June. The cria is fit and healthy and was standing and walking around an hour after birth. Its sex is still unknown but the zoo keepers should be able to find out within the next few days.

Both mum and dad, Holly and Bailey, are doing an excellent job at looking after and protecting their new addition. This is the pair’s first successful offspring therefore it is an exciting time for them and the zoo staff!

Flamingo Land is celebrating the birth of a zebra foal. The young male can be seen in the mixed giraffe, zebra and ostrich exhibit, along with his parents and his older sister Velvet, who was born in January last year. His big sister is being very protective of him and even chases their parents off if they get too close!

Our zebras are normally outside grazing all day long, so there is usually a good view of the new arrival. Giraffes, zebras and ostriches all live in the same habitats in the wild, so they are quite happy to share an enclosure – in fact, it makes life more interesting for them. Of course, they are all herbivores, so there’s no danger of anyone eating anyone else!

Here at Flamingo Land we’re delighted to announce the birth of three Sumatran tiger cubs to resident mother and father Surya and Bawa. Born in the early hours on 22nd March, our zoo vet is delighted with their progress, allowing the triplets to be released into an open enclosure from 21st May. The cubs will stay with their mother for up to two years. They’ll then be transferred to other zoos as part of the international breeding programme for this critically endangered species.

“This is fantastic news for the European Endangered Species Programme and really shows the effectiveness of international collaboration,” comments Zoo Manager Ross Snipp. “The Sumatran tiger could quite easily disappear from the wild within the next few decades, so it is essential that we maintain a captive population in zoos worldwide.”

Serving Costa Coffee, sandwiches, snacks and cakes. Sit in & Takeaway Service.

Flamingo Land is currently celebrating the birth of a baby ring-tailed lemur. The sex of the youngster is still unknown, as it’s still being closely looked after by its mother. However, it appears to be healthy and doing well. The baby can be seen clinging to its mother as they move around the enclosure. Baby lemurs travel everywhere with their mother until they are old enough to move around independently and keep up with the rest of the troop.

Ring-tailed lemurs are probably the most easily recognised lemur, thanks to their black and white striped tail, which is longer than their head and body. They are also the most common lemur to be found in zoos worldwide. Lemurs are primates but are not closely related to other primates such as monkeys, gorillas or humans. They have eyes which are reflective at night, rely more on their sense of smell, have relatively small brains compared to other primates, have wet noses and possess a unique feature known as a toothcomb, which is used for grooming.

At Flamingo Land, we are pleased to announce that our mara group number has increased this April due to the birth of four youngsters! Two females gave birth to two babies each within a couple of weeks of each other. Female maras usually give birth to two babies at a time so this is normal behaviour. The new additions are settling in well with the rest of the group and can be clearly seen from our Treetop Walkway. 

There are two species of mara, Patagonian and Chacoan. Our maras are Patagonian and can be found living in our South American area of the zoo. They are quite an unusual animal, looking slightly like a miniature deer with the head of a hare. Their backs are fairly grey in colour, with a fringe of white towards their rear end, and they have golden brown fur on their front and around their face.

Zanzibar Food Market, “the home of Stone Town Pizza’s, Starbucks and the Burger Shack.”

Several new species are now on display in Flamingo Land’s Reptile River area. This section of the zoo is part of Children’s Planet and was already home to our water monitor lizard, Burmese pythons and cane toad. As well as reptiles, amphibians and mammals can be seen there too – our porcupines and meerkats also have enclosures there. The species now on display are poison dart frogs, a blood python, mossy frogs and red-tailed racer snakes.

Red-tailed racers are also known as red-tailed green ratsnakes. If you see ours you’ll be able to recognise them easily by their bright green colour, although don’t bother looking for red tails because they don’t have them! The name is quite misleading as these snakes are not always green and don’t always have red tails. Red-tailed racers are excellent climbers and may spend most of their lives in the trees. They eat birds, eggs, rodents, lizards and bats. They are native to Southeast Asia, being found in countries such as India, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

On 13th February we had a camel calf born at Flamingo Land! The calf is yet to be named but Abi the camel gave birth to a healthy girl. This is Abi’s second calf and she is looking after it very well.

Abi was hand-reared but she still has a motherly instinct to make sure the calf is protected and suckling from her. The calf’s dad, Baxter, is living within the same camel house along with the rest of our camels, although they are being kept separate from Abi and her calf for a few days to give them a bit of privacy.

Flamingo Land has yet more new additions to the zoo! We have introduced two mongoose lemurs into our group of ring-tailed and red-bellied lemurs.

These small lemurs are settling in well after leaving their previous home at Edinburgh Zoo. The pair were already living together at Edinburgh so they are already familiar with each other. The male, Geoffrey, is distinguishable from the female, Geraldine, as he has a brown neck while she has a white neck.

Flamingo Land is proud to announce that our two Red Pandas are now on display to visitors.

The male is called Bai Jiao and the female Tai Jang and they are both 18 months old. They form part of our international breeding programmes, and we look forward to them having babies in the future.

Flamingo Land has been a member of BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and EAZA, its European counterpart, for many years.

BIAZA and EAZA are professional accreditation bodies that represent only the best zoos in Britain, Ireland and Europe. Although all zoos must comply with strict government regulations, to be a member of an accreditation body requires compliance with even more stringent codes of practice, as well as significant contributions to the fields of animal welfare, research, conservation and education. Accreditation body membership brings a number of benefits, including training sessions and conferences for zoo staff. BIAZA and EAZA zoos also have very close relationships with one another, collaborating on conservation projects and coordinating animal moves to ensure the success of breeding programmes for endangered species.

Our group of banded mongoose has increased in size due to the addition of three babies!

These small animals are miniatures of their parents, so they look very cute! Despite being small they are very vocal, squeaking to their mother so she is aware of where they are and their needs. The photo shows one of our babies actively running around with its mother. The mothers are still quite protective of their offspring so will try to make sure they are close by and are visible. In the wild the young would be defenceless against any predators so depend on their mothers for protection and to teach them how to be a mongoose. The babies are fully integrated into the group so if you’re visiting us this winter you may be lucky enough to spot them in our Children’s Planet area. Our keepers assume that the babies have different mothers but the same father. This is a replica of the natural behaviour in the wild, where there would be one dominant male within the group and several breeding females.

If you have ever visited Flamingo Land you may have noticed we have free ranging peafowl, or peacocks, in our park.

These have recently gone through their breeding season and have produced multiple young. These can be seen following their mums around and look like mini versions of them! The peacocks are very friendly which is why we are able to allow them to wander around the park and not keep them within an enclosure.