Follow the Pandas In Paradise Blog

Below is the link to the 'Pandas in Paradise' Blog by keeper Donna Chidgey. She will keep you up to date on how our new little Red Panda is doing.

http://pandasinparadise.blogspot.co.uk/

Female Red Panda to arrive from Denmark!

Lang Za awaiting the arrival of the female Red Panda

A young female Red Panda will be arriving at Paradise Park on the evening of 22nd June. She will be with two Paradise Park keepers, who are travelling to Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark to collect her and accompany her to her new home.

Curator David Woolcock explains “She will be joining our resident Red Panda ‘Lang Za’ after his partner ‘Pandora’ passed away last year due to old age. She has been chosen by the Studbook Keeper for this rare species as a good genetic match for him.
We plan to release her into the enclosure early on Saturday morning (23rd). It will take her a while to adjust to her new surrounds and Lang Za, so there is no guarantee she will been seen immediately as she has the option of going into a den and hiding for a while.”

The new Red Panda was born on 28th June 2011, so at one year old is the perfect age to leave her parents. It is possible that the new pair might produce cubs next summer.

The advantage of the keepers going to Denmark is that they can talk to their counterpart at Copenhagen Zoo, see how the young panda’s food is presented, discover her likes and dislikes and see the enclosure where she was born. This helps makes the move as easy for her as possible.

Paradise Park raised over £700 for Red Panda conservation last year and is holding another fun weekend called ‘PANDAMONIUM’ celebrating these wonderful animals, on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th August.

Red Pandas are an endangered species and originate from bamboo forests on the slopes of the Himalayas.

Here is a link to a little video you might enjoy!

VIDEO of Kea Chicks being hand-reared!

Kea chicks being hand-reared at Paradise Park

Three ‘very noisy’ Kea chicks are being hand-reared at Paradise Park in Hayle, Cornwall.

Director Nick Reynolds comments “We decided to hand-rear these chicks due to the parents having been unsuccessful at rearing their own chicks in the past,. They are from a new bloodline, so we will be able to place them with the chicks we had last year to create new pairs in future years. They will then be able to move on to other bird collections throughout Europe.”

Kea parrots are a close relatives of the flightless green Kakapo parrot from New Zealand which featured in Stephen Fry’s film about rare species.

The Kea is classified as a ‘vulnerable’ species mainly due to introduced mammals which are able to get into its nests to steal eggs and young.

 

They are famous for being curious and highly intelligent, and were chosen as No.3 in the BBC’s  ‘Britain’s Cleverest Animal’ programme.  The Keas at the Park were filmed doing a test which involved pulling strings to get to food treats.  The birds managed this easily, and enjoyed the novelty so much that they went on to destroy the whole test box, and even the mini cameras!

This species is naturally playful in the wild, probably because it had few natural ‘enemies’, such as rats or cats, in its native New Zealand, so needed very little fear to survive.

You can perform live at the BIRD this Friday 10th February

Why not come along and join in our Open Mic Night at 9pm on 10^th February at the Bird In Hand Pub in Hayle. 

If you would like to have a go, you can perform by yourself or bring your band along, and if you would like some help, organiser Angus is always on hand to assist and will help get you started. He will even play along with you if you wish.

And if you know anyone who really wants to have a go on a proper stage in this friendly pub, then help them take that first step and get them to come along on the night so they can see what is going on and how it works. We supply the PA, you just need to bring yourself and any instruments. Those first steps are always the biggest, and you are guaranteed a friendly welcoming atmosphere. Go on, give it a go! And who knows, the next big star might be discovered at the BIRD! 

If you don’t fancy getting up on stage then pop in and enjoy the evening and help support some new talent. See you Friday night!

Paradise parrots' ancestor was a rare bird indeed

The origins of rare cockatoos until recently held at Hayle’s Paradise Park have been linked to the much-loved pet of a young girl living on a remote South Pacific island 50 years ago.

The story has come to light in a new book just released in the UK in which author David Webb tells how a pet cockatoo on a large copra plantation in Papua-New Guinea helped spearhead a breeding and conservation programme in the UK during the mid-sixties.

The bird in question was called Joe, a member of the rare Blue-eyed cockatoo species (cacatua opthalmica) whose natural environment is the lowland tropical bushland on the island of New Britain. It was there that Joe became the pet of Bessie Donald, a young girl whose parents managed the Wangaramut copra plantation nearby.     

The two became inseparable friends as Joe soon became ‘boss cocky’ of almost everyone and everything that moved at the homestead, including five large dogs and a hundred native plantation workers..

Then came the day, in 1965, when Bessie and her family left New Guinea to return to live in Australia and Joe was left in the care of a family friend. Just a year later, an English ornithologist visiting the islands arranged to take Joe and four other Blue-eyed cockatoos back to England with him to form the original breeding stock for the inaugural conservation project started at Chester Zoo.

As the only identified male among the group, Joe fathered numerous offspring to begin a fast-growing family of the birds in captivity. As a consequence, today there are Blue-eyed cockatoos – now officially regarded as a threatened species – in zoos and private collections throughout the UK and Europe, including Belfast, Germany, France and the Netherlands as well as the Canary Islands and South Africa.

Paradise Park, home of the World Parrot Trust, was one of the new habitats for two of the birds which, records show, were among 43 Blue-eyes comprising the European population in 1998.  Newquay and Paignton zoos also joined the conservation program.  

Joe, the true-life adventures of a Blue-eyed Cockatoo, is written for young readers. Journalist David Webb was working in New Guinea at the time of Joe’s earlier life and subsequently followed through the bird’s extraordinary journey.  The book is now available from the shop at Paradise Park.   

Reviewer Desi Milpacher wrote in the most recent World Parrot Trust’s Flock Talk newsletter: “Adults and children alike will enjoy the story … both for the truth and the tale.”.

Joe, the true-life adventures of a Blue-eyed Cockatoo
By David Webb

October Half Term at Paradise Park In Hayle, Cornwall

Well known as the home of the World Parrot Trust, feeding the lorikeets with a pot of nectar is a great opportunity to get close to these colourful little members of the parrot family in their walk-through aviary. There are also Free Flying Bird Shows with many other parrot species displaying their flying skills, as well as their voices, plumage and unusual characteristics.

A few lucky children are picked to help feed the penguins at their twice-daily feeding times, and these are followed by a photocall with one of the friendly hand-reared birds. Down at the Fun Farm everyone is welcome to feed the pygmy goats, miniature sheep, donkeys and rabbits with a big handful of carrots.

The Park is open year round at 10am with a smaller winter season schedule from Monday 31st October. For the current timetable phone the Infoline on 01736 753365 or go to the Paradise Park website www.paradisepark.org.uk.