Giant Paws, lots of roars and photobombers!!!! - A day at Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Hello again my lovely followers!
So I'm back again for the third installment in my blog series. What an incredible day I had at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday 10th November 2018. I always get such a buzz from any visit to the zoo, but especially those that are so far away from me and have the more unusual animal! And let's face it, with YWP being the only zoo in the UK to have Polar Bears, you can guess where most of my time was spent!

I arrived at the zoo just before 10am when the park opened. "mmm where shall I head to first, I thought!" Having only been once before back in 2016, I was vaguely familiar with some of the layout but also knew that with shorter winter opening hours, the park closing at 4pm, I wanted to make sure I got to see as much as possible. I headed for the Painted dogs first. Most of them were snuggled up in the warm and cosy comfort of their wooden den, though they did venture out all be it briefly for a moment or two. What was really interesting though, was the unexpected visitor "inside" their enclosure!!!! It was a wild Buzzard!!!! Thankfully the bird was in there for some time so I watched in anticipation waiting to see if it would fly off. My patience was rewarded!!! I was grateful the bird gave me time to set up my camera with a fast enough shutter speed to capture its action!

From there, I walked past the Lemur walkthrough which wasn't yet open. It was a shame as I didn't manage to get in there throughout the day as it was again closed on my walk past at the end of the day! last time I went I managed to get a capture of a cute little fluffy baby Ring-Tailed Lemur clinging to a tree, but it had been summer on that visit!

I also got to see a sneak glimpse of the very rare young Visayan Warty Pigs. OMG, are they cute!!!! They were born early October and are stripy when first born as this helps camouflage them when out in the wilds of the Phillippines, where they are listed as critically endangered. As they mature, they lose their stripes. Mum Trish, who is 6 years old had a littler of five which is unusual as it's more common for them to have just one - three within the littler. Dad Troy, also 6 yrs old has been kept separate from the herd at the moment. They were too near the fence for me to be able to use my zoom lens to get photos of them but it was wonderful to see them playing outside following mum!

As I approached the Polar Bears I felt my excitement rise! I spent a good half hour or more watching them on my first walk around the zoo. It looked like they had not long been fed, mind you, having read the information boards on display by their pens, I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the amount they put away each day!!!! Then again, they have a mass of about 450 kg (males that is! females weigh less ranging between 150 - 250 KG). Breakfast consists of 5 KG of beef or 2 KG of mackerel and sprats with 3 kg of fat on the said. I suspect that as it was about 10.30am when I took this photo, it was eating the latter! Elevenses consists of a natural scatter feed of meat, apples, melon, nuts, carrot and more fish. And finally, dinner consists of 40 KG of beef with eggs and carrot on the side.

YWP has four male polar bears: Victor is the oldest, born in Dec 1998, he is fast approaching his 20th birthday. He comes from Germany but has been at the park since 2014. Pixel is Victor's grandson and was born in the Netherlands. He's going to be 6 years old tomorrow! (16th Nov 2018!) Apparently, he has quite an appetite and enjoys his food! He's been at the park since 2015. He is best friends with Nissan, a Russian polar bear just a year younger than Pixel. Nissan is said to be highly intelligent and enjoys getting up to mischief!!!! (don't we all! lol). Finally, Nobby is also one of the younger polar bears also from Germany. He had not long arrived at the zoo when I first saw him back in July 2016. He is very shy in comparison to the other 3 boys.

I watched in fascination as the polar bear, above in the far right photo here played with a plastic tube housing his food. This formed part of his enrichment. So maybe this is Nissan??? very smart!!!! There was also a very high presence of seagulls hoping to get lucky with the odd morsel from the bear's dinner! Talk of photobombing!!! I couldn't have timed that better had I tried!!!

Leaving the polar bears to their grub and a chance to bask in the sunshine, I went to see some of the other animals. I found myself in the South American animal walk through. What's nice about this enclosure is that you can follow the designated pathway and still get quite close to some of the animals. I think I'd quite happy being a squirrel monkey here! They have some fun ropes to climb about on! I saw quite a few of the Patagonian Mara soaking up the sun, including a couple of mega cute babies!

Yorkshire wildlife park is one of the few places I know of where they have giant otters so I do make a point of trying to see them too! Those who know me well know that I just love Otters. They have always been my favourite animal from a young child! Admittedly, it is the Asian short-clawed otter that I most love but all otters fascinate me! The lighting around the otter enclosure where they were situated wasn't so great but they were being really sweet cuddling up together! Their names are Alex and Mora and they are sisters who came from Germany.



Within the same vicinity is the recently arrived
female Giant Anteater Tammy. Such a Bizarre looking animal with her very long snout and 60cm long tongue but I find her lovely all the same! Incredibly she can consume some 35,000 insects in a day! yikes!!!! sadly these beautiful animals are listed as vulnerable with only 5,000 left in the wild.




By about 1.30pm I was standing in front of two
of the most magnificent big cats: Female Tigress Sayan and male Tiger Vladimir. The park has 3 tigers but female Tschuna doesn't get along with Sayan so they are kept separate most of the time.

 Tschuna was at this point having a snooze in the trench in her enclosure. The tiger walkway was built in 2011 and allows great views over their two enclosures. They have plenty of space and a pretty waterfall too! Thankfully due to the conservation efforts granted by Russia in the 1940's, the number of Amur Tiger's in the wild has risen from just 40 animals to about 500. Tschuna is part of the European Breeding programme and has proved to be a wonderful mother despite being rejected herself at birth in her native German zoo. She gave birth to 3 cubs in 2015, Hector, Harley, and Hope who have now all gone on to do their bit in raising Amur Tiger numbers worldwide. This photo here is of Vladimir.

From one big cat to another, those mighty lions!!!! YWP really does seem to excel when it comes to their lion enclosures. With 7 acres to roam about in, this pride originally rescued from a Romanian zoo have plenty of space! Back in 2010, 13 lions arrived from Romania with thanks to a lot of help and support from the public and the media etc.  Today there are 8 lions within the pride. The layout enables you to walk around their enclosures and get a good vantage point from different angles. I watched as these two females stared in synchronicity towards something that had caught their attention.
This lioness below was beautifully positioned on top of a hill and the lighting was just right for me as she took a great big yawn! after all, it's a hard life being a lion and sleeping for about 20 hours of the day!

By this time, I was also starting to feel in need of a pick me up and headed to the restaurant by the Giraffe area. I had a yummy slice of caramel shortbread and a hazelnut latte. I sat in front of the Amur Leopards as I ate my munchies in hope of seeing the elusive animals. Eventually, I managed a small glimpse but today wasn't to be a day for lots of photos of this big cat! I watched the giraffes for a while though before they finally decided that they weren't so keen on getting wet as it started to rain quite heavily! I was blessed with a lovely double rainbow though!
I had been really keen to see the two Black Rhino's but on my first walk around, one of the Rhino's was right up against the fence so I couldn't get any pics. Determined though, I had another walkabout and on my 2nd walk around, I got lucky! The handsome 27 yr old Jasper must have known I had come back to admire his sheer beauty as he was being more cooperative!  Jasper arrived at YWP in March coming from a German zoo along with Makibo. It is hoped to pair Makibo up with a female next year! wouldn't that be awesome to have a baby rhino next time I visit! Najuma is due to arrive at the park sometime in 2019.

This Rhino close up was taken with my Sigma 150 - 500 mm lens. I just love getting right in there close and trying to capture the fine detail that these remarkable animals have! The rich texture of their wrinkled skin, the expression in their eyes, the different colour tones of their hides! I try to get a feel for it all in my photography!
It is such a great shame that the one striking feature of these animals is the one that costs many of them their life: their horns. Thankfully, with global conservation efforts, numbers are edging upwards again but poaching is an ever-present threat,  one that truly shatters my heart.

As the day wore on I took a walk up to the camels and also saw one of the recent arrivals to the park, a Ussuri Brown Bear. The park accepted four of these bears back in Aug 2018 from Japan: Riku, Kai, Hanuko, and Amu. Sadly Amu had to be put to sleep at the end of Aug. I only saw one of the Bears on my visit but as far as I am aware, the other three are ok.

 I went back to admire those four big white fluffy boys again, time fast running out!!!. I just couldn't get enough of them! I enjoyed watching two of them playing together and being rather affectionate.

"You can lean on me, bro!"Nature certainly can be wonderful!!!! I just love the display of emotion here between the two boys. I think this is Pixel and Nissan.

With just an hour to go until closing, I started to make a final scout around the animals I wanted to revisit. I realized that as the sun was starting to set, it would be a great opportunity to try and see if the lions were sitting high up on the hill, I thought to myself! It seems that I was not alone as there were another couple of photographers thinking the same thing! There was a group of three males at one point all sitting together. I managed to get a quick snap of them as the keeper then came driving along in the zoo buggy shooing the last of us stragglers out. I also saw a lone lioness breathing out cold air! it was quite magical to watch! she was just peering out from behind a wooden beam. But I shall leave my blog entry there with a final picture that gave a wonderful finish to my day! I call it "kings of the Hill!" Ares and Adel, two of the male lions sitting proudly on the hill under a gorgeous sky as the sun was setting! I hope you enjoyed reading about my day! I'll be back soon with tales from my day out at Donna Nook Grey Seal Colony, or should I say flippers? Until next time!!!

A day at Aquila: Four out of Five ain't bad!!!! - Friday 9th June 2017

I had been looking forward to this day for such a long time! This was to be my first ever visit to an African Game reserve. I was going on safari! All be it, one of the smaller reserves, but I stood a chance of seeing at least some of the Big Five!

I had flown over to South Africa with my friend Gareth, a week earlier. Gareth was born out there and we were fortunate to have been invited over by his family. Having spoken about our trip for a long time, the day was finally here!

It was an early start and a long day but one that I thoroughly enjoyed and will treasure for the remainder of my days!

The day began around 6.30am when we were collected from The Crystal Towers Hotel, the central pickup point in Cape Town. We then spent the next couple of hours driving to the Aquila private game reserve at Touws river, in the Western Cape.

Driving through the most beautiful countryside, as tired as I was, I didn't want to miss a thing! I was rewarded with stunning views of early morning mist rolling off the mountains as we drove through the southern Karoo. My excitement grew as we neared Ceres. Not much further now! more beautiful sights before me as I glanced at the mountain tops, surprised to see snow covering their peaks. It was June!!!!! But this is South Africa in the midst of their winter!!!!

On arrival at the reserve, we were greeted by our guide, Obai. We were then shown to the complex and took up residence in the restaurant with some breakfast to fuel our bods for the day ahead!
I remember walking through the reception area and seeing some stunning local artwork of Kudu.

By around 9.30am we were out and about in a safari truck ready for a day of jolts and bumps! All part and parcel of the great safari experience! They must have known I was coming as they had provided blankets!!! (chilly mortal I am known for being!) The first animals we came to were a group of Hippo. It was all far too much for them, this morning lark and they busied themselves by continuing to laze about on the muddy banks. Far more interested in our presence were the Ostriches who certainly weren't burying their heads in the sand! In fact, we had one bird decide to strut its feathers at us! Until you are up right up close to these beautiful birds, it's easy to under-estimate their sheer size! They are somewhat bigger than I imagined!!!! Driving on, we encountered many Zebra. I took one of my favourite captures to date of any animal. I loved the way this beautiful animal was grooming itself. I aspire to take natural photos as much as possible and loved the whole body positioning as the Zebra had its body faced away from me, tail end on but with the head looking at me. "Now's my moment", I thought to myself!
An hour in and I had already been rewarded with so many wonderful sights but my excitement grew as I got to see a couple of Rhino's: an adult with a calf. Wow! wow and triple wow! I had seen the first of the Big five!!!! It saddens me so much to realize the plight these magnificent animals face. I can't bear to think of a planet in which these beauties aren't on it!

So what are the Big Five I hear you ask??? the Big Five are referred to as Lion, Leopard, African Elephant, The Cape African Buffalo, and the White Rhino. The Leopard is so shy and elusive though and unsurprisingly we weren't lucky enough to spot one. However, four out of Five ain't at all bad!

One of the most incredible realizations for me while visiting the reserve was the notion that these animals were living together in the same place! Driving across the reserve and seeing stretches of bushveld with not only herds of Zebra on them, but Ostriches too! I got to see so many different species of Antelope! One of the best books I have ever had has been my "Gameranger in your backpack" book. This has been invaluable to me in helping me identify all the different animals I saw on my trip! This young Cape Buffalo made no. 2 of my Big Five list.

Driving further on, we entered a secure enclosure which contained the lions. In effect, the lions at Aquila aren't what one would call "totally wild ". It would appear that there are limitations to just how wild the lions there can be. They are fed I believe once or twice a week. It was a wonderful experience still to see them up so close but admittedly it wasn't as natural as at say a bigger game reserve, which I have yet to discover! There were quite a few lions within the reserve and as they were well fed (perhaps a little bit "Too" well fed!) they were totally unfazed by our presence. So that ticked off no. 3 of the Big Five!

"OMG" Elephants ahead!!!!! wow was I like an overexcited little puppy or what!!!!! If one animal could have totally overwhelmed me, it was this one!!!! Their sheer size is incredible! And those magnificent ears just give them such an awe-inspiring profile! so here's an interesting fact for you! Did you know that an Elephant can poop up to 22 times a day? yep!!! Talking about dung, now I know it's not the normal topic of conversation (well unless you're like 6 or something!) but I can now add "handling Rhino Dung!" to the list of things I have done in my life! lol, It actually feels very dry!

So, after handling some Dung, it was time for a well-earned stop to rest those butt cheeks too from all that bouncing about in the back of the jeep! Here I am with tour guide Obai enjoying a glass of vino! and yes that is a "longgggg lens!" it's my "beast" as I call it! my Sigma 150 - 500mm lens. Love it!

Back on the road again, we approached some Giraffe. From what I recall, Aquila only had about 3 or 4 animals. It was wonderful to see them though! Later on, we also spotted some Eland drinking around a water trough. Our arrival seemed to alert them enough to stop drinking and look up for long enough to take some photos! There were also some Springbok in the same vicinity.

By mid-afternoon, we headed back to the complex ready for a nice warming drink before heading back home. We had enough time to enjoy the facilities at the complex, though it was far too cold for a dip in the pool! I took a walk around the grounds and was lucky enough to spot a beautiful Sunbird. Wow! the array of birds in South Africa is so impressive! Admittedly I've always been more into my mammals than the feathered kind but I couldn't help but be impressed by the beauty of these colourful birds!

I enjoyed looking around the shop there but found it to be very expensive! I would have loved to have come away with a hoodie or something with the Aquila logo on it but they didn't have anything like that! maybe next time! But I have my wonderful memories but will always be grateful for the fantastic time I had at the reserve.

Thank you, Aquila, for a very enjoyable day and a special introduction to my first experience of an African Game reserve. I hope to return again and pay you all another visit!!!!