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Movers and shakers at Curraghs

Sat, 15 Jun 2019

You'll be faced with plenty of new faces on your next visit to Curraghs Wildlife Park.

The Park has said goodbye to some animals and welcomed others, in an effort to continue successful breeding programmes across the UK and Europe and ensure healthy genetics are sustained.

It’s all part of a global co-operation between members of The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (BIAZA) and The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

There are some new friendly faces at the Park in Ballaugh, including two young pelicans from Krefeld Zoo in Germany who have arrived to join the two resident Pelicans. 

Five sister chipmunks from the Netherlands have also moved into a new enclosure at the Park, while six male Rhea, also from the Netherlands, have been mixed with the current single male to make an all-male group of seven.

The Park have had to say some goodbyes too. A female Spectacled Owl chick hatched in 2018 has moved to Kirkleatham Owl Centre in Yorkshire to be paired with a male.

A male porcupine has moved to Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens in Northumberland, leaving three female porcupines behind. The Park has made a decision to stop breeding porcupines for now, as many have been bred and supplied to UK zoos in recent years.

Two female Coati have moved to Amazona Zoo in Norfolk to keep a single female they have company. Meanwhile five female Coati, all bred on the island, have moved to Paris Zoo, bringing the number of Coati group down to nine – a much more manageable group which gives the animals more space to roam around.

Finally, Rio, the male Tapir born at the Park in 2016, has also moved to France to Parc Animalier d’Auvergne. He has passed the age he should stay with his mother so it was important the Park found him somewhere to go to prevent any inbreeding.

All of the animals travelled to and from the island with the Steam Packet Company as part its ongoing support of the Wildlife Park.

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