You're Such an Animal!

I immerse myself in history when I'm in the UK, but for two days I turned my back on mankind and looked at animal history. Using the term "history" might be stretching it a bit, but at Wildwood Park in Kent, I got a chance to learn about the historical decline of native species in the British Isles and what's being done to correct it. According to their website,

"Wildwood Trust is a pioneering conservation organization dedicated to restoring the balance between people and wildlife. Through evidence-led initiatives, habitat restoration, and education, we work to protect and rewild native species, ensuring a thriving future for nature in the UK."

We did see a few native species (the ones that weren't napping in their enclosures to escape the drizzly weather) like the Konik Ponies

and the Soay Sheep

and we did see a beautiful pair of ravens.

Most of the other animals we saw, however, were non-native species like the albino wallaby

and the arctic fox.

It was all quite interesting and we did get in our 10,000 steps, but I don't know that I would visit again.

A place I would visit again was Howletts Wildlife Sanctuary. It was another misty day, but it turned out that our timing was perfect on many fronts. Because of the weather there were very few visitors. Consequently, when we entered, one of the staff said that if we were interested, their animal experiences were 50% off. We opted to take advantage of that for an experience later in the day but first we were off to hear the keepers talk about their troops of lowland gorillas. One band of gorillas was out in their enclosure and having a bit a family time. There was the silver back,

a young male, several females, and a couple of youngsters who were enjoying a bit of playtime. The youngest, a 19-month-old, was so adorable!

She was climbing all over the cage while her mother looked on, making sure she didn't get into too much trouble.

I'm not usually a big fan of animals in cages, but Howletts is different. It is part of the Aspinall Foundation which partners with conservation groups around the world to protect animals in the wild and it has a very successful breeding program which has been able to return species that are in decline to their native habitats. Their lowland gorilla program has been wildly successful (no pun intended) and more than 75 gorillas have been returned to the wild in Congo and Gabon. And this isn't the only species that they have returned. Primates in Madagascar and Indonesia, Black rhinos, cheetahs, brown hyenas and other species have been returned to their native habitats in South Africa. That's only a partial list, so if you're interested in learning more, I urge you to go to their website www.aspinallfoundation.org.

We met two keepers, KC and Richard, who were so knowledgeable and friendly. They became a big part of our experience there. No one else attended the black rhino talk, so Bruce and I got a lot of time with KC to learn about the black rhino program and about their behavior. We got to watch to young black rhinos interact.

Howletts has paths that lead you from one enclosure to the next, with wonderful signage. Scanning the QR code takes you to their educational site where you can learn about the animals, like this Fishing Cat.

We met KC again for a talk on the Red River Hog, who is definitely one of the more glamorous members of the animal kingdom, with its long furry ears and fabulous markings that look like makeup you might see on the catwalk.

According to KC, they're a lot smarter than their cousins the warthogs, but they have a fear of small boxes. There was a box of fresh vegetables in their enclosure, but they wouldn't go near it. It seems that a lot of animals have these odd behaviors. The rhinos are terrified of sheets of paper on the ground.

The Siamangs, native to Sumatra, were very entertaining.

De Brazzas Monkeys, native to Central Africa, were out and about.

The Javan Gibbons were amazing acrobats, accompanied by a flock of ravens nearby.

Gorgeous Black and White Colobus Monkeys

There was an area where the lemurs were walking and jumping right above our heads.

Even the roar of the leaf blower couldn't mar the experience of seeing a snow leopard.

All of these animals and wildlife talks were terrific, but they couldn't hold a candle to our two handler-led feeding experiences. We got up-close and personal with two giant anteaters. After thoroughly washing our hands, Bruce and I, along with a mother and her teenage daughter, entered the pen. We were, of course separated by a wire fence.

Richard, the keeper we had met earlier, poured mealy worms into our hands and we held our hands up to the fence for the anteaters to feed. They don't have mouths, per se, only an opening wide enough for their tongues. These very sticky tongues whip out into your hand and slurp up all the worms.

That was really cool, but our other experience surpassed it: feeding the Sumatran Tigers.

There were four of us who had signed up for the experience and we lined up for instructions as the tigers paced.

Bruce fed the female.

You can hear the male in the background.

The chunks of meat we're feeding them are just little snacks for them. They were scheduled to be fed the following day. In order to more closely mimic their feeding experience in the wild, when they get their meal, it will be a section of an animal, ei. the leg of a horse or the head and neck. The meat will be suspended in a tree or they'll make a trail of blood on the ground so that the tigers have to track it to the spot where it's hidden. The idea is to make them "work" for their meal.

If you don't think that was a thrill, you're very much mistaken. I would do it again in a heartbeat and hope to get back there someday. It was an altogether unforgettable experience!