Hand-reared banded civet; RSCC; 21st March 2015

You obviously made it down to Kent for re-opening day, Tim. How was the place looking? And what has changed from last year? I'm very much looking forward to heading down there in April.

The RSCC was looking good, “Sooty”; it was extremely nice to return.

The main indoor area looked much the same as last year with, generally, the same species in the same exhibits; the young cassowaries, though, have now been moved to outdoor paddocks and it was good to see them in more spacious surroundings.

Work on the outdoor exhibits is progressing well. On all my visits last year it was only possible to approach the Malayan tiger exhibit when accompanied by a member of staff on a conducted tour; that is no longer the case and visitors now have unrestricted access to that part of the premises.

Apart from the delightful young banded civet in the photo I don’t think I saw any new species on public display yesterday. However, I am certainly looking forward to returning in a month or two when hopefully some additional species will be on exhibit.

Very cute! I was there on March 4 for a private tour and got to see this little civet and only ten days old.