I was very pleasantly surprised, I'd expected something much smaller, my friend worked there about 40 yrs ago and I was picturing something like that - stupid! There are a few tired looking old enclosures but there are some really good new ones.
It is Chili, everything in my five visits over the the last ten years have been really cool. Happy staff, happy visitors and happy animals! Going back in May this year. The primary reason is to see a Basking Shark or more in the waters around the island, it's possible they breed around the island but nothing yet has been confirmed. A trip to Curraghs is always a brilliant morning or afternoon out. Excellent small zoo with friendly staff and a twist of uniqueness. It has the best food I have ever had in a zoo too, no wonder the animals do well
Some sad news from the park was posted on Facebook yesterday - the last marsh mongoose (possibly the last in Europe, depending on the status of the individual at Zie-Zoo) was put to sleep after a sudden health deterioration. He was sixteen years of age.
0.2 European lynx have arrived from HWP New Eurasian lynx arrive at Isle of Man wildlife park - BBC News
"Our old male Panda 'Zuleika' has passed away, he had been on pain relief treatment for arthritis for some time and had recurring tooth abscesses, he was caught up to be examined and it was decided by the vet that it was time to say enough. He was over 16 years old which is a good age for a Panda. On a positive...... this means our young male 'Kush' may finally get his chance with our female....... but we will give her some alone time for a while! We are looking to introduce the pair around January which is the start of Panda breeding season (once we've consulted the studbook keeper)."
From facebook: "We have a Gentle lemur baby again! little 'Ambinina' is now a month old. His/her name means 'flourish' in Malagasy. Gentle lemurs are a critically endangered species and can only be found in one small region around lake Alaotra in Madagascar. This means that in less than 2 years our pair have successfully produced 2 young and we now have a family group of four!"
3 Short clawed otter cubs have been born taking the group size to 6 individuals, the cubs are about 7 weeks old.
This years major development will be a Lemur walkthrough. To include Ring Tails, Black and White Ruffed, Gentle Lemur and Red Ruffed (the latter a new species to the park) this development will include the current Bat enclosure so the bats have had to leave The park is also hoping to add Smooth Coated Otters to the collection in 2018 High hopes for new arrivals at Wildlife Park
Update from Facebook: We wave GOODBYE this weekend and say a sad farewell to our Rodrigues fruit bats. This has not been an easy decision, however we feel that their housing is no longer up to standing in the Manx weather, and the green house area must come down for safety reasons. The bats will be going to Drusillas in the South of England.The last 4 waldrapp ibis will also be leaving on the Sunday night boat for Birdworld in England. All have excellent enclosures to go to. Last chance to see the bats + ibis- Saturday the 18th March. GOOD NEWS - this means that once this area is cleared we will be developing a brand new exciting and modern mixed lemur exhibit with the hope of introducing Red ruffed lemurs as well as giving our Ring-tailed lemurs, Gentle lemurs and B&W lemurs more space. Our lemurs will really benefit from new housing and we could not develop a new bat exhibit at the same time.The life on islands area has been in need of re-development for some time and we will not be sad to see the chicken wire, scaffold poles and old sheds go!!!! We hope the new lemur exhibit will be ready during the summer this year......so we have much to do and will keep you posted! We will miss the bats but we are committed to building better when we build or develop new enclosures... which means we will be without bats for at least a few years.
We have just invested in an annual membership after living in the Island for 15 years. We would make 2 or 3 visits a year. This year alone I have been 5 times. Overall I have been impressed by many of the developments, such as the Silvery Gibbons. The Elk make a notable star attraction when they make an appearance. The European Lynx have always been a very good cat to display at this park. In all but one visit (est. 30 vistits in my time) they are all ways active... tbc
From facebook: Work has now started on our new enclosure for this year.......the old life on islands has been demolished, its going to take a few months but we can't wait to have a FAB new habitat for all our lemur species!
Interesting that the current Lemur walk through hasn't been open once this year in my 10 visits. The reason pasted to the door is because of the public behaviour with the animals and will only open when supervised by a volunteer. They are now building a bigger Lemur walk through....
+1 for my visit in early June. I really liked Curraghs when I went, it was a rare occasion when I saw more animals than people in a zoo (midweek & the weather was iffy). If/when I go to the TT again I'll definitely return.
