wildlife

Thriving Together: people and nature in balance

A key regional conservation charity has signed up to a campaign highlighting an environmental issue that has been described as the world’s most important yet least discussed – population growth.

Wild Planet Trust, the charity that runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, has joined the Thriving Together campaign, which recognises that family planning is...

Hatching chicks (nearly) as easy as ABC

This Vietnam pheasant chick – and others like it hatched recently at Paignton Zoo – could be the future of its species. Bird keepers at the charity zoo are based in the Avian Breeding Centre, commonly known as the ABC. The chick is being cared for here; while it’s preferable for chicks to be parent reared, keepers will step in to give nature a helping hand when needed. Another six (unrelated)...

Zoo's TB restrictions lifted

The TB restrictions at Paignton Zoo have been lifted. The conservation charity has been constrained since August 2017, when a single case of TB was discovered.

A crucial final test has come back all clear. Head of Veterinary Services Ghislaine Sayers said: “We’ve been through a lot. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to care for animals during this difficult time and to help...

Are these the sweetest babies in the world?

There are baby red ruffed lemurs at Paignton Zoo – and just look at them! The charity zoo is a professional science and conservation body working internationally to help save these Critically Endangered primates – but sometimes all the serious stuff is pushed to one side by incredibly cute baby animals.

Head Keeper of Mammals Owen Taylor said: “When we were sure she was close to giving...

Zoo staff save sick orang utan

Animal experts at Paignton Zoo have been battling around the clock to save a sick primate.

Keepers, vets and vet nurses responded swiftly when female orang utan Gambira was taken ill suddenly and sat with her long into the night after emergency surgery.

They found she had an infection of her air sac (a large pouch in the throat, thought to be used for vocalisation and connected...

Wild, wild website

The charity behind the region’s three top zoos has launched a new website with a new look and a radical new approach. Wild Planet Trust is the new name for the charity that runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall. The charity’s new website places a strong emphasis on highlighting the conservation and research work of the zoos. Trust spokesperson Phil Knowling...

Trust strengthens international conservation links

Staff from a South West conservation charity have been on a 12,000-mile round trip to help secure the future of a strange nocturnal mammal.Animal experts John Meek (Newquay Zoo Curator) and Owen Taylor (Paignton Zoo Head Keeper of Mammals) and scientist Dr Andrew Bowkett (Wild Planet Trust Field Conservation & Research Programmes Manager) travelled to Vietnam recently on behalf of the...

Paignton Zoo keeper hatches conservation success

This is the extraordinary moment the hatching of a rare Mauritius pink pigeon chick was caught on video – and the moment the hard work started in earnest for Paignton Zoo bird keeper Tom Tooley. Senior Bird Keeper Tom is currently 6,000 miles away on the island of Mauritius. But if you think he’s dodged the English winter to relax on a tropical island, think again. He’s spending time with...

Revealed: The UK wildlife that Plymouth residents don’t know exists

New research from last minute UK holiday rental provider Snaptrip has revealed that 84%1 of Plymouth residents have a clear lack of knowledge when it comes to UK wildlife and are unaware of the wild animals that inhabit the country.

What’s lurking in our seas is a mystery to most, as more than three quarters (79%) were unaware that you could spot a humpback whale, almost half (48%)...

The girl with the frog tattoos

Zoo keepers are dedicated, passionate – even obsessed. They are devoted to the animals with which they work...

For one keeper at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon, each conservation success means so much to her that she gets a permanent reminder.

Dr Katy Upton marks her team’s first successful breeding of each rare frog species with an anatomically correct frog tattoo....

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