One Man by Himself

‘One man by himself is nothing.

Two people who belong together make a world’

~Han Margolius~

A week later on our English wedding anniversary, we checked out Cotswold Wildlife Park. It was 18.1C when we got into the car and was very bright and sunny throughout the whole trip. The drive was smooth on the first half of the journey as we enjoyed the enchanted pastoral landscapes of gently undulating grassy hills of the Oxfordshire countryside. But as soon as we were nearing Moreton-in-Marsh it was stop and start until Burford. It was the height of summer and the Cotswold and its surrounding areas were throbbing with tourists. I hoped to check out all these towns when it was quieter which meant early winter:-)

Then a long queue as soon as we reached the entrance of the park. Fortunately, we managed to park quite close and there was a mad rush to use the facilities. First, we’d to say hello to these herd of even-toed ungulate two-humps Bactrian camels which came quite close to check us out. Bella, the steam train drove past us and we waved to the passengers who waved back enthusiastically. We have taken a ride on this before and have no intention of doing it again.

Then to the piece de resistance. The family of Southern White Rhinoceros, the largest of the Rhinos species, which its star attraction, an 11th day old baby, named John. White rhinos born in captivity were extremely rare, with only 14 of the animals being born in European zoos in the past year and two of the births were from the Cotswold Wildlife Park. There must be something in the water:-) This newest addition was the 6th member to join the ‘crash’ at the zoo. The Park was believed to have the only collection in the world where there was just a ha-ha between visitors and the rhinos. Ha-ha’s were recessed landscaped design that created a vertical barrier while preserving views. In this case, we can see the Rhinos but deterred  them from venturing out. But honestly, if they want to, they could.

John was Nancy’s 2nd calf, born on Tuesday 18th August at 8 pm and named after the Park’s founder, John Heyworth. He remained under the watchful eye of his mother, suckling from her for a year. We could see the intensely strong bond and the calf remained with his mother for 2 years, benefitting from her protection. In the wild, females guarded their offspring aggressively and were intimidating adversaries if challenged. You can see the way she shielded John when he got too close to the hundreds of cameras pointing at him.

He was such a show-off, ambling about with his parents, vowing the besotted visitors. Every time, he ran around the paddock, our hearts melted. We noticed that he tended to move in front of his mother and immediately responded to her behaviour. In two months time, he will be taught to feed on the young, juicy grasses around the paddock. He will be weaned when he is one and stayed with her for around three years.

Cotswold Wildlife Park had been successful with its breeding programme. On 1st July 2013, first time parents Monty and Nancy, delighted staff and visitors when they produced the first calf in the park’s history, a female named Astrid. Nancy (named after David Cameron’s daughter) and Ruby (named after comedian, Ruby Wax, a close friend of the owner), another breeding female, arrived from Mafunyane Game Farm in South Africa in 2009 to join Monty as part of the programme.

To add to the celebrations, Ruby gave birth to a male calf named Ian at 12.30 pm on Friday 27th March on the same day the Park celebrated its 45th anniversary. What an incredible milestone. The calf had been named in memory of the highly respected South African conservationist, Ian Player, who spearheaded efforts to rescue the Southern Africa White Rhino from extinction. The Park’s original pair, called Lebombo and Somtuli, arrived from Umfolozi in 1972 as a direct result of Ian’s rhino conservation initiatives with South Africa’s Natal Parks Board. It was lovely to see his memory continuing on in the Park’s Rhino family.

Rhino bought, rhino sold
with promise of cure
to the wealthy and old.

Rhino hunted,
rhino displayed
for trophies on walls,
for tour operators to be paid.

Poisoned, tagged,
stripped of horn
Under surveillance and guard
from the moment they’re born.

To trade, to hunt,
to farm, to breed
Oh the shame of it all
humanity’s greed.

Ranger vs poacher,
politican vs NGO-
fighting in the bush,
fighting the status quo.

 

Drones and poison,
armies, shoot-to-kill;
Is this enough
to fight a government with no political will?

 

~Status quo of the Rhino by Tisha Wardlow~

Beside the paddock was an enclosure with the Aldabra Giant Tortoises. These were the second largest species of tortoise after the Galapagos tortoise. Visitors who purchased the ‘Animal encounters’ experience were given the chance to learn more about the Keeper’s work and gained a little hands-on experience and helped to feed them. It was quite expensive at £50 not including the admission price. We enjoyed watching these waiting for their turn to have their necks rubbed. It must be heaven…The necks were extremely long to help them eat from tree branches that were up to a metre from the ground.

‘Giant tortoises compete in neck-stretching competition to establish rank

~qi.com~

 

Then we went back to the car because Babe was carrying too much stuff and needed to leave his heavy coat in the car. From here, we followed another route and stopped to check what the crowd was looking at. A Meerkat was on lookout duty and was checking the skies for predators. But what caught our attention was when we spotted these prickly African crested porcupines snuggling in their homes. We’d not seen them before and was chuffed when one looked up to say hello.

We checked out the clouded leopard enclosure but the beast in question was fast asleep on its high platform. We left him in peace and also forgo the giraffes because it was just too crowded. The train whisked past us again and we gave the passengers the obligatory wave. There must be an air-show somewhere because from time to time some exotic looking planes would zoomed above us. But it didn’t seemed to disturb these Chapman Zebras which used to share the paddock with the Rhinos. They were now where the Ostriches used to be. Now where were these majestic birds.kept?

We walked through the waterfowl area and had a good laugh when we saw these common terrapins all jostling on the branch for a spot of sunbathing. I gave up counting but there were at least 20 of these chelonians sunning themselves. At the further end of the pond. different varieties of ducks were enjoying a swim in the water. We’d seen all of these before but it was still lovely to see them again. Visitors were trying to avoid the sweeping tail of the Peacocks as they decided to join the walk-about. 

We were delighted to see the Canadian Timber Wolves frolicking near the raised walk-away. The last time we were here they were fast asleep but today they were out in the sunshine. They were the largest sub species of wolf, living and hunting in packs. Despite the name ‘grey wolf’ the Timber Wolf’s coat actually range from white, brown, black to grey and was a double coat of fur. As they were social animals, we heard them communicating with each other by howling, barking, growling and whining. We saw a pair looking amorous and headed into the shaded woodland. We waited in anticipation but nothing happened :-(

Near the wolves enclosure, we were fortunate to have seen the first ever East African Crowned Crane chicks hatched in captivity. Their parents, Johnny and Mrs J were doing a great job looking after their chicks. Each parent was looking after a chick and we watched them hunting for food for the chicks. They stamped the ground with their feet so that the insects were flushed out and the chicks came running to feed on them. Apart from insects, their diet also consisted of seed, grasses, grains, frogs, worms, small fishes and eggs of water animals.

We continued on walking past the smelly Visayan Warty pigs, various bird aviaries, capybaras but unfortunately empty Anteater enclosure. Where had they been moved to? We stopped to wish Lolita her first birthday. First time parents Gomez and Kali had given birth to the adorable female Brazillian tapir last year, the first baby since 2006. She was so cute sniffing us with her proboscis. She’d outgrown her spots and stripes, an adaptation in camouflaging in the wild. The skin looked remarkably thick but was quite soft when stroked.

The petting shed and Children’s Farmyard was buzzing with little people getting close with the domesticated breeds. They were happily posing and stroking the rabbits, guinea pigs, pygmy goats and sheep. One very pregnant pygmy goat trotted over to us for a ear-rub but went off to search for other willing victims when we didn’t feed her. Traitor!!! I sat in front of this Wickerman of Oxford 3 years ago and I couldn’t resist posing with it again. This sculpture was used to raise funds and awareness for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre at the Churchill Hospital.

We sat on a bench opposite the Red Pandas which were fast asleep on the tree, partially hidden by the branches. We’d a little picnic in the spacious grounds which don’t seemed crowded at all on the busy Saturday afternoon in sunny August. Since the ‘fire coloured cat’, from their scientific name, refused to wake up, we continued our adventure and headed straight to Madagascar, a walk-through exhibit. The Slender-tailed Lemurs were causing havoc as they mingled with the visitors.

We didn’t stay long because it was getting crowded as more people entered. Outside, we headed straight to the Oriental small-clawed otters. The smallest of the world’s 18 otter species, we watched them using their forepaws feeling for food such as molluscs and crustaceans in the rocks, vegetation and mud. They looked adorable with their stiff whiskers or vibrissae around their noses and mouths. They moved everywhere together in a pack.

‘It’ll be all right, my fine fellow,’ said the Otter. ‘I’m coming along with you, and I know every path blindfold; and if there’s a head that needs to be punched, you can confidently rely upon me to punch it.’

~Kenneth Grahame, ‘The Wind in the Willows’~

 

Opposite the otters were the Black-tailed Prairie dogs which were enjoying munching through their lunch in the open on top of their burrows. These burrows were used for breeding, rearing young and hiding from predators. They were maintained from generation to generation, and served as stabilizers on the physical and social aspects of the colony. Generally tan in colour with lighter-coloured bellies, the Prairie dogs derived their names from the black tips on their tails. From time to time, a territorial call or ‘jump-yip’ display could be heard and seen. This was when they stretched the length of their bodies vertically and threw their forefeet in the air while making the alarm calls.

The last port of call in the walled compound were the Humboldt Penguins which were having fun with a stick. One of them threw it in the water and then they swam after it. Using their strong wings as flippers, they seemed to ‘fly’ underwater, just below the surface. Ducking and diving into the pool, they were cooling off after waddling around in the sunshine. These social animals lived in large colonies of closely spaced burrows. Suddenly an adorable chick popped out from one of the burrows and everybody went aah… It still had the fluffy grey plumage which was white underneath which allowed them to keep a constant temperature.

‘I think penguins are the most human of all birds, which is why people love them. They’re cute, they stand upright and they look like they’re wearing tuxedos.’

~Shia LaBeouf~

 

Before we left, we made a pit stop to see the last falconry display for the day. We made our way to the manicured lawns of the 19th century gothic Bradwell Grove mansion. We walked past a Kestrel, Red Kite and Barn owl on their perch waiting patiently for their turn. We stood by the edge of the lawn watching a Peregrine demonstrating her hunting skills. At first, she refused to budge from her perch on a nearby tree. After several calls from the trainer, she flew down and whizzed just a few inches above our heads. What a performer.

Then it was time to head home with thousands more photographs for Babe to edit and more wonderful memories for us to keep. Another year to create precious memories together. Another year to discover new things to enjoy about each other. Another year to strengthen a marriage that defines forever. Happy anniversary, Babe.

“It’s so great to find that one special person that you want to annoy for the rest of your life”

~Rita Rudner~