The summer seems to have passed in the blink of an eye and now, with schools reopening next week, it’s an ideal time to reflect on the last few months. So, how’s the North Yorkshire summer treated us this year? Well, in between the rain, blue skies prevailed, bringing glorious sunshine and temperatures in the high twenties!

The animals have been moving in and out with the changing weather. The ducks loved the rain, as did the hippos, who were delighted to roll around in the resulting mud! However, the rhinos and giraffes proved themselves once again to be dedicated sun worshippers.

Our zookeepers saw the birth of a camel calf and two Humboldt penguin chicks, plus two ring-tailed lemurs who are already fantastic climbers…

Good zoos are now powerful forces for conservation and some of the world’s most extraordinary species would not be surviving without them! Flamingo Land’s Director of Conservation, Dr Andrew Marshall, has played the lead role in creating a list of the top ten species most reliant on zoos.

The work was carried out on behalf of the British and Irish Association for Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), which promotes the value of good zoos and aquariums. The top ten list includes species on the very brink of extinction including two that are close to our hearts at Flamingo Land. The Scimitar-horned Oryx, now extinct in the wild, is thriving at Flamingo Land, where we reared yet another calf this year. Verdcourt’s Polyalthia tree is also on the list, an endangered plant from Tanzania, protected as part of Flamingo Land’s forest conservation initiative, the Udzungwa Forest Project.

Last month Flamingo Land’s Director of Conservation Dr Andy Marshall, Zoo Manager Ross Snipp and Tropical Conservation Research Assistant Jennifer Archer (myself) visited Tanzania to work on the Zoo’s conservation project, The Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP).

Flamingo Land has been supporting the project in its conservation, research and educational work in rural Tanzania for the past four years and is aiming to break new ground for zoo-funded conservation.

For Ross and me it was a fascinating first visit, full of new experiences. We participated in all things UFP, including environmental education classes with schoolchildren, forest restoration work and monkey surveys. The highlight of the trip was the project’s annual UFP Day in one of the local villages, packed full of fun and educational environmental activities, presentations and school performances…

Here in the zoo we try and combine our activities, teaching people about our animals but also keeping our animals active. That is why, when Zoo Academy participants were learning about our Hamadryas baboons, the keepers and the education staff put their heads together. The keepers wanted to ensure that we could give the food to the baboons in a safe way and the education staff wanted to highlight the foods the baboons eat and introduce the zoo troopers to the concept of animal enrichment.

And what did we come up with? Baboon balloons! You can even try this at home and place them in your garden for the native wildlife that may be visiting! The zoo troopers blew up a balloon, dipped edible paper into a mixture of flour and water (we could not use PVA glue which is usually used for papier mâché because the baboons might eat it). We covered the balloon with 3 layers of the dripping paper. Once the entire balloon was covered we put it on a cup to dry. Once dry we filled the baboon balloons with hay, nuts and dried fruit: a tasty treat for our baboons!

This week we are focusing on a very impressive bird. Hamerkops are no ordinary bird and especially here in Flamingo Land zoo they hold a special place close to our hearts.

The hamerkop bird is a large African water bird; they can live in a variety of habitats, from arid semi-deserts to farmland to forest. The main factor for a good habitat is water. They forage in reed beds and along shallow waters near sand beds. They feed on a diet of amphibians, small fish, worms and insects. But the most interesting and exciting aspect of the hamerkop is their nest. The nest is an elaborate hollow structure of sticks usually built in a fork of a tree. The male and female spend weeks collecting twigs and suitable nesting material, incorporating it into a fantastic extravagant arrangement. Again as water is a main priority in their life, hamerkops will build their nests in a tree overhanging the water or near a lake or river.

Here in the zoo, we try to replicate life in the wild as much as possible…

Here at Flamingo Land we are very proud of our zoo, and we hope you enjoy it just as much as we do. But who is responsible for how great the place looks? Our keepers of course! All the keepers here at the zoo are extremely dedicated to the work that they are doing. Come rain or shine they are always working hard for the animals and for the members of the public.

The keeper’s day starts off with the zoo morning meeting. This is a chance for everyone to get together and update each other about what is happening in the different areas of the zoo. There are five sections in the zoo ranging from South America, Paddocks (which includes the rhinos, giraffes and ostriches), and Farm to Children’s Planet. Each section will have a group of keepers that work only on that section. Once everyone has been briefed, the real work starts.

Our white rhinos have been under close watch over recent months. In order to ensure their wellbeing, we monitored them and their behaviour before, during and after the construction of our brand new ride, Pterodactyl.

Visitors to the park are in for an extra thrill here at Flamingo Land with our brand new ride, Pterodactyl. On this thrilling, high altitude, swooping ride you can get a great view of the Lost Kingdom (if you can keep your eyes open). You are able to see the tall necks of the giraffes, the grazing zebras, the remarkable dinosaur-like ostriches and the rumbling rhinos. It is these white rhinos that were under close scrutiny over the last few months, with research being carried out on them and their behaviour before, during and after the construction of the new ride. As Pterodactyl is close to the rhino quarters, zoo staff wanted to ensure that the new thrill was not affecting their behaviour.

After much speculation, Flamingo Land Resort’s latest ride opened just a few weeks ago.

Instantly becoming a real must for extreme ride fans everywhere, Pterodactyl doesn’t just close on its sister tower ride, Cliff Hanger, at a height of 151 feet, but also combines its high altitude thrills with the soaring, swooping motion of Wave Swinger.

Walking around Flamingo Land Zoo it can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. An endangered rhino, a critically endangered giraffe, an endangered lemur, an extinct in the wild scimitar-horned oryx and a near threatened penguin. So is there hope? The answer of course is yes!

This week’s news headlines told about the first ever captive UK hatched spoon-billed sandpipers. These birds are critically endangered with only 100 breeding pairs left in the wild, so any new hatchlings are extremely exciting! So what now? With any breeding programme, the ultimate aim is to release animals back into the wild where they belong.

Here in the zoo we work whatever the weather. However, as with most people, we prefer to do so in the sun. Especially as it is summertime…

This week however, we have seen a glimpse of the sunshine we associate with summer. The sun came out, the animals, staff and visitors emerged and smiles were seen all around. Our visitors were also sporting less waterproof ponchos (unless taking part in the Lost River Ride where a poncho is always deemed necessary!)

For us here in the Education Centre there is a change in the air. As the schools break up for their holidays our days are no longer spent with schoolchildren on days out. Workshop materials and zoo trails for all ages are tucked away for the summer. However, things don’t stop there. Here at the zoo we take the school holidays as an opportunity to put on Zoo Academy! This is a fun-filled week where kids aged 8-11 become part of the team. Backstage views of the zoo, up-close encounters with our exotic residents, exploring the wild and the native animals we have, and exhilarating games to fill your senses.

A couple of weeks ago myself (Marie, the education research assistant) and the other CIRCLE research assistants headed off down south in order to give presentations at the annual BIAZA (British and Irish Aquaria and Zoo Association) research symposium.

It is with great pleasure that I announce that all lectures went off without a hitch. We even came back with ideas to put into practice here at the zoo. And that is what it is all about – sharing ideas and information to ensure the maximum amount of research is taking part in our zoos.

Our resident capybara population has just seen an increase!

The capybaras are one of Flamingo Land’s most interesting residents. They are the world’s largest rodents and can easily be mistaken for giant guinea pigs! They can reach up to 1.3 metres in length and up to half a metre tall. In the wild they are found in South America. Here in the zoo they can be found in our free-ranging South America section together with alpaca, tapirs and maras.

In the wild the capybaras can be found in thick vegetation close to water. They are excellent swimmers and spend a lot of their time in the water, when they are not grazing on the land. This is why our Mum decided to have her litter right next to our big lake. The first European explorers to see capybaras originally named them water pigs!

We are proud to announce the arrival of 2 new members to our ring-tailed lemur troop. Ruth, our matriarch (the boss of the troop) has given birth to a very healthy infant and Pandora has also given birth.

Here at the zoo, we were all very excited to see the babies clinging on to their mothers’ bellies. The babies are now beginning to move around their mother and begin to ride on her back when they are foraging.

Ring-tailed lemurs are classified as “near threatened” by the IUCN (the international body that researches the risk of species going extinct). Due to this “near threatened” classification, the births are another triumph in Flamingo Land’s breeding of endangered and threatened species.

Our mangabeys can now be found settling in to their new house – previously home to the chimpanzees.

Visitors to the park have become accustomed to seeing our mangabeys swinging around on their ropes or figuring out how to get their food out of their coconuts next to the to the tiger enclosure. Mangabeys are endangered in the wild and due to hunting and habitat destruction their numbers have been seriously decreasing in the wild. Our mangabeys are part of a strict breeding programme called the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme (look out for the EEP sign as you venture around the zoo to see who else is part of this programme). With numbers dwindling in the wild, it is imperative that zoos are breeding up numbers in captivity.

It was this same breeding programme that saw our chimpanzees, Tupolo and Copper, head up north to Blair Drummond Safari Park earlier this year. The chimpanzee enclosure is a fantastic space and it was decided that the mangabeys could go on a bit of a holiday to another part of the zoo. As these monkeys are fascinating to watch, the old chimpanzee house, with its fantastic open windows seemed a perfect place to showcase the mangabeys.

This year we celebrated the 4th annual Tanzania Day at Flamingo Land Resort. Tanzania Day is a day to support all things UFP. The Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP) is Flamingo Land’s conservation project in East Africa. The project focuses on working in the Magombera Forest. Here our local Tanzanian team monitor the health of the forest by measuring tree growth, following and recording the activity of the monkeys which call the forest home and patrolling for illegal logging. Cutting down trees for charcoal production is one of the main threats to this unique and fascinating forest.

With the Jubilee holiday and the mid-term break over, everyone is back at school for the last stretch before the summer holidays. Here in the education centre, we are gearing up for one of our busiest times.

Flamingo Land strives to maximise the number of accessible facilities. This guide has been produced to assist guests with limited mobility, helping to ensure their enjoyment whilst visiting our theme park, zoo and holiday village.

This rather different expedition was never going to reveal new species, but the Kilombero Sugar Company may hold the key to the survival of a forest and many rare species living there. The sugar company are the owners of a large part of the threatened Magombera forest, where the Udzungwa Forest Project (UFP) is carrying out it’s work on forest conservation. As part of efforts to save Magombera from destruction, Dr. Andy Marshall spent two days with the sugar company staff, exchanging ideas and learning about sugar.

We regret to report the death of Langson Mwakisoma, a pioneering botanist in the Udzungwa Mountains. Langson Kisoma (approx 70) died on the 6th July in his home village of Magombera. Kisoma was a longstanding field assistant to ecologists working in the Udzungwa Mountains, particularly in the late 1970s and 1980s. He was an expedition member on some of the first intensive ecological surveys of the Udzungwa area, including Alan Rodger’s first surveys of the colobus monkeys and Jon Lovett’s pioneering surveys of the plants. As a result, Kisoma was central to the current understanding of the biology of the Udzungwa Mountains and to the discovery of several new species.

Part of the Club complex, Zoo Bar provides a family-friendly environment that’s ideal for a great night out or simply a lunchtime drink with friends. It mixes glitzy décor and comfortable furnishing with a large, well-stocked bar.