A little Miracle…

Safari Park keepers are delighted to announce that eleven-year-old Imogen, a Rothschild giraffe, gave birth to a strapping five foot baby boy, Henry, early last month after an anxious 15-month pregnancy.
Two years ago Imogen underwent groundbreaking emergency surgery in a desperate bid to save her life following severe complications in her first pregnancy. She is believed to be the first giraffe to have undergone such an operation and her brave battle and subsequent recovery captivated millions of viewers on the BBC documentary series Animal Park.

Head keeper, Keith Harris, said:

“This little boy is an absolute miracle. Not only in that his mum survived the emergency caesarean but also that she then got pregnant again. Once we realised she was pregnant we began monitoring her extremely closely to ensure that all was going okay, but she’s coped brilliantly and is now showing all the signs of being a fantastically attentive mum.”

Longleat’s Water Babies Welcome Wet Weather!

The recent wet weather has done nothing to dampen the spirits of Longleat’s two newest arrivals.

The summer may have been a washout so far for the rest of us but for a pair of newborn California sea lion pups the general consensus seems to be the wetter the better. Keeper Mark Tye said:

“The rain may be the main topic of conversation for the rest of us at the moment but the sea lions barely even notice. The heavy downpours are providing the sea lion pups with some additional excitement, I suppose to them it must seem like a giant shower!” he added.

The pups, which weigh around 10 kg at birth, spend most of the time either fully or partly submerged in the Wiltshire Safari Park’s giant Half Mile Lake. The pups’ mums Jo-Jo, nine, and Sealia, 14, were themselves born at Longleat and form part of the Safari Park’s hugely successful sea lion breeding programme. Sea lions were first introduced into Half Mile Lake in the late 1960s and are believed to be the one of the few colonies of Californian sea lions anywhere in the world to live in freshwater.

Longleat is currently offering a 5% discount on all Passport tickets purchased via the Longleat website www.longleat.co.uk

click here for further information

All Longleat attractions are open daily until the 4th November 2007 inclusive.
For further information on opening times and prices please visit www.longleat.co.uk