New in 2016 the Nyala!

Timbavati Wildlife Park is proud to introduce the Nyala in 2016. This African member of the antelope family is a native of Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. It has also been introduced to Botswana and Namibia through conservation and reserve efforts.

The nyala is known for its brown color with white stripes on the sides and some white spotting. When they are born, the males and females are almost indistinguishable. It is believed that this protects the young males from the adult males who compete for dominance. Males compete through displays of dominance for mating rights, just like high school eh?

The ewe will mate when she is between 14 and 18 months. The gestation period of the nyala is 220 days, and they will give birth to between 1 and 2 calves.

Join us in welcoming the Nyalas to Timbavati Wildlife Park in 2016!

Can you say Coatimundi?

Ahh the Coatimundi, considered to be in the raccoon family looks like a dog raccoon ant eater mix thingy to me. That's a technical term. :) They are also called by the names: Hog-nosed Coon, Snookum Bear, and Brazilian Aardvark. This native of the southern North American and South American continents is diurnal, meaning it is a day time creature. There are types of coati, the White-nosed which can be found in on both continents and the Brown-nosed which is exclusive to the southern continent.

The coati live in larger groups of up to 30 members which are referred to as bands. At night they sleep in the treetops in nests of trees and branches. Coati can grow up to 2 feet long and even have a 2 foot tail on top of that. Sometimes the tail can be longer than the body. They are also known to walk with their tails straight up in the air like a marmoset. It lives in trees and on the ground, it also has double jointed ankles which allow it to climb down from trees head first.

Coati are omnivores, they eat fruit, insects and small animals. Coati have a very good sense of smell. Their nose like a hog wood going through the brush seeking insects and larvae.

Coati live 7-10 years in the wild and can live up to 17 years in captivity. They reach maturity at 2 years of age and have a gestation period of 77 days. A female coati will give birth to between 3-5 young at a time. When you see a larger Band of Coati they are typically females and young. Males usually come around during the mating season.

Coati are not only inquisitive but also quite playful with one another. Here is what a baby coati looks and sounds like!

Cute as a button eh? We have Coatimundi at Timbavati Wildlife Park as well. Here are Alice and Mark with more fun facts about the Coatimundi.

St. Patrick's Day and the Animal Life of Ireland

Image credit partyandutah.com

Allright, this week is St. Patrick's day and because of that I thought it would be fitting to take a look at the animals of Ireland. Before we do that, let's take a look at St. Patrick. Magonius Sucatus Patricius was a british man kidnapped by Irish raiders when he was 16 years old. He was in captivity when he converted to Christianity. He escaped from his captors and 15 years later he came back to spread the gospel in Ireland.

He is largely credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. He created the Celtic Cross and in the end was regarded as an all around great guy. Well how did the legend of St. Patrick become to be one of driving snakes off of the island? Well it has been theorized that this was a metaphor for doing away with pagan or "snake" religions.

Now that we have who out of the way, what animals are actually indigenous to Ireland? Well of course there's the Irish Setter which up to 150 years ago was white and red, not solid red. Then of course there are Galway sheep and the Glen of Imaal Terrier. The Irish Hare and the Connemara Pony which is one of the largest ponies in the world.

Image Credit mammal.org.uk

As far as predators go there are no wolves or bears and no mountain lions so in that respect the things that we seek to avoid in the American Wilderness are quite different in Ireland. That doesn't mean that there isn't any peril over there though. Cattle contribute to one of the leading causes of death in Ireland. Getting trampled by an agitated bovine will make you forget the fact that it probably doesn't have horns.

Other animals can be challenging as there are a lot of ferrel cats, a mad cat or dog can be an issue. If you are on the beach and the wind is coming inland, a Portuguese Man O' War might be in the tide. Don't splash the water from a dock if you see a seal in the water. your hand might look like a bass or something and they have teeth. There is also one larger cat on the island pumas and what not.

Beyond basic bees and wasps Ireland is also home to the dreaded False Widow Spider. While it isn't a killer, its bite can cause the need for a limb amputation. Mind you we are talking about a spider the size of a domestic house mouse.

Image credit express.co.uk

You know what, that's what St. Patrick could come back and drive out, the False Widow Spider! Corned Beef sandwich anyone? See you next week when we take on the Coatimundi, Timbavati out!

Showdown With A North American Skunk!

America's most notorious skunk is the extremely well documented Peppy Le Pew. This frisky fella hopped his way into our living rooms on saturday mornings all over the country before the turn of the century. While this Warner Brothers icon was known for being madly in love with the most unlucky cat you will ever meet, all we really ever knew of skunks was broken French accents and the smell that notoriously indicates their presence.

picture from thesmartgardener.com

There's obviously a smell issue so let's get down to the bottom of this, and I mean bottom. There are four species of skunk in North America. They are as follows:

• Striped Skunk
• Eastern Spotted Skunk
• Hooded Skunk
• Hog-nosed Skunk

Skunks have a scent gland at the bottom of their tails that shoot their spray. A skunk can spray up to 10 feet and the odor can be smelled up to a mile and a half away. Before they spin around and spray you, they will warn you that you're in trouble by stomping on the ground with their front feet. I have seen bathe in tomato sauce with a bag of sliced potatoes in it to remove the scent. 

A group of skunks is referred to as a surfeit. In my time in Wisconsin I have seen packs of skunks with 6-8 adults and bucket of little baby skunks. Baby skunks can spray at the tender age of 8 days old. They cant even aim until they are about 24 days old because their eyes aren't opened yet. 

I used to live next door to a lady who believed that she was feeding "Ferrel (Alley) Cats". While this may have been true, the meal that she was putting out during the day led to a surfeit at night so we are on first hand observations here. :) Since there was a food supply close, the skunks burrowed under the foundation of a neighbors garage. When I moved out of that house the skunks were still living 2 doors down so I never knew how that ended, moving right along here.

Skunks are nocturnal an eat insects, birds, small rodents, fruits, vegetables and like the badger snakes. Skunks are immune to snake venom so they are known to eat poisonous snakes like rattlers. They have poor eyesight so in compensation they have excellent senses of smell and hearing.

Skunks grow to be anywhere between 6 and 10 pounds and have a lifespan in the wild of 2-4 years. At Timbavati Wildlife Park we have skunks with the scent glands removed so you can safely admire them. I mean they are really cute and cuddly animals to look at when you don't have to take the smell home with you. :)

Drawing Contest

Timbavati Wildlife Park is having an animal drawing contest on Facebook for children ages 12 and under. Entering the contest is a simple. Parents have your child draw a picture of his/her favorite animal and post the picture on Facebook. You can scan it or take a picture with your camera phone and post it to your Facebook account.

To enter the picture in the contest, please add the following to the picture’s description:

The name of the animal

The child’s name and age

Lastly, put the hashtag #timbavatiwildlifepark in the picture’s description and you are entered. It is important that you tag us in the picture or we will not see it.  

1 random winner will receive a family 4 pack which consists of 2 adult and 2 child admissions to Timbavati Wildlife Park. 3 second place winners will receive 2 child admissions each so that’s a total of 4 chances to win!

Deadline to enter is March 29, 2016 at 11:59 PM. Winners will be announced on March 30, 2016. We wanted to avoid the April 1st winner selection so that you know that we weren’t playing with you.