Swine Time Pig Races

Greetings friends! This week we are talking to you about the Swine Time Pig Races at Timbavati Wildlife Park. I have to admit to you, I had never heard of pig racing prior to my first trip to Timbavati so I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got there. What i found was pleasantly surprising.

If you’re old enough to remember the Norm McDonald news sketches on SNL, then imagine that same type of dry humor but attached to pigs racing (If you’re not old enough to remember Norm or know what SNL is, don’t worry we have ponies). Ok I’m kidding but seriously, it’s a comedy show with pork-filled punchlines and the swiftest swine this side of the saharan sands and believe me there are more hogs than you can count in between here and there.

Keeping with our weekly theme of fun facts on animals, it is widely accepted that pigs have intelligence equivalent to a 3 year old child. They are very social creatures and communicate with each other through grunts and while forming very close bonds to each other and humans.

Pigs are omnivores and will eat both meat and plants. As you would expect, pigs have an excellent sense of smell. Their snouts are very strong and are used to turn dirt over when seeking a meal. In this respect they are excellent at turning dirt over and prepping the soil to receive plant seeds. They are an integral part of seed spreading as their migrations in the wild transport seeds from plants that they have eaten.

Pigs have very few sweat glands, for this reason they seek mud to remain cool in. A pig’s squeal is quite loud and has been measured as high as 115 decibels. For comparison, a rock concert at 110 decibels would probably send you home with ringing in your ears. Most concerts top out at 105 decibels. A pic can recognize its name being called when they’re 2 weeks old which means there really quick learners.

Our pig races are a great time at Timbavati Wildlife Park. We run them daily and you can check our website for showtimes. In the meantime, here is our good friend Matt with a quick overview of our pig races in this video.

Timbavati Has A New Website

This week Timbavati Wildlife Park is celebrating the launch of a brand new website! In the near future we will migrate all of our blog archives over to the new site as we press forward to streamline all of our digital assets. This week’s blog post on the bobcat looks pretty snazzy on it! Check it out and let us know what you think! http://www.timbavatiwildlifepark.com/2016/05/23/north-american-bobcat/

North American Bobcat

Greetings friends of Timbavati and welcome to Bobcat Week! With our park now open and in full swing, we are happy to have had those of you whom have already visited and we’re looking forward to those of you who are still planning to visit. One denizen of Timbavati Wildlife Park is the Bobcat which is an exclusive native of North America.

I like to refer to bobcats as kind of a mid-sized cat. Your typical house cat will weigh 4-8 pounds (depending on species and diet sometimes more, sometimes less). A large cat like a lion or tiger will easily be in excess of 300 pounds and top out around 500 pounds. A bobcat will weigh between 15 and 30 pounds with the males being larger than the females. You will know if youre looking at a bobcat by the tufts of fur on the cheeks that make the face look wider and the shorter tail with black on the top and white on the underside.

Bobcats are carnivores and will eat rabbits, birds, lizards, rodents and snakes. Their hunting patterns and movements are like most other cats where they lie in wait and pounce when they see an opportunity. I actually have seen a few of the big cats stalk and observe in this manner. No different than your tabby at home will do.

The bobcat also has predators that it has to remain vigilant against due to its relatively diminutive size. Mountain lions, coyotes, foxes, owls, and wolves will all have a go at the bobcat in the wild. For this reason the bobcat will have a new burrow on a daily basis and move from shelter to shelter.

The bobcat is the most abundant wildcat in the United States with estimates of its number to be over a million in North America. A female bobcat raises its young alone and will give birth to a litter of between 1-6 kittens after a gestation period of 50-70 days.

Next time you’re in Timbavati Wildlife Park stop over and spend a few minutes with our bobcats!

Bengal Tiger

Greeting friends and thank you for your reading, sharing and support. This week we pay tribute to the Bengal Tiger. The Bengal Tiger is the largest member of the cat family. This native of India and China has a roar that can be heard a few miles away when it get’s going.

There are discussions about the Siberian Tiger being bigger but on average today, the bengal is bigger. From head to tail it can be from 6 feet to 11 feet in length. The Bengal Tiger can weigh up to 660 pounds and minimally weigh 300 pounds.

Tigers are solitary creatures choosing to live alone unless mating. The female’s gestation period is around 105 days. A tiger will give birth to an average of 3 cubs but the litter can be as high as 5. The cubs are raised by their mother alone and don’t hunt until their about 18 months old.

The tiger as most people know is a carnivore and regularly makes a meal out of the likes of buffalo, deer, wild pigs and various other types of wild animals. Tigers will usually go out of there way to avoid humans though there have been cases when people have been found on their menu.

The plight of the Bengal Tiger is a perilous one. Due to poaching, and loss of habitat the Bengal Tiger’s population in the wild is estimated to be around 2500 in total. There were conservation efforts enacted in the 1970’s to preserve the population as there were three species of tiger driven to extinction in the 1900’s. The Bengal Tiger is in need of conservation and the more attention we can attract to their cause the better.

Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to a few Bengal Tigers. Next Time you’re in the park stop by our Feline Center and check out the largest cats on the planet.

World Binturong Day!

Greetings Friends of Timbavati Wildlife Park and welcome to this week’s blog post. This week we are celebrating a new addition to TImbavati Wildlife Park in 2016, the Binturong. The Binturong or Bearcat as it is referred to is a member of the Viverridae family. This animal family doesn’t include bears or cats but it is closer to the mongoose and civets.

The Binturong is native to Southeast Asia and is primarily a tree dweller. Binturongs live on a diet of mostly fruit but will also eat insects and birds. They are solitary animals living alone as adults and mark their territories with scent glands. A binturong’s scent is said to smell like buttered popcorn making it one of the more delicious smelling animals in the rain forest.

Binturongs remind me of the platypus. It has the face of a cat, body of a bear and the tail of a monkey which by the way is prehensile (can grab) making it a fifth appendage. Binturong grow to be anywhere from 3-4 feet and can weigh up to 30 pounds so they aren’t small creatures. Despite being larger mammals, a binturong can move up to 24 miles an hour with flat padded feet like a human’s or a bear’s.

A binturong’s most different feature is it’s ability to turn its paws around 180 degrees. This allows it to climb down trees head first. Due to it’s size binturongs can’t jump from tree to tree. They must climb up and down if they want to relocate.

The gestation period of the binturong is about 92 days and a mother will typically deliver two cubs. Female binturongs can delay the implantation of the embryo until environmental conditions are favorable for giving birth.

This Saturday is World Binturong Day 2016. The past 30 years have seen about a 30% reduction in the population and we encourage you to visit that link to learn more about the conservation efforts. Next time you’re in Timbavati Wildlife Park take a minute to stop and welcome our new guests!