Kookaburra

Before we take a look at the Kookaburra here is a reminder that next week is Teacher Appreciation Week (Aug. 1-7) visit our website for more info about that. Now about the Kookaburra, This Australian native from the eucalyptus forests is a well known symbol of the continent's birdlife. It has also been seen in Tasmania and New Guinea.  Kookaburras occupy woodland and open forests. They live in and nest in the cavities of tree trunks and branches. Kookaburra do not migrate and occupy the same territory all year-round.

Kookaburra can grow to weigh up to a pound with a beak that can be up to 4 inches long. They look to be about the same size as an adult domestic house cat so don't let that light weight fool you, these are really big birds. Matter of fact, the Kookaburra used to be called the "Giant Kingfisher."

The Kookaburra is a carnivore, its diet consists of small vertebrates and invertebrates, the occasional small snake and even other fowl. The Kookaburra are expert divers and attack their prey from the sky in streams and ponds. Kookaburra disable their prey by slamming them into rocks when they have them in their beaks. Natural predators include cats, dogs foxes, and larger predatory bids.

The female will lay one to five eggs. Both parents share incubation duties when it comes to tending the eggs. When the eggs hatch, older siblings also assist with parenting duties. The entire group helps to parent the young.

The most distinguished feature of the Kookaburra is it' laugh. A group of them sound like Gotham City after the Joker has attacked with laughing gas. They make other noises thank the laughing that we are familiar with, but when they laugh, you know it's the Kookabura. Check this video out to hear the laugh and more fun facts and next time you're in Timbavati Wildlife Park hang out by their enclosure, they pipe up quite regularly.

Spider Monkey

Spider Monkeys are found in the tropical forests of Central and South America From Southern Mexico to Brazil. They have long arms and legs with prehensile tails which means that they can use them to grab as well as hang by them. While these furry critters are hanging from a tree by their tails they can look huge spiders when they’re darting through the shadows.

The spider monkey weighs anywhere from 14 to 26 pounds and is an omnivore. The Spider Monkey live on a diet of fruit, nuts and leaves but will also eat insects and small reptiles. It also doesn’t have any thumbs. It has 4 fingers that can hook around branches when swinging.

Male spider monkeys typically stay with their troops for life. Females leave the troops from time to time to join new troops. Timbavati WIldlife Park has its own troop of Spider Monkeys with its own newborn baby playing around the enclosure. You can learn more fun facts about the Spider Monkeys in this Week’s Video.

Lesser Flamingos

Greetings dear friends, this week we are discussing the Flamingo. The smallest of the Flamingo species is the Lesser Flamingo. This native of India, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa can live to be over 50 years in the wild. I guess that’s why their population is so large with estimates around 3 million for this sub-species alone.

The Lesser Flamingo stands 2-3ft. In height and weighs anywhere from 2-6 pounds. It can fly at speeds up to 60 km/h with a wingspan of 3-4 feet. One telling characteristic of the Lesser Flamingo is the black-tipped wings which you usually don’t see unless this bird is in flight. Their wings are otherwise tucked when they are standing.

The name Flamingo has its origins from the word flame which was used to describe the plumage of the bird. The Lesser Flamingo however is the least pink or orange of all the flamingo species. The color of a flamingo is in direct relation to their diet and this one eats less crustaceans than their other flamingo counterparts surviving on more algae than animals.

A female Lesser will lay one white egg at a time which is incubated by both parents. The egg will hatch in around 30 days. Parents create what is called “Crop Milk” and this can be used to feed not only their young but also other young in the colony.

Here is a short video on the Lesser Flamingos of Timbavati Wildlife Park and the next time you’re in the Waterfalls Area stop by and take a look at our Lesser Flamingos.

Porcupines!

I think that most of us can agree on the fact that we won’t be handling any porcupines anytime soon. We all know them for their notorious B.A.R.B.’s (bad boy take that take that) but I would suggest that the average person has never given much thought to how beautiful a creature the porcupine actually is.

Porcupines have quills. If you have ever seen the movie "Critters,” a porcupine’s quills are large and of course dangerous. The slightest touch can dislodge them. The quills also have small barbs on them like the stinger on a bee or like the bark on a fishing hook. This means that if you’re unfortunate enough to have gotten hooked on a porcupine’s quills that you’re going to experience a significant amount of trauma removing them.

Here are some other interesting porcupine tidbits. Their backs aren’t all quills; the quills are mixed with hair. The quills will lay flat until the porcupine feels threatened and then they are extended to protect the little critters. Once the quills have come out they grow new ones.

Porcupines are herbivores, in the winter they munch on tree bark and evergreen needles. In summer they consume things like, grasses, leaves and dandelions. They have even been known to gnaw on canoe paddles at campsites. Porcupines are nocturnal and are good swimmers. I am not sure if that makes them skinny dippers or not, haa whatevs.

Porcupines live in dens, which can range from rock crevices to hollow logs to crawl spaces under your house. They seem to prefer grasslands but are equally at home in rocky terrains. The African Crested Porcupine is a native of Mount Kilimanjaro and has been spotted at elevations as high as 11,000 feet, that’s over 2 miles high.

There are about two-dozen different kinds of porcupines. Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to two different species, The North American Porcupine and the African Crested Porcupine. I think you get the “Point.” :)

Construction of 2016

Greetings friends and I hope you are enjoying all of the best that nature has to offer all of us this summer. This week we are shifting gears from our usual animal discussions to some of the behind the scenes things that we have going at Timbavati Wildlife Park.

One major change that we are making this year is an addition to our exterior Rock Wall.

This extension will mirror our main entrance that extends from our gift shop to the picnic area.

We pulled out the old Go Kart track that has been at the location for many years as we wanted to do something that aligned better who we are as an attraction. So gone is the roar of the fiberglass F1 fleet to make room for a new pasture which will allow our guests the ability to have more interactions with animals when they take the Safari Train Ride in the near future.

As you can see from the pictures here, we left the overpass from the Go Karts. This is being repurposed as a shaded area for the animals to relax in.

That isn’t all that’s new in 2016. We have also remodeled our Camel Ride Stand in the Woodlands Area. The new additions have included flowerbeds, fresh sod, new mulch, fences and a couple of trees.

Our improvements aren’t ending there either. Our nurseries are being redone to make the habitats more inviting for their denizens and our guests.

There are a bunch of other things we can discuss like new black top and lines in the parking lot or the perpetual motion of our award winning Master Gardeners but this is probably a good place to pull the reigns back on this week’s blog and get you the link to this week’s video which gives you a better look at it than the pictures do. Blog with you all next week!

Bald Eagle

Happy 4th of July! To celebrate our nation’s birthday we are talking about the North American bald eagle in this week’s post! The bald eagle is the only eagle that is exclusive to North America and lives near bodies of water in The Continental United States, Alaska and Canada.

This majestic animal stands about 3 feet tall and features a wingspan of 6-7 feet. Males are a little bit smaller than females, their wing spans spread around 6 feet. The Bald Eagle will weigh anywhere from 7-14 pounds. Just based on size alone the Bald Eagle is the size of a mid-sized dog. It’s obviously lighter due to hollow bones but that doesn’t make it any less respectable. I might have to go see if I can get a guard eagle LOL.

The bald eagle is monogamous choosing one mate at a time and will only seek a new mate if one of the pair dies. They have a lifespan of 20-30 years so they spend a long time together as a couple. They also build the nest jointly. A Bald Eagle’s nest can weigh up to a ton! It can also be as wide as 8 feet across. At around 4-5 years of age bald eagles will choose mating partners. A female will lay her eggs 5-10 days after mating and will usually lay 1-3 eggs in her clutch. The eggs are incubated for about 35 days and then boom, baby bald eagles!

Bald eagles are carnivores eating a diet of fish, ducks, snakes and turtles. The term “eagle eye” is an important one to consider as the eagle soars very high in the sky while pinpointing prey below it. We are talking 10,000 feet high with a cruising altitude of 40 miles per hour. When a bald eagle has spotted its prey, its attack speed can be up to 100 miles per hour. You aren’t getting out of the way of that if it’s after you LOL. Now everyone wants a guard eagle I am sure of it.