Merry Christmas!

Greetings friends and Merry Christmas! Eve that is, but we all know that the holiday season is filled with a weeks worth of festivities. Christmas as they say is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s also a really great time of the year to come to Timbavati Wildlife Park. You do know that we’re open all year round now! (We will be closed on Christmas Day)

That’s right, if you’re looking for a great adventure for your family, look no further than our park this Christmas. We have encounter tours that run twice daily at 11AM and 1PM. That would be a cool new tradition to kick off with the family. An annual winter trip to Timbavati would be a great way to spend a day. Our professional animal handling staff is here every day working with the animals and speaking with people like you.

The cycle of life doesn’t take a break off because old man winter has reared his icy head. As a result of this our nurseries are still buzzing with new bright eyed animals. Our acclaimed parakeet encounter is also teeming with little budgies eager to grab a bit of birdseed out of your hands.

For those of you who would like an even greater experience we have the VIP behind the scenes tours available as well. That is about a 2 hour tour with an expanded adventure given personally by one of our professional handlers with lot of opportunity to have personal guided interactions with a lot of animals. See our website for more details about either tour.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year for a reason. We all just want to see that gleam in our family member’s eyes this season. We want to create experiences for them that show them how much we love them. That’s what Timbavati Wildlife Park is here for. Take some time today to look around our website and see how much we have to offer. No matter how you spend this holiday season have a safe and happy week. We will talk with you next week! Merry Christmas!

The Timbavati Wildlife Park Porcupines

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. If you’re looking something cool to do over the Christmas break remember we’re open most days. Check our website for Encounter Tour times and the days we’re open. This week I figured we could pop on over to the waterfalls area and take a look at our pals the porcupines.

Did you know that the porcupine is the 3rd largest rodent in the world? We know the capybara is number one and the distinction of number two goes to the beaver. Another fun fact is that porcupines have roughly 30,000 covering their bodies?

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.

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.

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 barb 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.

Don’t just take my word for it though, check out this week’s video with Becky as she talks to a couple of our visitors about how prickly these porcupines can actually be. Talk with you all next week!

Timbavati Wildlife Park Keeper Talk With A Skunk

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. It’s shopping season, don’t forget that the Wisconsin Dells has great shopping at the Outlet Mall. This week we’re going to turn our attention, albeit carefully, to the skunk. The skunk has a bunch of interesting facts. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

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. They hiss and growl a bit too. I think the warning would be enough for most of us to get the hint lol.

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.

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.

Fortunately for you we have skunks that are safe for you to view and visit on our two daily Timbavati Encounters Tours. Those begin daily at 11AM and later at 1PM. Just come to the Gift Shop and you can purchase an admission. For those of you who want a more enhanced experience we also have a VIP Behind The Scenes Tour by appointment only that gives you a comprehensive tour of the park.

Here is Becky with the call in this week’s video with more facts about the skunk. Thanks for reading and we will talk with you all next week. Cheers!

Timbavati Wildlife Park Enter The Opossum

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. December is in full swing and we are enjoying milder temperatures this week! Remember if you’re looking for a gift idea or a great way to entertain your children this holiday season that we’re now open daily for Animal Encounter tours which begin at 11AM and 1PM. Now on to our little fuzzy friend as pictured above, Ozzy the Opossum.

The opossum is a native of North America. They enjoy hanging out in trees, hollow logs, and whatnot. They also like wet areas like swamps, streams and marshes. An Opossum is a curious animal to me in that it has 50 teeth. I guess it always says a mouthful eh? Heh heh. The Opossum is nocturnal so it has really good sight. What you might see as big black eyes, science would call a largely dilated pupil. The better to see you with Red Riding Hood!

The Opossum is an omnivore. It enjoys rodents, insects, snails, fruit, dog food, I guess what I am saying here is that it will pretty much eat anything that it thinks might be tasty. It will dive in a dumpster without hesitation and while I won’t pretend to tell you I know why they do that I can tell you that they have very strong immune systems to toxins. The opossum has a very strong immunity to rabies. It is also almost completely immune to the snake venom produced by rattlesnakes, cottonmouths and other venomous snakes. So garbage food? Meh, no biggie mate!

The opossum has a trope of interesting facts that we can share with you. This week’s video features Ashley who has a few more fun facts to fuel your trivia database. Make sure you visit our website for more information about our two daily Animal Encounter Tours and we will see you all in the park.

The Giraffe of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. We hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving and a kick off to the shopping season. If you’re looking for a cool animal themed gift you can stop in at our gift shop any day at 11AM and 1PM. Those are also the start times of the two Timbavati Encounters that we run daily. This week we’re walking over to the Grasslands Area to take a look at our giraffes.

We actually have our giraffes available seven days a week on our VIP Behind The Scenes Tours. Giraffes are natives of Africa. The giraffe as you all recall is the tallest animal on the planet. The giraffe is an herbivore. It loves the acacia tree leaves. The giraffe doesn’t drink a lot of water, it gets most of its hydration from the leaves that it eats. It only needs to drink once every few days. We’re talking about 100 pounds of plants a day here.

Giraffes Make A Tower

A group of giraffes is referred to as a tower. Towers typically have 12-15 members. To assert dominance and hierarchy within the tower males or bulls will engage in necking. Necking is when they crash their heads and necks into each other in what appears to be a fight. Rarely is anyone hurt in this event and it ends with one bull choosing to walk away in defeat.

Now a giraffe can be as big as 18 feet tall. It also can run at speeds up to 35 miles an hour but only for short distances. Females give birth standing up and the baby enters the world with a solid drop. Within 30 minutes the calves can stand and are running within hours. LOL they grow up so fast.

If you want more cool giraffe facts watch this week’s video. For more awesome animal facts about other cute critters visit the blog area of our website. Enjoy your week and remember we have two encounters that start daily at 11am and 1pm. Enter through the gift shop! Thanks and we will see you in the park!

Timbavati Wildlife Park Gives Thanks

Greetings friends and welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of our blog posts. This Thursday is the holiday that encourages and reminds us to give thanks for the blessings that we have and how fortunate we are to be alive and have loved ones. We have a coat of snow and the season is in full swing and hopefully you are too.

We are thankful for you our guests, readers and followers. Your shares and encouraging comments are motivators for us to be the best professionals that we can be. Your constructive criticism are teaching tools that we learn from. Your compliments are our validations that we’re on the right path.

This year we’re thankful for being here. We’re still kicking is what our matriarch Alice Schoebel is a mantra of fortitude. We’re thankful that we’re able to still “kick it.” We’re thankful for our business partners in the Wisconsin Dells and beyond. Each year we set out to build a new and though some faces shuffle from time to time, the bonds of our partnerships are strong enough to thrive through changes in seasons and people.

We are also extremely thankful for the respect and trust that we have with our animals. Working with them isn’t an occupation, it’s a way of life. We’re very fortunate to do what we do for a living safely and comfortably. There is much for us to be thankful for.

Seasons come and go, so do people and animals. You know what doesn’t go though? A joyful memory, you know the kind that makes you smile when you think about it. I have a lot of those smiles in my mind from Timbavati Wildlife Park. If you don’t have at least one of those in your memory banks we’re now open year round. Come and build one today! Cheers have a happy holiday and we will talk to you all next week!

The African Penguins of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this weeks blog. We had a little dustup of snow around here this week and that gave everything a great wintery look. I was feeling so great about seeing the first snowfall that I wanted to jump on Old Man Winter’s train and talk about a wintery animal or two. That took me to our resident penguins, Mama and Papa.

Those of you who have been reading our blog for a while will remember these two starring in the Wisconsin State Lottery “Pengwin” campaign last winter. So for everyone keeping score here, penguins = winter stuff, except when they don’t.

Our penguins aren’t the arctic circle “Happy Feet” style of penguin, no no no. We have the opposite. We have good old warm weather penguins South African blackfooted penguins to be exact. These penguins live on the coast of Southern Africa populating the shorelines and coastal islands with penguin colonies.

These penguins can swim at speeds of up to 15 miles an hour. They can also remain under water for well over 2 minutes, which makes them winners at the “watch me hold my breath” game. Penguins will also swim up to 30 miles to find food. Their dense feathers protect them from the chill of the ocean.

We have a bunch more penguin facts in this weeks video. If you’d like to learn more cool animal facts, come on in and see what we have to offer. We are open for guided encounters daily at 11am and 1pm. Just enter at the gift shop at those times. If you’d like a more intimate experience we can run VIP behind the scenes tours also. Check out this week’s penguin video and we will see you in the park!

The White Emu of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. The November air has a chill in it this week but the sun is shining and we don’t have any snow so I will take that. This week we’re going to check in on our very rare friends, the white emu. There aren’t very many white emus in North America and as far as we know, we’re the only park in the midwest with them on display.

This resident of Australia is the second largest bird in the world. It avoids living in dense forests, areas populated by humans and arid terrains. They have been spotted in deserts but they are much more common near water supplies. Emu are part of the Ratite family which include ostrich, rhea, kiwi, cassowary, and the recently extinct Moa.

With a top sprint speed of up to 30 miles per hour, the ability to stride 9 feet and a 7 foot vertical, the emu is a tough character to corral if you are a predator. The white emu is not an albino. Albinism is a random anomaly concerning the pigment of the skin. It also causes poor eyesight in the animal or person. The white emu has been bred to be white

A pair of emu will breed in the summer and a female can lay a clutch of up to 15 eggs at a time. When the female lays her eggs she wanders off and the father tends to the clutch. A female can lay up to 3 clutches in a season and sometime will lay her eggs in another emu's nest and let a surrogate father tend to the clutch.

The male stays with the nest for about 8 weeks, until the clutch hatches. In this period he rarely leaves the nest and as a result of this loses a lot of his fat reserves. The chicks are born "precocial" which means they are pretty well functional at birth taking only a few minutes before they take their first steps. I guess they don’t need any tummy time to get them going eh?

The summer may be over but we’re open all year round! That’s right, we have our Timbavati Encounters. This is a guided trip to the park that begins daily at 11AM and 1PM. Check out the details on our website. Thanks for taking the time to read our weekly blog and we will see you in the park.

Thank You For A Great Season

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog. Today marks the end of our General Admission season. We would like to say thank you to everyone that came out and visited us this season. Your visits, kind reviews and excitement for our staff and animals make each day that we open these doors both different and special.

I remember walking and talking once with Mark Schoebel our beloved and departed founder. He used to look at people feeding animals, laughing and having a great time, He’d say to me, “look at those people over there smiling, they’re having the time of their lives.” That wasn’t the only time he said that to me. He really loved to see people have a good time, he knew that’s what we’re here for.

My experiences filming and taking pictures in Timbavati Wildlife Park shows me the absolute best of humanity. I am sure you might wonder why I would say watching people at our park could be so profound. Everyday that I am in Timbavati Wildlife Park I watch people both young and old overcome their fears and adversities. There’s nothing like seeing a toddler finally work up enough courage to put the carrot in a pygmy goat’s mouth. Then when they realize that it’s safe they play and feed the animals and as young people they have the fear of animals removed from them when they come here.

When I am in the park I see adults overcome a trove of anxieties as well. Most people have never ridden a camel. Sometimes the adults are just as hesitant as the kids can be. A lot of you still won’t pet a snake but most of you will pet a skunk. I had never seen any of that before I started coming to Timbavati WIldlife Park.

You had a lot of places in the Wisconsin Dells that you could have spent your hard earned money and we are grateful that you took some time this year to make us a part of your experience. Now that the General Admission season has come to a close we are into our Timbavati Encounter Tour season. That’s right we have Timbavati Wildlife Park Encounters that run year round. All you have to do is visit the gift shop. First tour of the day starts at 11AM and the second tour of the day begins at 1PM.

We also have our VIP Luxury Tours! If you’d like a VIP tour you can learn more about them and schedule them from or website. Here’s is a video with a look back at some of this summer’s action. Thanks for reading and we will see you in the park!

Timbavati Wildlife Park Keeper Talks: Anteater

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. We are on the last week of our general admission here at Timbavati Wildlife Park. This week will also conclude our general admission and Safari Train Ride “Combo Ticket.” If you’d like to take advantage of that killer offer click on over to our website and check it out. Also we have free pumpkins for everyone until our last open day to the general public which is Oct. 28th 2018!  Now onto this week’s topic the tamandua anteater.

The tamandua anteater is also referred to as the “lesser anteater.” The lesser is about 3-4 in length on average while the giant anteater is 5-6 feet in length on average. The tamandua or lesser is what we have in the park in the picture shown on this week’s post. If you want to compare sized I am sure a giant anteater would be walking our animal handler Lexi here and not the other way around.

Anteaters belong to a class of mammals called “Vermilingua” which is derived from latin for “worm tongue.” That’s because of course anteaters don’t have teeth. They have a really long and sticky tongue that indeed does look like a worm which they use to eat ants and termites.

Anteaters are closely related to sloths and armadillos. The vertebrae in their lower spines are have special articulations found in this group of animals specifically. Anteaters also walk on their knuckles. You see they have these really long claws that curl under their paws. These are specialized for ripping open hiding places and anthills. When an anteater is set up to eat, those claws become the business end indeed.

There is a lot to learn about anteaters as you will see this week’s video. Don’t forget we are open for tours year after our regular season ends this weekend. Thanks and we will see you all in the park!

Pig Races With Matt Schoebel

Greetings friends and happy Monday to you all. Fall temperatures will be in full swing this week and the colors on the trees at this time of year are absolutely stunning. Our season for general admissions only has a couple of weeks left on it. Which brings me to the point of this week’s blog, you only have a couple of weeks left to check out our Swine Time Pig Races!

That’s right our nationally known hog callers will be closing the Wisconsin Track for the year at the end of this month. Until then you can get prepped for the most playful pig puns you will ever ponder this side of punjabi. The pigs we have are the swiftest swine to speed down the straightaway while stealing your hearts at every turn.

You’ll be able to cheer for celebrities like Arnold Schawzenhogger, Hamma Montana and of course Lindsey Loham. Now I tell you these hogs burn the track up with all the intensity if a ham on a hotplate. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see these athletes in action I can assure you that they’re anything but “boaring.”

When you’re in Timbavati WIldlife Park and hear the horns blow for racetime come on over to the Interaction Area and step right up to see the race. These pigs don’t race for glory, they don’t race for trophies or endorsements. They don’t even race for bragging rights, nope not at all. They race for the vaunted and beloved…..Oreo cookie. That’s right, an oreo cookie. Truth be told I would race you for an Oreo cookie so they take these races pretty seriously.

Check out some of the action from our pig races in this week’s video. Also don’t forget we have our Fall Combo Ticket special running right now which is our General Admission plus Train Ride for one great price! And while supplies last receive a free pumpkin with your combo ticket purchase. General Admission season ends October 28th. After that day we will have daily tours at 11AM and 1PM! Talk with you all next week!

The Ball Python of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. It’s been a dreary weekend but we’re here to brighten your week up “ball python” style. It’s a lot like Gangnam Style with a lot less lights and dancing. Matter of fact it’s pretty much just slithering in darkness ha ha ha. But to each their own. Now let’s get into a few ball python facts.

The ball python hails from sub-Saharan Africa and like other pythons it is non-venomous. This is also the smallest of the African Pythons.The ball python can measure up to six feet but usually tops out at around 4 feet.

The ball python has nocturnal habits and during the day it wants to be as inconspicuous as possible. It seeks shelter in dark crevices and caves during the day. The ball python is also an excellent tree climber. You never know where this little critter might get to.

The Ball Python Diet

The ball python eats small rodents. They will go after mice and rats of course but they will also go after a shrew and a bird as well. A female ball python will lay anywhere from 5 to 10 eggs in a clutch. At birth the young are on their own and will have to fend for themselves.

If you want more great information check out this week’s video which features a clip from a keeper talk given by our own Becky. Don’t forget you still have a chance to score a great Combo Ticket. It includes a General Admission and Safari Train ride for one great price. See our website for more details and we will talk with you all next week.

The Hedgehog of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. Bit frosty around here this weekend and that reminds me that right now is a great time to walk around the park and see what’s going on around here. Like our little hedgehog friend here. Yep you guessed it, it’s time to lace your chucks up and go collect some rings. I’m kidding but a hedgehog will ball up on you if frightened or even sleeping.

The can be found in Europe, Asia, Africa and they were introduced to New Zealand. The hedgehog hor hedgie as it is sometimes referred to is known as the gardener’s friend because they eat grubs in the garden. The quills on a hedgehog will hurt if you get poked with them but unlike a porcupine there are no barbs on them.

Hedgehogs Roll Solo

Hedgehogs are pretty solitary. They will pair up, mate and they separate. The males don’t stay around after mating and the female raises the young alone. The gestation period is 35 to 58 days. A baby hedgehog is called a hoglet.

We have many more hedgehog tidbits in this week’s video. Some of the coolest parts about the Interaction Area in Timbavati Wildlife Park are our animal nurseries. There are always new young animals moving in and out. Due to the cycles of nature and growth rates, the animals in the nursery are subject to change. Thanks and we will see you in the park.

The Lesser Flamingos of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. This weekend brought with it the first day of fall and now trees all over the great State of Wisconsin are turning their brands of orange and brown. That makes this the perfect time to visit our park while we’re open for general admission. General admissions will conclude on October 28th so you still have plenty of time to come see the animals. This week we’re going to zip over to our Waterfalls Area to check in on our lesser flamingos.

The lesser flamingo is one of the smallest flamingos. It stands 2.5-3 feet tall. The lesser also weighs between 3 and 5 pounds on average. When I hang out with the lessers they stand about thigh high. Watching them wade their beaks in the water is a treat also. That’s how they feed on algae, insects and crustaceans.

Lesser Flamingos A Plenty

The population of the lesser flamingo on a global scale is estimated to be around five million birds. Some flocks are even known to contain up to a million. I would say that’s a pretty robust numbers of animals. It also underscores the importance of animals their habitat and the ecosystem in general.

A Flamingo In Time

The first flamingo fossils discovered have dated back to about 10 million years ago. I’d give them a Yabba Dabba Doo for that one if I had been in Bedrock back then. The lesser flamingo reaches sexual maturity at the age of 6 years old. The lesser flamingo can live to be up to 50 years old.

Check out this week’s video for more fun flamingo facts. While I’m at it, don’t forget we’re still open every day. We also have a really super Fall Combo Ticket that gives you an all day general admission and Safari Train Ride. Talk to you all next week!

Ringtail Lemur of Timbavati 2018

Lemurs hail from the Island of Madagascar. That’s in the Indian Ocean off of the coast of Mozambique. If you’ve ever seen the children’s movies “Madagascar,” the character named King Julien was the leader of the troop with the dance moves on the island.

That’s an interesting switch by the makers of the cartoon also. You see the ringtails would have been more likely to have had a queen. They live in a matriarchal society. That means that they are led by the alpha or dominant females in the troop.
Ringtail Squabbles

During mating season, male lemurs will wipe their tails with the scent glands on their arms and then waves them at each other while shooting each other the stink eye. I kind of equate that to watching the cheerleaders dance it out in the movie “You Got Served.”

The ringtail lemur is a great animal to come and check out when you’re in Timbavati Wildlife Park. They are always buzzing around playing and munching on fruits. Remember we’re still open for the season and check out more ringtail facts in this week’s video.

Thank You From Timbavati Wldlife Park To Land's End

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. This week is a special post.    I would like to give honorable mention to the good people over at Land’s End Clothing Outfitters. This past weekend we were fortunate enough to host their company’s annual employee appreciation event.

That event was really rad and appropriate to come after Labor Day which is a celebration of the American workforce. I think the best part about the event is watching the steady stream of people who are taking some time from their day to day workflows to celebrate camaraderie and teamwork.

Land's End Children and The Moment

The children are always the best parts of these types of events. I can’t tell you how many parents I watched have their cameras and phones as the ready waiting for “The Moment.” You do know what The Moment is don’t you? It’s that moment where a toddler decides to take that leap of faith and stick the carrot in the pygmy goat/giraffe/camel’s mouth.

See the children really do want to feed the animals. They’re afraid to do it and that kicks a wonderful chain of events forward. You see day in and day out we witness parent and child experience The Moment in the park. The coolest part about it is the parent’s demonstrations and encouragement. You see just as in nature when we see our children reluctant to do something, we show them by example. All over the park you have kids dropping carrots 2 feet short of an animals mouth and a mom or dad picking it up and encouraging them to try it again.

The Moment occurs when the parent has finally convinced the child that they would be able to feed the animal without reason to fear. Watching them overcome that is its own reward. This teaches them not to fear animals and to appreciate them. We're grateful for the bonds that we can create with them to have full relationships as citizens of the planet Earth.

A Video Is Worth A Thousand Likes

When all the dust settles and everyone returns to work today we wanted to thank the good people at Land’s End for allowing us to enjoy your families and their moment’s this weekend. Here’s a short video recap of the day’s festivities. Check it out and see if you recognize any of your friends in it and again we thank you.

That’s it for this week my friends, thanks for reading and we will see you in the park!

If you'd like more information on hosting your event with us or click our Plan Your Visit Page

The Aoudad of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s post! First let me begin by saying welcome to September. The summer season is drawing to a close and while some businesses in our area are shutting their doors for the year, we are still rocking and rolling through the fall! We’re actually open all year long for tours. Ok moving on from the opening volley here, we have a double topic this week. For Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes, I need to type the word “Aoudad” in the first paragraph LOL.

Ok the picture you’re seeing here is our very own herd of aoudad. They are hanging out in an exclusive pasture at Timbavati Wildlife Park. Visitors who ride the Safari Train Ride are treated with our Aoudad Encounter. What exactly is an aoudad you ask? Let’s take a look and see.

The name “aoudad” was given to the Barbary sheep by the Berbers who are a North African people. The sheep as seen in our picture above are great climbers and love the mountains in North Africa. Their horns are made out of keratin just like our fingernails. Every winter the horn gets a new ring on it kind of like a tree does annually.

The aoudad is an herbivore it enjoys grasses, flowers, leaves and shrubs. They live in dry places more often than not. Because of this, they are fully capable of getting all of the water that they need to survive out of the plants that they eat. When they find a water source, they will drink and wallow in it to their heart’s content.

Now let’s shift to the second and I believe even more interesting topic, their pasture! As I stated earlier, the pasture that we have the aoudad in is exclusive to the Safari Train Ride. What I didn’t say was that their pasture used to be a go kart track. That’s right our founder the late Mark Schoebel had a vision for this part of the park when he decided he wanted to pull the track and put a pasture here. The second picture is what it looked like after the asphalt was pulled up but before the underpass was filled.

Mark had a vision of creating an environment that animals like the aoudad could use and climb over so he didn’t have the tunnel demoed and he just re-purposed it as a mini mountain for them. Mark’s projects and his vision for this project needed to be completed. In his absence and with the resolve to move forward, this and many other great projects that Mark was working on were completed by his son Matt Schoebel.

It’s no easy task to pick up your father’s work. You miss that daily, hi how are you or being asked to do something counter to what you had planned. When you think of that loved one or parent you just ask yourself what would they do? They would finish and from the train cars that were being built to this pasture that Matt completed. These labors of love were completed in honor or Mark and with the resolve of his legacy.

The picture that is featured on this blog post is the culmination of one of his final projects. It’s also something that I was very honored to photograph when I was alerted that “ALL” of the aoudad had lined up for a family photo. Our GM Rob came and got me and said “You have to get a shot of this because this was what Mark explained to me he was seeing when he began building this.”

You know what? He was right. I absolutely had to get a shot of this. Now we can all see what he saw when he envisioned it. Thanks for reading and we will see you all in the park!

A Roo For Me And A Roo For You

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. This week we’re going to take a look at our mob of kangaroos. Now if you weren’t familiar with the term a group of Kangaroos is referred to as a mob. Our mob of roos are always interesting to gander at when you’re in Timbavati Wildlife Park.

Kangaroos are very social creatures. They live in a hierarchy that is governed by one dominant male. This alpha male decides the course that the mob will take as they forage through the outback. The females in a mob will have very close connections with each other. If one mother dies, female kangaroos have been known to adopt an orphaned joey.

Kangaroos are herbivores and they have chambers in their stomachs much like a cow does. They will regurgitate a meal and chew it again before they finally swallow it for digestion. It’s like the meal that keeps on giving or something. I would be interested in that kind of feature. I don’t know how that would taste though, matter of fact that’s a really bad idea if you aren’t a cow or a roo. Ok, tangent over, moving on!

Did you know that kangaroos regularly have molars fall out due to all of the grinding that they do with vegetation? I mean think about this for a minute here. We steam and cook our veggies, but how much wear and tear would that put on our teeth if we couldn’t? Unlike us though a kangaroo can regrow its molars. Now I would take that feature over the stomach thing.

Timbavati WIldlife Park is a wealth of animal knowledge and family fun. Our professional animal handlers are always nearby to help with questions and directions. Don’t forget that throughout the day we have FREE keeper talks and wildlife presentations. Check our website for times and availability! We will talk with you all next week! Cheers!

The Alpaca of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. These adorable creatures are called alpacas. If you’ve ever accidentally called them Llamas don’t worry; they forgive you. Even though they look similar, alpacas are nearly half the size of llamas and their fleece is far superior.

Llamas are mainly raised to be load carrying animals. The Inca domesticated alpacas nearly 6,000 years ago specifically for their hypoallergenic and moisture-wicking fiber. Their fur is known to be warmer than wool, softer than silk, and extremely strong. This is why they reserved the fiber strictly for nobility. You don’t need to be a royal to wear alpaca these days, though!

Did you know there are no wild alpacas? That’s because alpacas are domesticated versions of vicunas from South America. Llamas are also domesticated versions of a different animal, guanacos, and both of these domesticated and wild animals belong to the camelidae family - including camels!

Two Breeds of Alpaca

There are two breeds of alpaca with very distinct differences. Suri have long, twisted hanging locks of fleece all over their body. The Huacaya, the most commonly seen breed, has fluffy or kinky medium length fleece. But both breeds live an average of 20 years. They also grow to about 150 lbs, and only eat about 2lbs of grass a day. They are very social herd animals and therefore do not like to be kept alone, so be sure to come keep them company before the summer is over!

Don't forget we have FREE pig races and Keeper Talks that are included with your purchase of a General Admission. We also have a Giraffe and Camel Feeding encounter. Put those together with a bunch of cool animals and petting areas and you have the perfect summer adventure. Pop on over to our tickets page and book your escape today!

Cheers and we will talk with you next week!

The Blackbuck of Timbavati Wildlife Park

Greetings friends! I hope the long days of August are being kind to you. This is that stretch of the year where we all are trying to soak up those final rays of sun and prepare the little ones to go off to school in the fall. So what  am saying here is, let’s enjoy it while we can shall we? While I’m at it, welcome to the week of the blackbuck.

The blackbuck is an antelope that is found in India, Nepal and Pakistan. This herbivore is a bit smaller than some of the other antelope that we have. As you can see from this week’s video the blackbuck stands about waist high give or take. It will also max out at around 80 pounds in weight.

Males have darker coloration on their sides and back with longer spiraling horns. The females take on a lighter color, almost reddish brown. Blackbucks will hang out in herds of anywhere from 15 to 50 or so members. The gestation period for a female is 6 months.

Now the blackbuck's life isn’t all fun and games here no no. Life is tough in India due to predators and loss of habitat. When this antelope is out and grazing it stays closer to watering holes and streams like most animals do. There’s also no shortage of predators that are keeping the antelope on its toes. At full gallop a blackbuck can move upwards around 50 km per hour.

The African Spur Thigh Tortoise

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. August is roaring right along here. The days are hot and we’re into the final stretch of the summer. This week we’re going to take a look at the African spur-thigh tortoise.

Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to the third largest species of tortoise, the African spur thigh. This tortoise is a native of the Savannas and Saharan desert in Africa. They eat grasses, desert scrub and get their water from the plants that they eat, they’re really fond of the Morning Glory plant.

A tortoise is a land dwelling reptile that has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton in the form of its shell. Here’s a great way to tell the difference between a tortoise and a turtle.  A turtle will have webbed flipper style feet better suited for swimming, and a tortoise will have claws with more stumpy appendages.

Tortoises with lighter shells come from warmer climates and ones with darker shells come from cooler environments. There are about 40 different types of tortoises. The Aldabra and Galapagos Tortoises are the largest of the species and can weigh up to and over 600 pounds. You can also tell the approximate age of a tortoise by counting the rings on the scutes (individual shell plates).

The spur thigh mates just after the rainy season between September and November. After about 2 months of gestation, the female lays 15 to 30 eggs. Then she fills her nest in with dirt and the babies hatch in about eight months.

Tortoises are cool characters and we have no shortage of them grooving around Timbavati Wildlife park. When you’re in the park if you’re lucky enough to see one go into its shell, listen to see if you can hear it exhale first. It has to expel the air in its body before it does.

If you didn’t know, we have a summer fun combo ticket with Noah’s Ark. That’s right, you can get two great tickets for one great price! See our website for more details.