Timbavati Wildlife Park Crowned Crane

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. Temperatures have been a bit cold this past week but they’re climbing this week and that’s great because we are working on projects like nobody’s business in the park. That said, this week we dig into the world of the African Crowned Crane.

This national bird of Uganda likes to roost in trees. They reside in smaller flocks sometimes in groups of up to 20 birds. The crowned crane is an omnivore their diets consist of plants, grains, insects, snakes, lizards and small fish. They also have a 6 foot wingspan, I have to tell you after spending a lot of time with them, they are pretty big birds. The stand around 3-4 feet tall so a 6 foot wingspan isn’t a stretch.

Crowned Crane In A Clutch

The crowned crane lays a clutch of two to three eggs. The eggs incubate for 30 days. Their chicks are born precocial, that means they can run as soon as they hatch. Both the male and female share all of the parenting duties. They both build the nest, incubate the eggs and also care for the young.

Check out this week’s video of the Crowned Crane, there are a lot more fun facts for you to learn for trivia night in this week’s video! Check it out and we will see you all in the park. Remember we have guided tours daily at 11AM and 1PM.

Matt Schoebel A Master In His Element

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post! The weather is changing the Days are getting longer and heating bills are getting lower. That means it’s getting closer to opening day. You know who else is ready for the summer? Our very own Matt Schoebel.

If you’ve been following our weekly blog then you know that Matt has been representing our park down at the Houston Rodeo and Livestock Show. Now we’re from Wisconsin so we don’t have much of an idea what this grand event is, so let me try to give you some perspective on the show.

Think Summerfest, you know like Milwaukee has. Summerfest lasts for 13 days and is chocked full of bands to entertain the millions of visitors that float through. The Houston Livestock and Rodeo show lasts for an entire month and is just as big except with animals. It’s a national event and I should some Houstonians the video we ran a couple of weeks ago about the camel rides and they educated me on how big an event it actually is.

Michael Jordan, Tom Brady and Matt Schoebel

At first glance the notoriety of the other two names above would make one wonder what this has to do with Matt. When it comes to understanding and working with animals Matt is at the head of his class. You see, he is a third generation professional animal handler. He and the animals from Timbavati Wildlife Park have been all of television and in parks and zoos everywhere.

In David Letterman’s final late show season Matt took a camel on the show for Jack Hannah to ride. He also gives wildlife presentations daily at the Houston Show. You see what makes Matt special and worthy of being mentioned in the pantheon of lore with to all-time greats is… he actually understands the animals.

You’ll frequently hear Matt say, the animals have their own personalities, just like you and I do and as we work with them on a daily basis, you have to respect how they feel. Understanding their care and comfort is just one part of what makes Matt such an awesome pro.

It’s one thing to understand the animals and their care. It’s a completely different thing to also engage humans. Matt’s animal presentations are flawless. Talk to him about any critter in our care and he knows their habits, their diets, their gestation periods, their animal classifications and what’s most important is he says it so that it is entirely relatable to the audience. You have to have the chops for presenting and lecturing. When you talk about animals and multiple species. Matt is the total package. He has to be, there’s a fourth generation of Schoebels that will walk in his footsteps and when you watch this week’s video, I think you’ll agree that not only does he deserve to be recognized as one of the best in his field but also that our future is in good hands at Timbavati Wildlife Park.

We’re open all year round with private tours daily. Our staff is incredibly knowledgeable and they’re here to answer questions as well. We want your experience to be fun and educational. That’s exactly what this week’s video is. Enjoy and we will talk next week!

http://www.fox26houston.com/archive/242446070-video#/

Timbavati Wildlife Park's Porcupine Prickle

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog post. Looks like the snow is pretty well behind us now! I know i totally jinxed us. If it snows again it won’t last long, next week is the first day of spring! That’s right, Timbavati Wildlife Park is springing into action as well. Speaking of spring, did you remember to turn your clocks forward? Don’t be late, the porcupine awaits.

Timbavati Wildlife Park is home to a couple of porcupines. Speaking of which, what do you call a group of porcupines? They are called a prickle which seems pretty appropriate. A prickly posse of porcupines possibly present a problem. LOL only if you are the touchy feely type though.

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. That’s pretty impressive as I have had the pleasure of working with all three species and they aren’t small critters.

Another fun fact is that porcupines have roughly 30,000 covering their bodies? Check out this week’s video for more fun facts. When you’re at Timbavati Wildlife Park feel free to ask our professional animal handlers facts about the animals. I promise they wont be prickly about it. Have a positive week and we will talk next week! Don’t forget we’re open for tours daily at 11AM and 1PM.