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.

National Pig Day 2018

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog! This Thursday actually happens to be National Pig Day. Pigs have been a part of the fabric of American life for generations and it’s awesome to see the often misjudged pig get its day in the sun!

Pigs are super social creatures and enjoy forming bonds with other pigs, humans, and sometimes spiders. A group of young pigs are called a swift. A group of older pigs is called a sounder.

Pigs also have an excellent sense of smell because of their long snouts. They’re also remarkably intelligent. Purdue University did a study using a special joystick. In this study the pigs were able to use a cursor on a screen to make contact with specific items on a screen. Further evidence suggests that they are able to recognize themselves in a mirror.

If that isn’t enough coolness about pigs, during our summer season we have pig races daily. Pigs can hoof it at 11 miles per hour. I think I would like to try my hand at racing a pig, I might be able to compete at that speed. If you haven’t seen our Swine Time Pig Racing presentation you have to stop at Timbavati Wildlife Park to check them out.

That’s all that I have for pigs today, but I am closing this weeks blog post with a request. If you regularly read our blog or see our pictures on facebook. Please like and share them as there have been changes to facebook which dialback how much people see our content. If anyone likes our content it will keep showing posts like this in your timeline. Thanks in advance for the share and we will talk with you next week.

The History of U.S. Presidents and Parrots

Greetings and welcome to this week’s blog! It’s Presidents Day today. To celebrate the day we once again take a look at the animals that our Commanders in Chief have had. Last year we took a look at the more bizarre animals that our presidents have had.

It’s well documented that Theodore Roosevelt probably had the most eclectic collection of critters. From lizards to a small black bear, old Teddy had it all. He also had a cat named Slippers and a macaw named Eli Yale.

That got me to thinking, who else had Parrots? You know, there are a couple more Presidents that had them also. President number 1 AKA George Washington had a parrot to go along with his hounds and horses. His parrot’s name was Snipe.

James Madison had a parrot named Polly. Polly actually outlived both President Madison and his wife Dolly. Andrew Jackson actually had an African grey parrot also named Polly. They sometimes called his bird Poll for short.

William McKinley actually had a yellow-headed Mexican parrot named Washington Post. Washington could whistle Yankee Doodle. There are a lot of birds in the presidential pet history but those are all of the parrots.

The thing I would really love to know is what their birds would say. If you haven’t spent much time around parrots, they pick up things that they want to say randomly. I’m sure that all of the presidential pets have listened to sensitive discussions. Can you imagine a bird that repeats classified information?

If you haven’t experienced just how attentive parrots can be, come visit Timbavati Wildlife Park. We’re now open all year round and you never know what our parrots will say. Thanks for reading and we will talk again next week!

The White Emus Are Not Albinos

Greetings and welcome to this week’s blog! Hopefully those of you who had snow were able to dig out safely. If you followed the groundhog last week you know we still have plenty of winter left. Seeing the all white tundra outside reminded me of the rare white emus that we have at Timbavati Wildlife Park.

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. Of course the emu is an Australian native and apparently white emus are rare there. So having our own flock in America makes Timbavati Wildlife Park a great stop for birders (people who love watching birds).

Other emu facts are equally interesting, they are the second largest species of bird on the planet. Their animal grouping includes ostriches and that family of birds are referred to as ratites. We know that modern day birds evolved from dinosaurs and I find that looking at the white emu up close really gives me a Jurassic Park kind of feeling.

If you’ve never encountered an emu face to face, be prepared to be face to face. The emu stands around 5 feet tall. When you step up to the white emu encounter, they will come and look you in the eye. It’s a neat thing, I don’t know where else you have the opportunity to get so close to one.

Here is a look at the white emu. While I was in the enclosure filming the emus one emu decided that my camera wasn’t welcome in the enclosure. You’ll be entertained by their denial at around the 0:47 mark in the video! Talk with you all next week, and stay warm! Our VIP Behind The Scenes tours make great valentines day gifts!

Timbavati Wildlife Park Welcomes The Masked Lapwing

Greetings friends and welcome to this week’s blog. Last week we began talking about what’s new in 2018 for design and construction. These week I wanted to start talking about new animals at Timbavati WIldlife Park in 2018. One of the first animals we will be welcoming in 2018 is are a small flock of Masked Lapwing Birds.

The masked Lapwing is also referred to as a “plover.” Masked lapwings hail from Australia, Southern New Guinea and New Zealand. Now these birds live in semi-harmony with humans in the land down under. I say semi because apparently they have been known to attack humans. That’s my kind of bird! The reality is though that I actually found a list of do’s and don’t if a lapwing has marked you for an attack. Ready? Here we go!

1. Go the other way, it might be protecting a nest.
2. Travel in groups, birds rarely attack multiple people at once.
3. Wear a hat.
4. If you’re riding a bike get off and run LOL.

Now the bird is only as big as an adult’s shoe but I guess that a shoe traveling at 30 mph or so could hurt just a little bit LOL. They're also not native to the United States so I think you guys should be safe from a Lapwing Attack. Bring your friends though, Our park is even cooler when you can share the experiences with the ones that you love. Talk with you all next week!