Tuesday 29 July 2014

SIZZLING HOT SUMMER MEANS FACTOR 50 FOR WALLABIES AND PENGUINS

The Isle Of Wight is sizzling hot and the heat wave means keepers need to be monitoring the animals even more and tending to their every need so they keep as cool and happy as possible in very hot conditions.
Our albino wallaby mob that originate from Tasmania and Australia are susceptible to skin cancers and many do not survive in their native homelands.  Twice a day the team apply factor 50 to their ears, tail tips and noses.

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The colony of Humboldt Penguins that originate from South America go through an annual moult each summer time and shed all their old tatty feathers and then grow back a beautiful new smart  black and white set!  The in between time goes a little pear shaped and there sometimes is a gap between moulting properly and bald patches appearing thus, being susceptible to the burning suns rays making their little backs pink and burnt!  We also apply Factor 50 to our penguins during this time.

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Our story made the National papers!!…….
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Thursday 24 July 2014

Dippys Saturday Night Disco at the Pepper Pot

The disco started at 9.30pm, just after sunset. Myself and a group of friends had invited lots and lots of animals from all over the Island to come to this massive party located high up on the Downs overlooking the West Wight coastline. The venue being the Pepperpot !!

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Inside DJ Squirrel was on the music set with his records ready to blast out some pumping tunes that would get everyone dancing. Above his mixing table high up in the roof of the Pepperpot hung a rotating mirror ball which transcended rainbow coloured lights through the small stone window gaps within the walls. The disco lights illuminated all the surrounding fields and valley below and above in the summers night sky the Milky Way twinkled and glittered which made the whole disco party truly amazing!
We served drinks from a tent situated around the back of the Pepperpot, fizzy lemonade with ice and lemon and Pringles as a tasty snack.
The music rocked and everyone was dancing, DJ Squirrel played some awesome tunes which must have been heard from miles around. Pink smoke covered the grass released from a disco dance pump, I couldn’t see my flippers for most of the night!
The party went on until dawn, everyone helped pack up the disco gear and then we all set off on our journeys home for some much needed sleep!!

Sunday 20 July 2014

WE WON…. MY ISLE OF WIGHT AWARDS…. WHOOP WHOOP

Fern and Sally Award Members of the Seaview Wildlife Team Fern Daley and Sally Sheridan receiving the award

myisleofwight.com Awards 2014.

These are the Isle of Wight’s only visitor-voted awards for tourism businesses and services, providing you with the opportunity to pick out your star performers who have helped make your visit a truly fantastic and unforgettable experience.
We have provided the key categories and a few suggestions but the rest is down to you. You can vote in all or just the categories where you feel the experience was exceptional and you can make your own suggestions to be added to the short lists.
We want to know where you love hanging out, what you love doing, where your fave paces to stay are and where you go when you want to eat something delicious!
So get voting – your opinion is king!

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Tuesday 15 July 2014

Email of the Week from Holly

This week we received a lovely e-mail from Holly Cluitt who used to work at the park as an Animal Keeper. She has recently moved to South Africa to start a new adventure training as a safari field guide!


DSC_0110Hi everyone,
I am having an amazing time in SA so far and everyone is really lovely at camp. We went on our first game drive on Thursday it was awesome! We saw two male Cheetahs and three four month old Hyena cubs. I have attached a few photos.

There is so much to learn it's quite overwhelming! I hope everyone is ok at Seaview. 

Sending my love and best wishes to everyone

Holly :)

Saturday 12 July 2014

Nesting Time for the Chilean Flamingos

Chilean still sitting on egg late Sept 10 (cropped) (2)It is a busy time of year over at the Chilean Flamingo enclosure as the adults have started to build their nests!

Originating from South America, these birds build their nests by piling mud into large mounds about 15 inches in diameter and 1 ½ -2 feet tall. 

The female then makes an indentation on the top where she lays her egg.  

Incubation lasts around 27-31 days and both the mother and father will sit on the egg.

This week we were sent in some beautiful images of our Flamingos taken by local island wildlife photographer Stuart Shore:

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