Cover: Von der Decken’s hornbill. Issue no:143. Copyright: Marwell Wildlife. Editor: Helen Skelton-Smith email: editor@marwell.org.uk. Design: Mel Hewitt-Cross. Marwell Wildlife, Colden Common, Winchester, SO21 1JH UK 01962 777407 marwell.org.uk. Reg. charity no. 275433, VAT no. 631 9661 30. Correct at print 04/2013. ISSN: 1757-3378. Printed on recycled paper.

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Contributors 1

Chief Executive’s welcome 2

Sunset Party in the Park BOOK NOW! 3

Coatis on the move 4

Curious coatis children’s maze 6

Ralph’s new wetsuit 8

A look back at 2012 10

Goodbye Hannu 14

Photographer of the 15 year competition

Flock this way 16

Bird children’s activities 18

Home comforts 20

Penguin health check 22

Go! Rhinos - Southampton 2013 24

Hoofstock nutrition 26

Adopt today 28

Improving the odds 30

In Profile 32

What’s on 2013 34

Annual membership update 36

2013 calendar 38

Gordon CampbellCurator of Birds and Lower Vertebrates Gordon is responsible for overseeing the teams which look after the zoo’s many reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and birds, as well as the Plants and Landscape team. During Gordon’s 34 years at Marwell he has helped develop many new exhibits, including the new aviary for 2013. He also sits on the BIAZA (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) bird working group committee.

Jackie MoodyAnimal Nutrition AdvisorJackie is responsible for reviewing the diets of all species at Marwell Zoo and for providing sound nutritional advice. Working within the veterinary team, she aims to ensure that the provision of suitable diets is one of the main forms of preventative health care for our animals. Current areas of review include our hoofstock species and some of our primates.

Dr. Zeke DavidsonField BiologistZeke is responsible for taking Marwell Wildlife’s conservation actions into the field. Living in Kenya, Zeke can be found fitting radio collars to Grevy’s zebra, surveying wildlife in light aircraft or implementing camera trapping surveys with night vision cameras.

Hello and welcome to our first online edition of Marwell News

This new, enhanced publication not only includes a wealth of extra content through website and video links, but also enables us to reinvest the money we would otherwise have spent on print and postage into funding both our conservation work and the care of our animals in the zoo. This new format also gives you instant access to special offers and events, like our Sunset Party in the Park, all at the click of a button.

2013 is sure to be an exciting year. Our new walkthrough aviary opened this Easter, as the first stage of our Fur, Feathers & Scales exhibit. This immersive experience will provide an excellent, all year round home for some of our existing birds and some new ones too. Find out which of our feathered friends have moved in on page 16 and how we’re considering their nesting needs in the exhibit’s design on page 20. Fur, Feathers & Scales will also include a new home for our ring-tailed coatis (planned to open for the summer holidays.

If you go shopping in Southampton this summer you may spot something a little unexpected. For 10 weeks (13 July – 22 September), large colourful rhino sculptures will inhabit the city’s streets and parks, showcasing local artists and highlighting the significant conservation threat facing wild rhinos. Turn to page 24 to find out more about our Go! Rhinos event and some key dates for your diary.

Whilst many of the threats to the rhino’s survival are caused by humans, there are also plenty of hidden threats to wildlife, including the spread of infectious diseases. You can find out more about how we’re tackling this issue on page 30.

As ever, thank you for your continued support. We look forward to welcoming you to the zoo very soon.

James CretneyChief Executive

Look out for these hot links to events, videos & more information!

Meeting one of our rhino sculptures, part of this summer’s Go! Rhinos extravaganza

Operated by Marwell Wildlife, reg. charity no. 275433.

Don’t miss incredible street theatre acts such as fire performers and the eternally curious Mr & Mrs Pigeon!

PLUS Bouncing Kangaroo stilt walkers, Samba Band, Bouncy Castle & Pirate Ship!

Annualmembers discount

Book online nowBook before 7 May!

Openingsummer

2013

This summer the ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua) will be moving into a new home as part of our Fur, Feathers & Scale exhibit.

With three outdoor ‘pods’, which are approximately double the size of their existing home, there will be plenty of outside space for the coatis to explore and a new house providing warmth too. The improvements will also create a more immersive and enjoyable experience for our guests.

Coatis are very social animals. They live in groups (known as bands) of up to 25 females with their young. Males usually leave the group once they reach sexual maturity (around three years old). We hope to introduce a new breeding male to our coati band of four sisters soon.

There are four different species of coati: ring-tailed, mountain, white-nosed and Cozumel Island. All can be found living in a wide range of habitats throughout the American continent. The ring-tailed coati lives in forested areas of South America including jungles and rainforests. They like to spend a lot of time in the safety of trees so the new home will include lots of branches and climbing features so they can get up high.

The coati is an omnivorous animal, meaning that it eats both plants and animals. A typical diet includes: fruits, nuts and seeds, along with insects, bird’s eggs, rodents and small reptiles such as lizards and snakes.

Coatis can turn their ankles through 180° to enable them to go down trees head first.

Our coatis are looking for their new home, can you help mum and her baby find it?

For your chance to win a special coati adoption, complete the maze, fill in your details & hand it in at the membership cabin when you next visit or post it to:‘Coati Maze’ Adoptions Team, Marwell Zoo, Colden Common, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 1JH

PARENT TIP: Mazes provide a

fun way for children to practice their fine

motor skills

Name......................................................................... Age..................... Daytime contact number................................................

Annual membership number..................................... Email.................................................................................................................

Rules: Coati maze apdoption prize draw is open to children 12 years & under. One correct entry will be drawn. One entry per person. Closing date is 30 June 2013. Post entries at the Membership Cabin or send to ‘Coati maze draw’, Adoptions Team, Marwell Wildlife, Colden Common, Winchester SO21 1JH. The judge’s decision is final, no correspondence will be entered into. The winner’s parent/guardian will be contacted by phone by 14 July 2013. Data is necessary to process winning entry. Competition entries may be displayed in Marwell Wildlife marketing materials. Photocopies and print outs accepted.

© So

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Da

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Humboldt penguins are named after the cold current of water running from the Antarctic to the equator along the west coast of South America (itself named after the German naturalist Friedrich Humboldt).

International star Ralph, the penguin, has been given a trendy new wetsuit thanks to Californian surf brand O’Neill.

The 14-year-old Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) is now wearing a custom made wetsuit after his previous one had seen better days.

During his annual moult, Ralph loses his feathers quicker than other penguins leaving him exposed to the elements. For the past five years Ralph has had a wetsuit to protect him from the sun and keep him warm on colder evenings.

However, with all Ralph’s swimming and grooming, his last wetsuit had become tatty so we ran an appeal to find him a new one. The team at O’Neill heard about Ralph’s plight and offered to make him a special custom made wetsuit that was the perfect fit.

Aside from wearing a wetsuit, Ralph swims, eats and plays just like the other penguins. The rubber in the wetsuit, which is the same as a human’s wetsuit, is extremely flexible and doesn’t restrict his movement. His partner Coral even grooms his wetsuit just as she would his feathers!

2012 was a big year for Marwell Zoo with the opening of our revamped Penguin Cove, the births of endangered species and, of course, our 40th anniversary!

Here we take a look at some of the key events over the past year...

Guests were treated to a special experience in February when they witnessed the birth of Ruby the giraffe.

Ruby is a pure Rothschild’s giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi) and is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The youngster was named after the precious stone to celebrate the zoo’s 40th anniversary.

Ruby was one of three giraffe births in the zoo last year. August saw the arrival of another female calf, Olympia, who was named in honour of last summer’s Olympic and Paralympic games. A male calf, Dabaku, was born in October. However, the youngster, sadly, had to be euthanased due to an infection affecting the joints of his legs.

In a battle to save Partula snails (Partula sp.) which are extinct in the wild, Marwell took on another four species - increasing our breeding programme to include eight species of the snail.

More than 800 snails are currently on view in the zoo, all of which are either extinct in the wild or critically endangered in their original range of French Polynesia.

Partula snails have been dramatically reduced and some sub-species even wiped out between the mid 1970s and 1990s through the introduction of a carnivorous snail. However, the International Partulid Conservation Programme has plans to re-introduce the snails into the wild from the ex situ breeding programme, so there is hope for the future.

New giraffe calves

In May we were delighted to announce the arrival of four critically endangered Egyptian tortoises (Testudo kleinmanni).

The first youngster to hatch weighed just 3.9g and measured the same height as a 20p piece! New hatchlings may be small but this species can go on to live for up to 50 years.

Marwell currently has 10 adults in Cold Blooded Corner. A full size adult can grow to around 15 centimetres long and weigh 500 grams.Miniature delight

Growth in our snail colony

On Tuesday 22 May, we celebrated our 40th birthday with the opening of our revamped penguin enclosure and the unveiling of a giant commemorative mosaic.

Hampshire-born TV personality Dan Lobb opened Penguin Cove which had undergone a £250,000 makeover. Other celebrations included Marwell’s very first Party in the Park in June, giving guests the opportunity to visit the park after hours. As well as a range of animal talks and feeds, guests could enjoy various street entertainment acts including stilt-walking kangaroos and African drumming.

We said a sad goodbye to several larger than life characters over the past year: Yenna, our ageing female Amur tiger, in September; Gamin, our male Amur tiger, in November, and Hannu,our old white rhino male in January. All three had severe arthritis, a common condition in older mammals so the difficult decision was taken to euthanase them on welfare grounds. It’s certain that all three of these wonderful animals will be greatly missed but both our keepers and guests will have many fond memories to cherish.

Our pygmy hippos, Nato and Wendy, became romantically entwined after keepers introduced them for the first time in December.

Male Nato joined us from Bristol Zoo at the end of 2012 on a temporary basis as part of the EEP with the hope that he and Wendy would breed a calf. Pygmy hippos (Choeropsis liberiensis) are classified as Endangered. Ongoing deforestation in their natural habitat, combined with civil unrest, present significant threats to the population.

It was time for Bela, our visiting Amur tiger, to be introduced to her new home at Blair Drummond Safari Park in October. This made way for our new permanent resident Milla.

Although a little shy to begin with, 3-year-old Milla has now settled in to her new home. Her arrival was organised as part of the European Endangered species Programme (EEP) and the plan is that she will be joined by a new male tiger within the next 12-18 months..

Celebrating 40 Big cat arrivals

Hope for a pygmy

hippo calf

Fond memories

In October Marwell Wildlife received the prestigious Investors in People (IiP) Silver Award. We are the only zoo in the UK to have gained the silver accolade and join a select group of only 2% of organisations in the South of England.

Investors in People is the UK’s leading people management standard. It specialises in transforming business performance through people. Over a third of the UK’s workforce uses Investors in People today.

in December our snow leopard cubs left Marwell Wildlife to start families of their own.

Kadhir and Kamala moved to two separate collections in Italy as part of the EEP. Now they have departed, their parents Indeever and Irina have been mixed so we are crossing our fingers that we’ll be welcoming some new cubs this summer!

Snow leopards (Panthera uncia) are threatened in the wild, so it is important to maintain a healthy captive population for the species’ conservation strategy.

In the spring of 2012 we celebrated the birth of critically endangered Alaotran gentle lemur twins (Hapalemur alaotrensis).

Marwell has a long track record of breeding gentle lemurs, but a female successfully raising twins was a first for the zoo. The youngsters were born to Mum Lelafo and Dad Lova, as part of the EEP.

Marwell continues with its successful scimitar-horned oryx (Oryx dammah) breeding programme after eight new births last year.

There used to be over a million scimitar-horned oryx across North Africa, with vast herds of tens of thousands during the annual migrations. However, the species became extinct in the wild during the late 1980s or early 1990s. Marwell continues to work closely with the scimitar-horned oryx both in the zoo and in Tunisia, where the species has been re-introduced.

Moving on

Celebrating silverOryx calves

Double delight

Sadly, this January, Hannu, our male white rhino, had to be euthanised on welfare grounds after developing severe arthritis.

Hannu is fondly remembered by his keepers. He liked nothing better than to go out into the paddock on hot summer days with his girls and enjoy the sunshine, have a wallow, and rearrange the logs and fence line.

Hannu was born on 23rd November 1983 at Knowsley Safari Park and arrived at Marwell in 1997. He fathered two male calves with Sula, who currently lives at the zoo with companion Kiri.

Hannu (left) © Terry Fryer

puffin guidebook

Win fantastic prizes!

Categories:Marwell Zoo residents

Marwell Zoo endangered

Cute & Funny nature at its most amusing

Native wildlife flora & fauna from the British Isles

At the time of writing, we are busy monitoring the birds in our new walkthrough aviary. This aviary is larger than any other in the park by a considerable margin. One of its greatest assets is its spacious house, which not only keeps the birds safe, dry and warm through the winter months, but will also enable us to manage the birds, with a very large outside space, which is very important.

Many of the aviary residents were already at Marwell and they will be joined by a selection of birds from other UK collections who will be screened and health checked before travel. These birds will then be quarantined prior to moving in.

It’s key that our birds understand where warmth and food are to be found so they’ll initially spend a few days in the bird rooms of the new aviary house before venturing outside.

They can also check out their fellow residents before joining them. Since the outdoor environment is huge, this period is important in helping them to get their bearings.

Birds were introduced to the aviary one species at a time. Larger birds went first e.g waldrapp ibis (Geronticus eremita) and little egret (Egretta garzetta), followed by the hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) and violet turaco (Musophaga violacea). Smaller, more delicate species including the village weavers (Ploceus cucullatus), and spreo starlings (Lamprotornis superbus) will follow later in the summer when the weather will hopefully be warmer, allowing them time to acclimatise.

We may find that managing an exhibit of this scale presents some new and exciting challenges. With such an array of species there will be plenty to consider. The keepers will watch their birds closely and be ready to tweak the feed, roosting and nest sites to suit their needs. Hopefully, all the birds will get along well without negatively impacting on each other. As for me, I’m looking forward to hot summer days when I can grab a few minutes sitting quietly in the sun and watching the bird activity unfolding in front of me.

Gordon Campbell.Curator of Birds and Lower Vertebrates

(downloadable bird spotter guide if available?)

Get even closer to our fantastic range of exotic

birds

Now openwalkthrough

aviary!

Is it a bird?Is it a plane?

print or carefully remove the activity sheet

colour in your bird

cut out your bird with blunt nose scissors

fold the bird along the dotted line, the same as you would when making a paper aeroplane

Around 20% of bird species migrate long

distances every year

The ostrich is the largest bird in the

world. It also lays the largest eggs and has the fastest maximum

running speed (60 mph)

Birds have hollow bones which help

them fly

Some bird species are

very clever in being able to

create & use tools

Scientists believe that

birds evolved from theropod

dinosaursHummingbirds

can fly backwards

The design for aeroplanes

was inspired by studying birds

in flight

On your next visit... Try to match each

bird to its nest

Birds primarily build nests to lay and incubate their eggs and raise young. They can range from large, complex structures which form part of the courtship display, to simple shallow depressions, known as scrapes, which are dug out in sand or vegetation.

Our new walkthrough aviary houses bird species with a range of needs, including varying nest building styles, methods and techniques. The new home will allow the birds to build their nests at different heights according to these different nesting habits. Here is an overview of how we’ll achieve this:

Waldrapp ibis (Geronticus eremita) nest on cliff ledges; we will provide large open fronted nest boxes. (Middle right image)

Little egret (Egretta garzetta) usually nest on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. Our egrets will have a good choice of both.

Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) Many of you will have seen their huge nest in the aviary in Yew Tree Walk. As with the egrets, hamerkops have a good range of living and dead trees of various sizes and locations to choose from in the new aviary. They are reported to prefer areas over water so trees have been sited close to the pool to encourage them to do this.

Village weaver bird (Ploceus cucullatus) also often build their hanging nests over water and sometimes attached to the underside of a hamerkop nest. How good would it be if they chose to do that here? (Left image)

Von der Decken’s hornbill (Tockus deckeni) build nests in holes in tree trunks with the male mudding up the entrance and initially feeding his female and chicks through the hole. We will provide suitable boxes in various locations to simulate wild nest holes. (Top right)

Madagascan teal (Anas bernieri) also nest in tree cavities. We will provide nest boxes suited to their needs at various heights and locations. The teal have shown in their existing aviary that they will also choose long grass to burrow down into, so this has been included within the landscape plan.

Violet turaco (Musophaga violacea) use a tree platform nest so we’ll offer a good supply of small sticks and a wide choice of trees and shrubs with varying heights.

Crowned plover (Vanellus coronatus) and avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) nest in shallow depressions in the soil with a lining of vegetation and other debris. We will offer potential sites on the beach adjacent to the pool, under the surrounding trees. (Bottom right image)

Superb or Spreo starling (Lamprotornis superbus) often go for holes in trees. Hopefully, they will use the small nest boxes we’ll provide. They may even find a hollow in one of the trees.

As birds don’t read books telling them where to nest, it will be interesting to observe their choices!

Gordon Campbell Curator of Birds and Lower Vertebrates

The smallest bird nest is just 2cm across and built by hummingbirds

© Chris Boulton

Humboldt penguins can drink sea &

fresh water. A special gland

concentrates excess salt which then

trickles down the bill.

Our 32 Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) have been given a clean bill of health after receiving their annual health check.

It took Marwell’s veterinary team and animal keepers more than 3 hours to assess every bird in the colony. The results were positive with all the penguins proving to be in excellent condition.

Each bird was weighed and their overall wellbeing was monitored by checking feet, beaks and eyes, as well as replacing their identity bands and checking their microchip numbers.

This health check takes place every year once our penguins have moulted and before they begin to nest in their tunnels.

Last year, Penguin Cove was given a £250,000 makeover. The new filtration, vacuum and skimmer systems are more effective at removing debris, making the penguins’ water both cleaner and clearer. The improvements have also created a more immersive and enjoyable experience for guests.

Charging into SouthamptonSummer 2013…

Charrrrrrrge! 13 July - 22 SeptemberDownload the free trail map or pick up one of the souvenir guides from your local newsagent or Marwell Zoo and follow the crash around the city! It’s the perfect, fun day out for the whole family. There’ll be workshops and activities running alongside at various times too.

From 13 July to 22 September a herd of awesome rhino sculptures, decorated by artists, community groups and schools, will charge through the streets and parks of Southampton in an explosion of colour and creativity.

We kicked Go! Rhinos off in autumn last year and it’s really building momentum.

At the time of going to press we have 30 rhino sponsors on board and more than 60 schools spread across 5 counties joining our Go! Rhinos education programme.

Some of the biggest names in Southampton have joined our charge including The Mayflower Theatre; Skandia; Ordnance Survey; Coffin Mew; Radcliffe & Co; WestQuay and The Marlands Centre.

This event promises to be great fun for everyone so be sure to note the following key dates in your diary:

Rhinotastic Sculpture Event 10 – 14 OctoberDon’t miss the opportunity to see the whole painted herd on display at Marwell Zoo before they’re auctioned off to raise valuable funds for Marwell Wildlife; Wessex Heartbeat’s High 5 Appeal & The Rose Road Association.

Sculptures come to life April - MayHead to our public painting space in The Marlands Shopping Centre to see the artists breathing life into our sculptures.

26

From 23 to 25 January 2013, Marwell hosted a “Hoofstock Nutrition Training Seminar,” attended by over 50 zookeepers, students, curators, animal nutritionists and speakers from the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

This event was a follow up to the “Back to Basics” Nutrition Training Seminar held here in July 2010 and was to be the first in hopefully a series of training events looking at the nutrition of different taxonomic, captive groups. Marwell has a relatively large hoofstock collection and, combined with the fact that we have been doing a great deal of work on our hoofstock diets over the past year or so, it seemed fitting to focus on this group of species in the first specialist seminar.

The seminar covered a range of topic areas relating to the proper feeding and dietary management of a variety of hoofstock species. Sessions included looking at appropriate forage quality and provision – the most important part of any captive hoofstock diet.

The provision of browse was discussed; especially during the winter months when captive collections struggle to provide significant quantities of browse material for their animals.

A presentation was given regarding nutrition related health disorders in ruminants and we also heard about the importance of mineral and vitamin supplementation in hoofstock diets.

The final session looked at the body condition scoring of hoofstock species – a method used to assess the amount of fat covering which an animal has. A theory session was followed by a practical at the giraffe house, where delegates had the opportunity to body score some of our giraffe.

The seminar proved to be very successful and received lots of positive feedback. We hope the delegates found the information useful, and may even be able to apply some of their knowledge to help improving the diets of their own animals. Hopefully, this will mark the start of many more future training seminars of this type.

Jackie Moody, Nutritionist

What do they eat?Hoofstock need to eat forage.So the browsers (giraffe, kudu, bongo, okapi) typically eat browse (leaves, shoots, twigs, stems) whilst the grazers (rhinos, oryx, buffalo) typically eat grass.

At Marwell we also provide the browsers with lucerne, a common forage for cattle, which is most often harvested as hay. For the grazers we also provide hay in addition to the grass in their paddock.

These diets are all supplemented with concentrate rations which are designed to make up any shortfall in vitamins and minerals not available in the forage.

Milla © Jason Brown

Adoption Certificate

Recognition at your adopted animal’s enclosure

1 FREE adult ticket

Photo + animal fact sheet

Subscription to Marwell News

Car sticker

Online Adopters Zone

Adoption Certificate

Recognition at your adopted animal’s enclosure

1 FREE child ticket

Photo + animal fact sheet

Car sticker

Online Adopters Zone

An animal adoption makes a unique and alternative gift, whatever the occasion!Buy online, email us at adoptions@marwell.org.uk or call 01962 777988, Monday to Friday.

Adoption scheme for everyone

Children’s adoption scheme

One of the hidden threats to the survival of small populations of endangered species, particularly in remote areas like northern Kenya, is infectious disease. Relatively little is known about diseases affecting wild equids. For example, an anthrax outbreak in 2006 killed over 100 Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) - about 5% of the remaining population - in Samburuland.

Over 600 animals were inoculated in an attempt to cordon off the diseased area and halt its spread. Even so, there was a delay in diagnosing the problem as samples collected in the field had to be transported hundreds of kilometres south to Nairobi for analysis and diagnosis in the laboratories of the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

A delay of several days can mean the difference between a catastrophic loss and a manageable outcome. In 2006 we were very fortunate and the population has not experienced any long term damage. There are many factors that can impede a rapid and successful response. Something as simple as having a reliable cold chain in place, the ability to keep samples at low temperatures from their collection point to the point of analysis, or having an adequately equipped field based sampling team in place. Marwell has begun to change the odds in this equation.

Together with partners in the Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee, we have devised an early detection strategy, put a disease response committee in place and defined protocols for the detection, treatment and prevention of the most common diseases wild Grevy’s might encounter. An important part of this plan has been the development of a field laboratory and team who are available on a full time basis to react to reports of diseased, injured or deceased animals.

The laboratory is based at our research camp on Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, where KWS has a full time regional veterinarian stationed. Equipped with a wet bench, -30˚C freezer, standard fridge, centrifuge, microscope and well supplied with materials for the preparation of slides and preservation of samples.

The laboratory’s development is ongoing and we are still adding much needed equipment to the facility. We hope to have a full time technician stationed at the lab this year, to assist with sample processing, storage and record keeping.

Dr Zeke Davidson, Marwell Field Biologist

Katherine Worsley-Tonks (left) BSc student in zoology at Cardiff University and Meghan Scott (right) student at the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, hard at work in our laboratory.

The laboratory has already been used by several MSc and

PhD students to begin investigating parasite loads and tick-borne diseases

in Grevy’s zebra.

Grevy’s zebra can survive without water for 5 days.

Head of Plants and Landscape, Lance Ingram, talks about his unique role at

Marwell

What appealed to you about working at Marwell?Marwell is a unique place for horticulturalists to work - as it involves plants, people and a range of animal species. It’s rare that you get to work with all three elements. It’s great to know my work is for a charity and is not only enriching the lives of the animals but also the guests who visit the zoo.

What are your responsibilities?As Head of Plants and Landscape my responsibility is to ensure the grounds are well managed and maintained for guests visiting the zoo as well as the animals and staff.There are eight staff in the Plants and Landscape team as well as four regular volunteers and we collectively look after 140 acres of ground and more than 1500 trees. In addition, I work with horticultural students from Sparsholt College, Community Payback workers and sometimes become involved in co-ordinating groups of volunteers from local businesses and organisations.Our work can be as varied as blowing leaves off pathways to creating a natural habitat for the animals.

Is there such a thing as a typical day?There is never a typical day at Marwell! We have a broad outline for the day. In the morning the first thing we do is to check around the park for leaf blowing, snow, ice clearing and grass cutting depending on the season and we deal with it accordingly. For example, if we’ve had terrible weather the night before, trees may have been compromised. We then carry out any project work or maintenance work after routine works and checks are done. I spend some of my time based in the office dealing with budgets, landscape

planning and maintenance of new and existing enclosures, appraisals, ordering of stock, staff development and numerous other tasks.

What have been the highlights of your career so far at Marwell?Developing and creating new exhibits is always rewarding and working with different teams of people is great. The new gibbon enclosure (which opened in 1997) was certainly a highlight. It was a complete transformation of the area and with the intention of making it better for the animals, guests and staff. To have HRH The Princess Royal open the exhibit was an honour too.Other highlights have been re-opening the formal gardens and landscaping the African Valley. The best feeling comes from the whole team working together to make sure the zoo look its best.

What are the challenges of working at Marwell?The biggest challenge is the changing seasons, especially when we experience extremes of weather. For example, we may have a drought one year and a period of flooding another, or a period of extreme cold followed by 20 degree temperature lift literally a week after!

What projects have you got coming up at Marwell?The new walkthrough aviary is our first project for 2013 and we have been planning the work for some months. This new, naturalistic landscape will not only see the relocation of certain plants from within the zoo but also the addition of a few new ones. We will also be recycling materials to create new benches, fencing, compost and planters.

Click on the headings

for more info!

Members talk9 MayDavid Prynn will be focusing on his research on Amur Tigers. His recently revised book Amur Tiger will be available to purchase with all proceeds going to Marwell Wildlife.

Go! Rhinos sculpture farewell event 10 – 14 October‘Rhinotastic’ event at Marwell Zoo

Halloween Festival27 October – 4 NovemberPrepare to be spooked… Meet a snake, enjoy a trip on our ghoulish ghost train or design a pumpkin for carving!

Marwell 10k & fun run12 MayEnter now and take part in our biggest challenge event of the year to help us raise funds for wildlife conservation and the care of our animals in the zoo.

Christmas at Marwell23 November – 24 December Be enchanted…Let us take you on a magical journey to meet Santa, Mrs Claus and their attentive elves!

Wedding Fayre 4 November 10.30am – 3.30pm Experience Marwell Hall first-hand and meet our friendly functions team and local wedding suppliers. For more information call 01962 777966.

Sunset Party in the Park 7 & 21 June Party in the park after hours and prepare yourself for a wild night to remember!

Summer Half Term 25 May – 2 June Calling all little explorers! Meet our plants team and find out some fascinating flora facts: learn how hydroponics help plants grow even without soil, and how some plants move when touched.

Thank you for being an annual member. Your support makes a valuable contribution to both our conservation work and the care of our animals in the zoo.If you require more information, please drop into the membership cabin next time you are in the zoo, call the team on 01962 777960 or email membership@marwell.org.uk

Velvet bus updateThe Velvet bus service is back until the 1st September, running every weekend and Bank Holiday.

Monthly emailIf you’re not already receiving our monthly email about what is going on at Marwell then be sure to register now or give us your email address at the membership cabin.

Access to other zoosOne of the many benefits of Marwell membership is our reciprocal arrangement with other UK zoos.You are welcome to visit the following once a year subject to their terms and conditions:Bristol, Chester, Colchester, Edinburgh, Highland Wildlife Park, Paignton (inc. Living Coasts), Newquay, Rotterdam & Twycross.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this edition of Marwell News online. We’re pleased to share that we will continue to print a small number of paper copies which you are welcome to pick up from the membership cabin when you next visit.If you’d like to access the online version, please email us at membership@marwell.org.uk

Keeper experienceWe’re currently offering our annual members a 20% discount on our new Keeper experience!For more information and to book please call our Adoptions team on 01962 777988

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Owned and operated by Marwell Willdlife, registered charity no. 275433.

Oryx club