I CAN'T deny it’s nice to have 2020 behind us, although adversity unexpectedly turned into some amazing positives for the zoo: committing to the future with new exhibits and enclosures, and of course our amazingly supportive visitors and volunteers.
Because we only close on Christmas and Boxing Day, it was lovely to have visitors in December but due to Lancashire and Cumbria being put into Tier 4, we are once again (unfortunately) closed for the foreseeable. But it’s not all doom and gloom.
We are gearing up to welcome another new arrival through the gates, into our Africa Drylands exhibit. Our major building project from 2019 into 2020, it contains many fascinating species, from grazing animals to birds, and plains burrowers like the fascinating ‘naked mole rats’.
Now I’m preparing the Drylands paddock for a new arrival, Cora the Kirk’s dik dik. These are small, graceful antelopes which roam the African plains. In attractive shades of tawny, with white bellies, and huge, dark eyes beneath large, ever-alert ears, visitors often comment they look exactly how ‘Bambi’ should.
Once the right habitat was established in the Drylands, we were authorised to introduce Dylan, our male dik dik, from Twycross zoo in 2019.
Now he’s reached sexual maturity, we were matched in the Studbook with Cora, from Edinburgh zoo. Born in May 2019, she has also reached maturity, so we have high hopes for young romance.
It’s a good example of how zoos work together on coordinated breeding programmes, which help safeguard threatened species, and prevent disease by spreading genes throughout captive populations, involving much behind the scenes communication, which visitors often aren’t aware of.
This species isn’t threatened in the wild, but faces plenty of challenges, both man-made and from the often very harsh and testing environment.
Specially adapted to dry, arid plains, their long snout is also an evolved cooling mechanism, while their unique urine tract system means they can also internally recycle their own water.
Another example of clever animal evolution, outstripping our own. I’m reassured that even on the ‘dry, arid plains’ of Milnthorpe (sigh; if only!), you’re never far from water – lockdown or no lockdown.