Captain's Log 

Dogs, Pandas And Monkeys

I was soaked in sweat even before I reached the entrance. There was a difficult moment when the Greeter couldn’t scan my ticket, but I flashed my Annual Pass at him and he let me through whilst doffing his cap. I recommend downloading the Yorkshire Wildlife Park app. It has a plan of the site and indicates your location. It also lets you know of the times of anything special coming up, like talks and feeding time. You can even set up reminders for anything you want to see.  Don't spend all your time at the park looking at your phone though.

I think the Sea Lions have the best compound in the park. The water looked so good and inviting that I almost felt like jumping into their large pool myself. Given the amount of salt I saw them pouring into the water though on my last visit, that probably wouldn't have been a good idea. The Bush Dogs were absent on my last visit and I was delighted to find that there were lots of them in their compound today. They were cute little dogs, but had rather large claws on their feet. An information board said that they were from South America. They hunt in packs and can bring down larger prey such as rhea and peccaries which is quite remarkable given their size. I happened to arrive at feeding time and the keeper was giving them bird carcasses. Those cuddly, furry dogs didn’t seem that friendly as they squabbled over the portions of flesh. They are definitely not house pets.

The Red Panda had been asleep at the top of a tree on my last visit. Today it was conveniently sitting on a wooden platform and eating vegetation. They are another cute little bear that probably isn’t so cute if you had to handle it. 

Most of the Gelada monkeys had taken refuge in a cave out of the heat. They are impressive looking beasts. One of them was asleep at the entrance of the cave with its feet up on nearby rocks. It seemed an odd way to rest. The Roloway monkeys were more active in their compound. They are fine looking monkeys with a lovely ruby stripe running along their backs. They also have a white beard and collar that contrasts with their black face. It had been a good start to the tour of the park. Now for Project Polar. I wondered how the Polar Bears were getting along in this heat. 

Polar Bears, Lemurs And Wallabies

Not surprisingly, the first one I came across was asleep in the shade of one of their caves. I moved on to one of the pools and found one swimming and eating some food. A seagull had dragged what looked like the remains of a fish onto the grass and was working out how he was going to eat it. A nearby crow was taking some interest in the acquisition too.  Half a dozen seagulls were having a rest on one of the small islands when one of the larger Polar Bears swam underwater towards them with its head suddenly emerging out of the water right next to them. They all nearly jumped out of their feathers. The Polar Bear didn’t manage to catch any though.

I entered the Wallabies enclosure. A keeper was using a rake to collect up their droppings. It must be an unending task since exactly the same thing was happening, the last time I was here. I went in search of the ‘baby’ Wallaby that I’d spotted last time. It was over at one of the feeding troughs with its mother. It didn’t look much of a baby anymore and had grown significantly in the last three weeks. There were quite a few Wallabies in the compound and only this one baby. Google says that it is difficult to breed them in the UK. 

Lions, Rhinos, Giraffes And Tigers

Maybe the Lions had eaten their cub, since it wasn’t with them as the two females and a male lounged in the shade on a mound in their compound. It was feeding time and a keeper called to them from the edge of the compound as if she was calling in a domestic cat for the night. They feigned some reluctance to be called in like this, but eventually all 3 of them trotted over to the keeper for some food. 

I thought that the Rhinos were hiding again when I reached their large compound, but then I saw two of them at the far side. It= stuck around for a few minutes and eventually both of them came across to near where I was positioned. They truly are an amazing sight. It really did feel like I had stepped back into the Jurassic period. These were black Rhinos and are slightly smaller than the white ones. Rhinoceros means ‘nose horn’ from the Greek words rhino (‘nose’) and ceros (‘horn’). Given their immense bulk, it is surprising that they can run up to 40 mph. 

‘You just missed a great shot.’ A fellow with a camera and long lens greeted me with this as I approached the Tiger enclosure. He replayed a video on his camera of the Tiger dipping into the nearby pool. I had to admit, it was a pretty amazing sequence and I congratulated him. I worked my way around to the waterfall and waited. I saw the  Amur Tiger pacing around at the far end of the compound and figured it would come over to the waterfall at some point. Sure enough, it eventually did. It then stepped into the pool at the top of the waterfall and laid down in the water. It perused all the people on the viewing platform to see which one looked tastiest. What an incredible beast!  It stayed in the pool for 5 minutes and then decided it would go for a stroll and headed down to the edge of the compound. A seagull had the fright of its life as it found the Tiger leaping towards it. The bird just managed to escape. 

I escaped from the park too. After 3 hours wandering its compounds, I was also in need of cooling down. I’d really enjoyed my second tour of the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I’d seen the remarkable Rhinos, caught up with the no-so baby wallaby and revered the Amur Tiger cooling off in a pool. I’d not got to see the Anteater and the Hyenas yet; they would have to wait for another day. 

Dinosaurs

In fact it was Jurassic Park! Well, a version of it. As you walk through the entrance, the first thing you see is an area patrolled by animatronic dinosaurs, rather than real live animals. I wasn’t really sure what to make of it, but decided to have a wander about the dinosaur trail, rather than head directly to the real animals. The noises I could hear from outside the entrance gates were actually some sounds produced by speakers near the dinosaurs. I thought the animatronics were okay. Admittedly, I didn’t get any Velociraptors chasing me. The animation was more of the jaw opening and shutting, or the tail swaying, variety. I thought it was really good at giving you an impression of the relative sizes of these beasts. The Velociraptors were actually a bit smaller than I expected, although I still wouldn’t like to meet one in a dark alley. Apparently, the Velociraptors modern day animal link is the Painted Dog, a couple of which I’d see later on. One of the dinosaurs was a deadringer for the Alien. There were plenty of information boards that gave useful and interesting information about each dinosaur. In fact the excellent information boards were a feature of the park as a whole. It had been an interesting start to my day in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, although not quite what I’d been expecting. 

Roloway Monkeys

The first compounds I walked by weren’t occupied by animals and I wondered whether they were sleeping in. I crossed over a bridge and headed towards Tiger Land. From a high level platform, I could look down into Tiger Land which had a spectacular waterfall as its centrepiece. All that was missing was a Tiger. I waited a few minutes, but none appeared. I decided to come back later in the day and moved along the raised platform to the Roloway monkeys. There were quite a few of these in the trees and they all had tremendous white goatee beards. A couple of them were fighting in the tree at the centre of the compound. All the information boards in the park gave an indication of the conservation status and the Roloways were down as critical. Their normal habitat was Africa and these were the only ones in the UK. and formed part of a European breeding programme. 

Polar Bears

I moved on to Project Polar. I did wonder about the wisdom of having Polar Bears in Yorkshire. Especially since today must have been bordering on 25 degrees C. An information board assured me that many Polar Bears do not live on ice all year round. These particular ones had a 10 acre site to patrol with some lakes for them to have a swim. I have to say that out of all the animals I came across in the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, these were the most jaw dropping. It was just the sheer size and muscle of these hefty beasts. Even though I was safely above them on an elevated platform, I got the impression that they could easily force their way out of the compound if they so desired. Especially since one of them had the spectacular habit of raising himself on to his back legs to get a better view of the public and a potential meal. There were platoons of young school kids along the viewing platform and they actually seemed more comfortable than me in the presence of these predators. I’m sure one of the school kids would have made a tasty snack for one of the bears. They were so awesome, I decided to make my way back there later in the day for a second viewing. 

Lemurs And Painted Dogs

Quite a few of the compounds in the park are double gated and you can walk inside to meet the animals. One of these was the Lemur’s compound. I tagged along to another school kid platoon and walked around the trail through the trees. There were no Lemurs in the trees and I eventually I found them all hanging out near their shed, presumably for a quick escape if required. They are definitely of the ‘C’ variety (cute). They come from Madagascar and are evidently sociable primates, although having said that, they declined to chew the fat with the school kids.     

I escaped the Lemur compound and headed across to the Painted Dogs. One of them was laid in a cave and the other on a hill. They didn’t resemble Velociraptors to me (see above Dinasour section regarding their ancestry); they looked more like German Shepherds. Painted Dogs are the largest wild canine in Africa. They are persistence hunters, but are below lions and hyenas in the predator hierarchy and so will lose prey to them, or even become prey themselves. . 

Baboons And Lions

A female Baboon was getting some very close attention from a couple of males in the Baboon compound. It must have been a bit tiresome for her to be pursued continually from one end of the compound to the other. A couple of others watched the performance from a distance, occasionally picking up some food to eat.     

I’d made a mental note that the Lions would be fed at 14:30. I’d arrived far too early at their enclosure and so decided to forgo the spectacle. They had quite a large compound with a river running through it. I crossed a bridge over the river and noticed that there were plenty of large carp in the water. I wondered whether the lions would actually go into the river and what safety measures were in place to prevent them swimming to freedom. There wasn’t much action going on in the compound itself. A large male was laid under a Willow tree. On the one occasion it did come out to have a look at the viewing public, I was too slow and failed to get a decent photo of it. A female was laid on the ground further up the hill. I waited 10 minutes or so, but the lions seemed more interested in sleeping. Maybe visiting them at feeding time would have been a better idea. 

Leopards And Giraffes

The Leopard’s compound was very impressive. Timber walkways linked the trees together in an adventure playground for the big cats. The compound even had an elevated platform for the public such that we were on the same level as the walkways between the trees. It was superb. Except, of course, that there weren’t any Leopards. Well, not initially anyway. Later on, when I returned to the compound, I did see one far away pacing near to the fence. It looked like it wanted to be in the compound next door. I wondered whether it had ever been tempted to try out those elevated walkways that linked the trees.     

Across the way from the Leopards was the Giraffe's compound. A couple of them mooched around looking down bemused at their viewing public. The keeper had suspended branches full of leaves on high posts. The giraffes would go up them and nibble the leaves. It seems amazing to me that they can grow to such a size on a diet of leaves. 

Australia And South America

Most of the Wallabies were laid out on the ground looking as though the Yorkshire heat was far more tiresome than an Australian one. The ‘ C’ word cropped up again when a baby Wallaby started dancing around the head of its mother, who was laid out on the ground. The dancing got too much for the mother and eventually she had to get up and attend to the youngster. Yes, definitely the ‘C’ word.     

I entered the South America compound. At first, I didn’t think there was anything in it, until I closely inspected one of the trees and found a troop of monkeys hiding in there. They were Titi Monkeys and their hair had a wonderfully red tinge to it. On some nearby grass a couple of Capybara were nibbling away. I could have done with them to mow my lawn back home. There were a dozen or so Patagonian Cavies, although they seemed more interested in laying in the shade, than eating.    

Just outside the South America compound was the enclosure of the Cotton Head Tamarins. These were bizarre looking creatures that could easily be extras in any Star Wars film. They had a black face and a white Mohican haircut. They weren’t in much of an enclosure and I felt that they could have easily escaped if they'd wanted to. They obviously are reluctant to venture far from the shed that serves as their home and a place of protection.

The Giant Otters seemed to be having good fun in their lake. There were about a half dozen of them. After a while they got tired of swimming and congregated in a heap of Otters near the fence, where some of them tried to sleep. One of them was quite active though and insisted on sliding across the backs of the other otters, ensuring everybody kept awake. . 

Land Of The Tigers Part II

I went back to the Land Of The Tigers and was just in time to see an Amur Tiger make its way across the top of the waterfall. It then patrolled the edges of the large compound, coming directly below the viewing platform on which I stood. The colours and markings on the cat were amazing. I felt like it could spring up onto the platform at any moment. I wondered if it had ever tried. It ended the parade by strolling across to the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and lapping up some water. There are only 20 to 30 individuals still left. What a loss it would be if they became extinct. 

Cheetah’s can reach an amazing speed of 70 mph. The one that was laid on the top of the hill in its compound didn’t look in the mood for demonstrating it. It was a lovely looking cat though.

Himalaya, Atlantic Forest And Californian Sea Lions

There were supposed to be some Otters and a Red Panda in the Himalayan compound. I could hear some chirping coming from the long grass surrounding the lake and thought it might be emanating from the Otters. Nothing resembling an Otter came into view though. I eventually had more success with the Red Panda when I saw a fellow pointing his phone camera to one that was hanging in a tree. The Panda was so still, I wondered whether it was deceased. If not, it was sock-on asleep.   

I thought it was feeding time at one of the Sea Lion pools, but it turned out that the keepers were emptying huge bags of salt into the water. I couldn’t believe how much was going in there. I expect the Sea Lions had a bit of a thirst, later on in the day.     

In the Atlantic Forest section of the park a couple of Tapirs were having a swim. They are odd looking creatures. Their nose and upper lip combine to make a flexible snout. They can use it to grab leaves and pick up fruit. Quite handy I suppose. They use the snout as a snorkel as they swim. 

The last compound I visited contained a Maned Wolf. It seemed to have overly long legs to me. It paced around its large enclosure. Given those long legs, I bet it wouldn’t have minded covering a few more miles outside the enclosure.    

It had been an incredible day at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I’d spent 6 hours walking around all the compounds. It found it to be a very professional setup with some good viewing platforms to view the animals. I also made use of the excellent App that you can download to your phone that has an interactive map of the site. The larger cafes were open, although the smaller snack bars were shut. There were plenty of picnic areas though, and so I’d probably bring my own food and drink next time anyway. There will be a next time…especially since I now have an annual pass.