We are very excited and proud to announce that our European brown bear cub has made his public debut; he is the first bear cub ever to be born at the park.  Named after the Norse god, Loki (meaning mischief), was born on 14^th December last year and ventured outside with mum Nellie for the very first time on Friday.  He was one of two cubs born, but sadly his sister died a few days after birth.

Loki is now beginning to find his feet and is exploring is new enclosure under the watchful eye of mum.  He has already got stuck up a tree, been in the splash pool and fell off the platform!  He is a delight to watch and has been running about keeping our visitors entertained. 
Now a proven male, Bull, has gone on breeding loan to Belgium Wildlife Park.  It is not possible to keep Bull and Loki together as European brown bears are solitary in the wild and will commit infanticide (the killing of offspring of the same species).
 

Brown bears are classified as least concern by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; however, this is in reference to the global species, not to the European brown bear subspecies specifically.  The European subspecies is endangered in the wild, making the arrival of our new cub even more exciting in terms of our contribution to the conservation of the species.

Spring is always a joyful time at the park, the winter blues are behind us and the new influx of animals being born always puts a smile on everyone’s face. The Pets Farm section, having the largest variety of animals, has enjoyed many interesting births including: wallabies, marmosets, meerkats, Somali lambs and an adorable donkey.  Other new additions include a baby lechwe and Angus our Southern white rhino calf.

Also in our baby boom we are thrilled to announce the birth of Libby, she is a beautiful lion cub born here at the park in the winter to Teekay (mum) and Dudley (dad). Libby is now fully integrated with the rest of the pride and is out in the reserves having fun and delighting our visitors.

We have recently completed a new outdoor enclosure which adjoins our chimp house; making it one of the best chimp facilities in Europe. In addition, we have overseen the move and successful integration of two new unrelated female chimps into our group. Copper and Tupalo are now fully mixed with the rest of our resident chimps and are enjoying their new habitat out on chimp island.

More exciting new arrivals and exhibits around the park include 3 alpaca, 2 dwarf mongooses, a red-legged seriema, a giant spurred tortoise, 3 red river hogs and a colony of Madagascan hissing cockroaches.

You have the chance to take part in a traditional school sports day as part of our Jubilee celebrations.  Events will be running from 12noon to 4pm on Sunday 3^rd June.  We have everything from egg and spoon races to three legged races to our very own obstacle course so come on down and take part.  Check our website and facebook page for up to date details.

As well as supporting ex-situ conservation efforts in conjunction with the European Association of Zoo’s and Aquaria (full membership was granted to Blair Drummond Safari Park last year), we are continuing to develop our own in-situ conservation projects. We are pleased to be working with Save Scotland’s Red Squirrels; protecting and increasing the range of our current population. That’s not all; most recently we have been developing our very own “Ugly Bug Ball” event which will take place this summer in conjunction with National Insect week (30^th June).



We will be looking closely at biodiversity on the estate, doing a bio-blitz on the area and hopefully finding some rare species. All data collected will be sent for scientific analysis and shared throughout the United Kingdom on a national database.  We would like to raise awareness for some of our native creepy crawlies including bumblebees, beetles and moths; which tend to be all too easily forgotten. In fact, many of our native species populations are suffering. So why not pop along and see what you can do to help keep our native bugs and beasties happy in our own gardens!

A fantastic opportunity to hire a traditional Nomadic yurt at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park!  Why not test one out?  Have a Yurt birthday party with a visit from one of our mascots! Details of booking prices for birthday parties, corporate functions and much more, as well as availability, can be found on our website. Our Yurts are regularly used during our education sessions here at the park, with programs suitable for all age ranges available for booking now.  Check out our education section of our website for details of how you can arrange an educational workshop today!