On Wednesday 1^st September we had a very special delivery; Ruby a female giraffe travelled the long journey up from Banham Zoo, Norfolk. Ruby was born at Banham Zoo two and a half years ago where she was hand reared by Mel Anderson, Head Keeper, after she was rejected by her mother.  

                        

She arrived after the park had closed for the day and was un-loaded from her transport lorry pretty quickly. She seemed slightly apprehensive at first, with all the new sights and sounds, but soon after she was out and exploring her new barn. Her introduction to Sophie went smoothly and the two seemed to hit it off well! The Large Mammal Department are thrilled to have received such a lovely giraffe and they are glad that Sophie has company now too. 

  

On the 7th August, Blair Drummond held their 2nd Falconry Festival. This is the only falconry exclusive event in Scotland at the moment.

We had a number of stalls selling falconry equipment and falconry clubs advertising and attracting new members. We also had an excellent venison stand selling raw venison and cooked venison burgers and sausages, which was enjoyed by all.

The displays were excellent and were very well received by both the general public and experienced falconers. The White Tailed Sea Eagle and Yellow billed kite in particular performed extremely well.

White Tailed Sea Eagle and Yellow Billed Kite

Although it was only a small event it is growing year by year and those who attended had a great day out.   Thank you to everyone who came along and we'll hopefully see you next year.

Blair Drummond Safari Park is home to 6 Humboldt Penguins (Spheniscus humboldti) who live up in Pets Farm; they are going through a bit of rough patch at the moment, as it’s their moulting season.

A penguin’s feathers are highly specialised; their short, broad and shiny feathers closely overlap to waterproof and insulate their body, keeping them warm in the water, as heat loss in water is much greater than in air. Dense feathers also protect the penguin in winds of up to 60 miles per hour.

But every year Humboldt Penguins lose all of their feathers and replace them with new ones as they moult. Moulting seems to be a rather uncomfortable process for the penguins; and they can become rather grumpy.

 

Penguins moult once a year and grow brand new feathers (right).

As the penguins are losing their feathers they will rarely swim, this is because they are not as well insulated from the cold and in the wild it would be easier for a predator to catch them. So these animals fatten up before they start to lose their feathers, they can gain up to 50% of their body weight! During the moult, penguins will eat very little food and will stay out of the water for 2-4 weeks. 

Pirate Weekend turned out to be another swashbuckling success!  All of our staff got into character dressing up in pirate costumes for a fun weekend of piratey antics, yaarrrr!  Customers also joined in and fancy dress competitions had large turn outs with fantastic prizes being won!  The Scottish “summer” weather was very kind and managed to stay dry and warm until closing time on Sunday! 
A huge thank you to all staff and visitors for making it such a great and enjoyable weekend!

   
                            
                    
                           

                                              Arrrrrrr!!!! 

Due to the success of last year’s Pirate Day, the Safari Park is hosting a full blown Pirate Weekend on Saturday 31^st July and Sunday 1^st August. Staff at the park will don their pirate costumes, getting into character, for a fun weekend of piratey antics, yaarrrr! You are invited to join us as thar’ll be fancy dress competitions for fantastic prizes! Along with a host of rascally raffles, balloon tying with Cap’n Cheeko, fun and games. So hopefully the weekend will be another swashbuckling success!

All fund raising activities at the park will go towards the EAZA European Carnivore Campaign in order to help the park reach their grand total of £10,000!!

Just a short and sad note to let you all know that Dickie our Southern white rhino sadly passed away at the start of this month. Dickie died at the old age of 41 after living a long and happy life at the park, since his arrival in 1996. He will be dearly missed by everyone at the park.
          

The Scottish Daily Mail has teamed up with Visit Scotland to celebrate the launch of their Scottish Thistle Awards and is offering you the chance to win a prize by voting for your favourite Scottish family day out.

As the only Safari Park in Scotland, Blair Drummond has been established since 1970.   Since then the park has seen many changes and has seen us become a modern zoological institution helping in conservation and breeding programmes, but also providing an affordable, fun day out for all the family.   So if you’re a long-standing seasoned visitor, or have visited once, I’m sure you can all agree that we are your favourite Scottish family attraction.   

As our visitors, you are crucial to the ongoing success of Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park and we would greatly appreciate the support of your vote.   Once you have voted, you are automatically entered into a prize draw for:

The Scottish Daily Mail: Perfect Family Day Out
Win a weekend break for a family of 4 at the Scottish Thistle Award winning Auchrannie Country House Hotel and Spa in Brodick on the beautiful Isle of Arran.   The prize includes bed and breakfast for 3 nights in a family room at Auchrannie and ferry crossing with Caledonian MacBrayne for a car and 4 passengers from Ardrossan.   The prize is subject to availability, excluding Christmas and New Year and must be taken by 30th March 2011.

To enter, go to www.scottishthistleawards.co.uk/readers_choice and click on the attraction you wish to vote for and briefly say why.   Alternatively, complete the postal nomination form, which can be found here.   

There is also a competition open to children under the age of 12.   All you need to do is tell The Scottish Daily Mail about your favourite day out.   It doesn’t need to be from the list, but it does need to be in Scotland.   Please send your entry, along with your name, age, address, telephone number and parent/guardian details to: Scottish Daily Mail Kids’ Choice, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow, G2 6BD.   Alternatively, email all the required information with ‘Kids’ as the subject title, to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .   Entries must be in by 23rd August 2010.   Winners of both competitions will be announced at the Scottish Thistle Award Ceremony in October.   

Please show your support by voting for us, your safari park, the only safari park in Scotland!

Recently, we at Blair Drummond Safari Park have been lucky enough to have some exciting new residents come to join us!

A male lion, named Dudley, has joined us from Longleat Safari Park and is settling in with our pride of females in the drive-through reserves. The 4 year-old’s father, Kabir, has long been the star of Longleat’s lions and we think that Dudley’s going to prove to be a star with us!

Our group of female sea lions are going to get some company as a male California sea lion, who goes by the name of Bimbo, is on loan to us for the sea lions’ breeding season which is from May to July.   He is 27 years old and weighs about 150kg, which is almost double the weight of our largest female sea lion Bella.   Bimbo is going to spend his time with all the females with the hope of getting Bella, 14, and Bali, 13 pregnant before he goes back home after the summer.    Bimbo’s presence here will also give our pups, Poppy and Lola, experience with a male as they would in the wild.

A couple of weeks ago, a European brown bear, named Bull, came to join us at the park. The new arrival came to us from Sweden and is currently settling into his new home in the Pets Farm area of the park. The 4-year old arrived on the 6^th of May from ORSA Bear Park, where his mother, father and twin brother, Bill, currently live.   On warm days Bull enjoys cooling off in his pool and he’s been sure to mark his new territory, scratching and rubbing on the trees in his new home. We think he’ll be very happy here.

So come along and see our new arrivals as well as all the other animals and attractions here at Blair Drummond Safari Park.

Catch Eden's Great British Wildlife Season every weeknight from 6pm. Crammed with the greatest nature and wildlife shows on earth, including great programmes such as Animal Park and Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife, Eden brings you the most breathtaking animal and natural wonders, taking its viewers on an incredible journey lead by the worlds most experienced experts.

Eden's Great British Wildlife Season will explore the fascinating and varied wildlife living right on your doorstep.

Eden is available on Sky 532 and Virgin Media 208.

Tune in to Animal Park, weeknights at 6pm from 16th August until 2nd September

To celebrate Eden's Great British Wildlife Season, the channel will be crowning one lucky attraction Eden's Wildlife Attraction of the Year. The campaign, which will run over the summer months of 2010, will see the UK's leading wildlife attractions competing for the title and we want your vote!

Please look out for "Vote for Us" posters and postcards on-site and for more information on Eden and to cast your vote visit www.exploreeden.co.uk/attraction2010

Tune in to The Nature of Britain weeknights at 6pm from 19th July until 28th July

Blair Drummond Safari Park first opened their gates in the May of 1970 and so the weekend of 29-30^th May saw Blair Drummond turning the big 4-0 and to celebrate we took our visitors and staff on a tour through the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Saturday saw our staff and some visitors dressed to impress in their best disco outfits. Central FM Radio provided tunes from the era and Abba Dux provided some well know numbers for the visitors and animals to enjoy.   Stageworx School of Performing Arts dazzled us with their moves to a variety of 70s songs.   Not even the wet weather could stop the party this day!

On Sunday, Central FM moved on in time to play the best loved tunes from the 80s, 90s and some modern classics too. Visitors came to see some street dancers performing on stage, impressing with their funky moves!   Throughout the weekend, vintage cars were on show at the park, along with a vintage bus that took visitors on tour through the drive-through-reserves.   All in all, Blair Drummond’s birthday was a far out success and here’s to the next 40 years!