Paradise Wildlife Park

I've been visiting Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, since I was an ickle kid. It has always been one of my favourite zoos, with some unusual animals you wouldn't usually seen in zoos. It remains the only place where I have seen the very rare Owston's civets, for example.

Eurasian nuthatch
Sitta europaea caesia Wolf, 1810
Sittidae; Passeriformes; Aves; Chordata
Wild at Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

The Park is set in woodland, attracting various wild birds. I spotted this nuthatch in the woodland part of the park.

Male Swinhoe's pheasant
Lophura swinhoii (Gould, 1863)
Phasianidae; Galliformes; Aves; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

There is a section of the park called "Birds of Paradise" which doesn't actually include any birds of paradise, but has a collection of birds of prey, parrots, and pheasants, including this beautifully plumaged male Swinhoe's pheasant from Taiwan.

Swainson's (rainbow) lorikeet
Trichoglossus haematodus moluccanus (Gmelin, 1788)
Psittacidae/Psittaculidae; Psittaciformes; Aves; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

There is a walkthrough exhibit of Swainson's lorikeets where you can feed the brush-tongued birds with nectar.

Burrowing owls
Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782)
Strigidae; Strigiformes; Aves; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

I like the way these two owls appear to look like one in this composition.

Immature South African cheetah
Acinonyx jubatus jubatus (Schreber, 1775)
Felidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

Paradise has plenty of felids, shared with its specialist spin-off, Wildlife Heritage Foundation, which contains nothing but cats. Between them, they have (and have had) all of the big cat species, several threatened subspecies and varieties (including the white lion), and many small felids like Pallas' cat, ocelot, Geoffroy's cat, and Siberian lynx. The cheetahs here were being trained by keepers, while this photograph was taken, to accept food on cue to facilitate examination.

Jaguar
Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Felidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

The Park itself also has tigers (of unknown race because they were rescued and thus are not part of any breeding programme), a female African leopard, and snow leopards, as well as some beautiful jaguars.

Oudri's fan-footed gecko
Ptyodactylus oudrii Lataste, 1880
Phyllodactylidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

Chinese alligator
Alligator sinensis Fauvel, 1879
Alligatoridae; Crocodylia; Sauropsida; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

Swinhoe's striped squirrel
Tamiops swinhoei (Milne-Edwards, 1874)
Sciuridae; Rodentia; Mammalia; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

Small mammals kept at the zoo include Asian short-clawed otters, meerkats, pygmy marmoset, red panda, lesser hedgehog tenrec, Egyptian rousettes (a small flying fox), and the chipmunk-like Swinhoe's striped squirrel.

Corsac fox
Vulpes corsac (Linnaeus, 1766)
Canidae; Carnivora; Mammalia; Chordata
Paradise Wildlife Park, Hertfordshire; March 2014

Finally, Paradise also boasts a number of canines, including red and corsac fox, raccoon dog, and Eurasian grey wolves.