This weekend our visitors helped us in celebrating our feathered friends the Humboldt Penguins, on World Penguin Day, a day dedicated to all 18 species of penguin. Ppppperfect!

Of the 18 species of penguin, 5 are classified as Endangered. Safari Zoo is home to 21 Humboldt Penguins, a species which is classified as vulnerable in the wild.

On Monday, celebrations continued with our Fabulous Fuschia Flockstars the Chilean Flamingos in honour of International Flamingo Day. Chilean Flamingos are one of 6 species of Flamingos and we are lucky to have 41 of these beautiful threatened birds living here with us at the zoo.

On Tuesday, we celebrate World Tapir Day, a day dedicated to all 4 species of Tapir, where resident lowland Tapir Kaya takes the forefront in raising awareness of her species.

As a Zoo, we are incredibly lucky to be surrounded each and everyday by these beautiful animals, and it is our responsibility to provide tip top daily care to ensure their wellbeing.

We also have a duty and a responsibility to raise awareness on behalf of these species, which is why days such as these are so important.

What strikes us all when considering 3 completely unrelated species – penguins, flamingos and Tapir – is the common denominator threatening their future on this planet. Penguins are threatened by the destruction of their nests to harvest Guan and by plastic pollution, Lowland Tapirs and Chilean Flamingos are threatened by habitat destruction.

It becomes clear that common denominator threat comes from us humans. Food for thought for sure. Over in our Kangaroo field, some changes are afoot. Visitors will know the roos here have a whopping field to hop around which they call their own, we just think it needs a bit of a magic touch so, enter our resident Mary Poppins’ – the Magical Maintenance Team.

We will over the coming weeks see this transformed into a visually pleasing and Roo friendly area dedicated to all things Oz. We cannot wait and we hope you like it!