Hartpury Animal

✨️Good and Naughty Animal of the Week - Week 26✨️

🐇 Good: Our Lionhead cross and Mixed Lop Rabbits Tiggy, Tabitha & Benjamin! Fun fact: the Lionhead Cross Rabbits are a fairly new breed, only becoming popular in Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s

🏠 Naughty: Our Ferret Nesquik! Fun fact: When they're excited, a Ferret may do what is called a 'weasel war dance', where they arch their back, puff their tail, and bounce sideways

✨️Good and Naughty Animal of the Week - Week 25✨️

🐸 Good: Our Milk Frogs! Fun fact: In the wild, they lay their eggs in rainwater-filled holes inside tree trunks

🐷 Naughty: Our Kunekune Pig Dobby! Fun fact: Kunekunes nearly went extinct in the late 1970s, dropping to only around 50 left in New Zealand. Two wildlife park owners, Michael Willis and John Simister, launched a successful breeding program to save them from extinction

✨️Good and Naughty Animal of the Week - Week 23✨️

🦙 Good: Our Llama Eddie! Fun fact: Their manure is named "llama beans" by farmers in the Andes and is virtually odourless

🐐 Naughty: Our Golden Guernsey Goat Rue! Fun fact: Rue is the friendliest of our group or girls, and you'd often find her nudging for scratches and staying close to see what we're up to

✨️Good and Naughty Animal of the Week - Week 22✨️

🐁 Good: Our Wistar rats! Fun fact: They were the very first animals to be standardised specifically for lab research in 1906

🐇 Naughty: Our New Zealand White rabbit Flora! Fun fact: Despite historically being used for meat and lab research due to their calm nature and rapid growth, they are known as the 'golden retrievers of bunnies due to their sweet and outgoing personalities

Good and Bad Animals of the week!

🎵 Good: Lamorna the Alpaca. Fun Fact: Our Alpacas have been sheared this week so look out for some amazing before and after images!

🦎 Bad: Pascale the Green Iguana. Pascale often likes a roam around the reptile room with staff and sometimes other animals food can look particularly tasty. Fun Fact: Iguana's are arboreal and can survive falls of 40-50 feet with minimal injuries!

After a brief hiatus, good and bad animal of the week is back!

🌟 Good: Our Animal Collection Instructors! They have been working tirelessly to ensure all animals are comfortable and safe in the extreme weather and we just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to our wonderful team that care so much about the individuals in our keeping.

🦙 Bad: Minerva the Alpaca! Fun Fact: Alpaca wool is hypoallergenic and lanolin free (Lanolin is wool-grease seen in sheep wool due to their scent glands).

Insects might be small, but their impact is huge 🐝🪲🌱

They pollinate our crops, recycle nutrients, and keep ecosystems running behind the scenes.

As Insect Week comes to a close Hartpury College, it's a reminder that conservation doesn't stop here.

Here's how you can help make a difference:

- Leave wild patches in gardens and green spaces ☘️
- Plant pollinator-friendly flowers 🌸
- Reduce pesticide use wherever possible 🚫
- Create log piles, bug hotels, or long grass areas 🪵
- Support local conservation projects and habitat restoration 🌲

Even small changes = big impact when lots of people do them. Thanks for celebrating Insect Week with us - let's keep looking after the species that keep our world running 💚

Feeder Insects play a HUGE role in animal care 🦗

Crickets and locusts are far more than 'just food'. They are a vital part of providing balanced nutrition and encouraging natural feeding behaviours.

At Hartpury College, feeder Insects are used to support the care and welfare of species including:

- Various reptile species
- Frogs
- Chickens
- Meerkats
- Skunks

Feeding live Insects can help encourage:

- Natural hunting behaviours
- Increased activity
- Mental stimulation
- Enrichment opportunities

Interesting fact:
Locusts and crickets belong to the order Orthoptera, meaning 'straight wings'.