Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens, Bradwell Grove, Chipping Norton (2025)

14/11/2025

We had the best day when BBC Radio Oxford came to the Park with Darragh "The Menace" Ennis and Pudsey for a special BBC Children in Need quiz. Darragh and Giant Tortoise George hit it off instantly!

Special thanks to BBC Oxfordshire for the photos.

If you'd like to support Children In Need, please visit: https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk

14/11/2025

A huge thank you to BBC Oxfordshire for this video. We were honoured to be part of this year's BBC Children in Need quiz with Darragh "The Menace" Ennis and loved taking part. We also think Darragh may have found his spirit animal in Giant Tortoise George. Well done for all your Children in Need fundraising efforts BBC Oxfordshire. We'll be watching tonight.

13/11/2025

As today is International Zoo Educators Day, we wanted to highlight the work our Education Department does here at the Park. You may see them carrying out visitor experiences, school talks and workshops or helping out the keepers with their duties. Here are just a few of the things Helen, Lorah and Harriet get up to everyday.

- Visitors experiences such as Junior Keepers or Trainee Keepers: At the Park, we always want to inspire people to get excited and enthusiastic about wildlife and what better way to do that than mucking out, feeding and meeting some of our animals!
- Organising school trips and delivering talks and workshops around the Park for students: As zoo educators, we always aim for pupils to leave the Park having learnt something in a fun, interactive environment (and hopefully some interesting facts too…)
- Fundraising days: these are very important to educate visitors about our conservation work. The Education team help to organise the stalls and events throughout the year. These include Lemur Week, World Lion Day and Rhino Month (to name just a few).
- "Dreamnight At The Zoo": This year marked a decade of “Dreamnight at the Zoo” when Cotswold Wildlife Park quietly opens its doors after hours for a night to remember for truly deserving guests. Over the last ten years, over 2,000 children from local charities have been invited to this annual event for chronically ill and disabled children and their families to exclusively enjoy the wildlife park after hours. This takes a lot of planning and our Education Department does a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure the evening is as magical as ever.

International Day of Zoo & Aquarium Educators (also known as ) is celebrated annually on the 2nd Thursday in November.

Written by Activities Assistant Harriet.

We'd like to thank our Education Department for always encouraging curiosity and enthusiasm about our animals. Thanks to Rebecca Louise and Philip Joyce for these photos (including archive photos taken at "Dreamnight At The Zoo"). Extra thanks to for sharing photos of her son Jasper enjoying his Junior Keeper Experience with Harriet earlier this year and to Education and Activities Officer Lorah for her photos too.

07/11/2025

From all of us at the Park, we would like to say congratulations to Sir David Beckham who received his knighthood from His Majesty The King this week.

Five years ago, Sir David Beckham came to the Park with his daughter Harper when she became a Junior Keeper for the day. As you can see in the pictures, they were both absolute naturals with the animals, including our Capybaras, Giraffes, Giant Tortoises, Lemurs, Penguins and one of their favourites - the Rhinos. Harper even took home a special "souvenir" from the Rhino House for Lady Victoria Beckham - varnished Rhino dung. We're sure Lady Victoria was thrilled!

Thanks to Education Manager Helen and the keepers for all their help on the day. Once again, congratulations Sir David Beckham from all of us at the Park.

01/11/2025

Welcoming Markus to the “crash” - Cotswold Wildlife Park celebrates the arrival of its 12th Rhino calf and the only birth of its kind in the UK in 2025.

Markus is the newest addition to the Rhino family at Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens. He is the twelfth Rhino calf to be born at the Burford collection in twelve years – a tremendous achievement. Births in captivity are extremely rare. In fact, the Park is responsible for the UK’s only White Rhino birth this year. In total, just five White Rhinos were born in European zoological collections in 2025. The youngster is healthy and nursing well from Nancy - an exceptional and attentive mother. This is her seventh calf with breeding male Monty.

Females only reproduce every two to three years, so the window of opportunity for successful reproduction is limited. After a gestation period of sixteen to eighteen months, a single calf is born. It's rare to catch Rhino births on camera as females usually give birth during the night. Luckily keepers were present the evening Markus was born. In less than 45 minutes, the sixteen month pregnancy was over and Nancy gave birth to a male calf. Mammal Keeper Liam caught the moment on film and you can see the footage here: https://tinyurl.com/y2c24vy3.

The calf has been named in memory of one of the most influential conservation scientists to have worked in Africa over the last half century - Doctor Markus Borner. He received a number of awards during his lifetime, including the prestigious Blue Planet Prize in 2016 that recognised his lifetime contribution to conservation science. Our great thanks to Professor Sarah Cleaveland for kindly sharing the image of him in the post below with us. His memory lives on in the Park’s Rhino family.

This new addition brings the total number of Rhinos currently residing at the Park to eight – the highest number on show at any one time in the Park’s fifty-five year history. It is also one of the largest family groups on show anywhere in the country. Read more about Markus in the Park News section of the website.

Our great thanks to Rory Carnegie, Philip Joyce, Rebecca Louise, Mammal Keeper Liam and Conservation Officer Beth for the photos and video footage.

30/10/2025

As we head into , meet the spookiest animal we have at the Park - the aptly named Ghost (the only leucistic Senegal Bush Baby in the UK). Here he is investigating his enrichment - the official name of that variety of pumpkin - filled with mealworms. We love his reaction. Look at those ears!

30/10/2025

As we come up to Halloween, we have some spooky birthdays to celebrate…

* Frankenstein, our male Capybara, will be turning four this Halloween. Affectionately nicknamed Frank, he likes to spend his time roaming around the enclosure he shares with our Brazilian Tapirs, and occasionally going for a dip in their shared pond. Capybaras are excellent swimmers with webbed feet. They are completely aware of any potential dangers whilst in the water due to having their ears, eyes and nose in a line on top of their head. This makes them practically invisible to any predators when swimming - a very useful and ghost-like adaptation for a Capybara!

* Another Halloween baby at the Park is Pili, our youngest Black and White Colobus Monkey. When Pili was born on Halloween last year, she made a very ghostly addition to the group as Colobus Monkeys are born completely white. As she comes up to a year old, she looks more like the rest of her family with familiar black and white markings but is by far the most energetic of them all! She can be found jumping, climbing and showing off her acrobatic tricks in their enclosure opposite the Emus.

* Melman, our oldest Squirrel Monkey, will celebrate his 20th birthday on Halloween. Squirrel Monkeys can live to be 15 in the wild, but over 20 in captivity. They have the very gruesome habit of urinating on their hands and spreading it on branches in the rainforest to track other members of their group. This also helps to scare off any potential predators. Senior Primate, Small Mammal and Bird Keeper Hayley has made Melman a cake for his birthday - we'll keep you posted on that one once he's received his treat tomorrow.

* Finally, we have to mention the spookiest animal we have at the Park. Ghost is the only leucistic Senegal Bush Baby in the UK, meaning he has completely white fur due to a partial loss of pigmentation. Bush Babies are a nocturnal species, so visitors can observe our very own Ghost in his dark enclosure, haunting Little Africa!

Written by Activities Assistant Harriet.

Additional photo credits: Capybara Frankenstein with pumpkin - Paul Nicholls Photography. Pili in the cargo nets – Brian Lilly. Bush Baby Ghost with ghost pumpkin taken by Philip Joyce.

24/10/2025

October half-term visitor information and Cotswold Wildlife Park's 2025 Pumpkin Patch display with the Jubilee Gardens Project.

The pumpkins our Gardening and Grounds team collected last week from Jubilee Gardens have now been carved and are proudly on display in this year's Pumpkin Patch by the Children's Farmyard. The Park's staff have created the most amazing designs, including pumpkins versions of many of our animals - Giant Tortoise George, Ring-tailed Lemur, Penguin, Giraffe, Lion and Flamingo to name just a few. There's also a replica of Bella the train (complete with a pumpkin version of Madge the train dog). And for Star Wars fans, keep your eyes open for some pumpkins inspired by a galaxy far, far away, including our very own "Death Star" pumpkin ("that's no moon!") created by Dean from our Gardens Team. So many brilliant creations this year - we think they're fantastic! Thanks again to the students from Jubilee Gardens for growing all our pumpkins from seed for the fifth year running.

*Latest visitor information - please read the following ahead of your visit - thank you*

• Please could we remind you that our winter opening times are now in place. The Park is open daily from 10:00am and our closing time is 4:00pm or DUSK (whichever is earlier), with last admission at 3:00pm.
• In common with other outdoor visitor attractions, the Park expects to be busy over the half-term holidays, so we appreciate your patience. To reduce queueing, we suggest arriving outside of our peak arrival times (which are tending to be between 10:30am - 12:30pm).
• Please listen to BBC Radio Oxford on 95.2FM for local travel news and visit the AA Route Planner for up-to-date travel information, including any road closures, ahead of your visit.
• The train will be running daily throughout October and during half-term (subject to weather conditions).
• As well as the Park’s Oak Tree Restaurant and kiosks, visitors are welcome to bring their own picnics (there are picnic shelters around the Park).
• Please check our website and social media for any updates ahead of visiting the Park. Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you to the Park. We hope you enjoy this year's pumpkin patch.

Thanks to Caroline and Lyndy for their photos.

21/10/2025

Coming soon.... Cotswold Wildlife Park's 2025 Pumpkin Patch display with the Jubilee Gardens Project.

The pumpkins our Gardening team collected recently from Jubilee Gardens have now been carved and are about to go on display in this year's Pumpkin Patch by the Children's Farmyard. It's the fifth year we've sourced our pumpkins from Jubilee Gardens - a local charity where adults who experience varying levels of learning disability grow all sorts of wonderful produce. Thanks to our creative staff from the Gardens and Grounds teams, Gift Shop, Hygiene department, Restaurant team, Main Office staff and keepers for their creations in this year's Pumpkin Patch. We can't wait to see this year's creations (photos featured from previous displays, as well as various pumpkin animal enrichments from previous years).

We've invited the students and volunteers from the Jubilee Gardens Project over to the Park to see the pumpkins they grew and nurtured from seed transformed into this year's display. To find out more about the Jubilee Gardens Project, please visit: http://jubileegardens.co.uk.

*VISITOR UPDATE FOR OCTOBER HALF-TERM: We are currently open until 6:00pm (with last admission at 4pm). Could we also remind you that the clocks go back on Sunday 26 October 2025 and our closing time will CHANGE to 4:00pm or DUSK (whichever is earlier), with last admission at 3:00pm, from Sunday 26 October onwards*.

• The train will be running daily in October including half-term (subject to weather conditions).

• In the interest of staff and visitor safety, due to the predicted high winds, Bella the Train will not be running on Thursday 23 October 2025.

• Please check our website and social media for any updates ahead of visiting the Park. We look forward to welcoming you - many thanks.

• The Pumpkin Patch will be on display from 24 October 2025.

Great thanks to Philip Joyce for the photos.

14/10/2025

This week award-winning photographer Philip Joyce took these beautiful photos of our new Greater Bamboo Lemur babies which we'd like to share with you.

With the addition of four babies, it's the Park's most successful breeding season on record for this species. Births in captivity are extremely rare. In fact, the Park is the only zoological collection in the UK and one of three worldwide to have bred these rare primates this year. With a population of 13, Cotswold Wildlife Park is now home to the biggest breeding group in the world. Congratulations to the Primates, Small Mammals and Birds team for this amazing result.

Natalie Horner, Section Head of Primates, Small Mammals and Birds, explains why every breeding success is important: “The Greater Bamboo Lemur is one of the most endangered species of Lemur, found only in the rainforests of eastern Madagascar. Classified as “Critically Endangered” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, today the global population is estimated between 1,200-1,500 individuals. This is fewer than higher profile species such as the Black Rhino, Tiger and Giant Panda. They are threatened by habitat destruction and fragmentation, which leads to the isolation of the different populations by forest degradation. They are also affected by hunting and mining which causes water pollution”.

Natalie adds: “There are only 41 Greater Bamboo Lemurs in captivity across 9 institutions globally. Here at the Park, we are home to 13 individuals. Our group first successfully bred during lockdown in 2020. Since then, our male Raphael and females Bijou and Veloma have produced 9 youngsters. Bijou and Veloma are wonderful mothers and Raphael is such a playful dad. We have a second group of Greater Bamboo Lemurs, formed with two of our female youngsters born in 2021 and a male from Zoo Lyon. This group had their first breeding success this year with Nomena and Fotsy both producing their first young. This means we are now home to the largest number of Greater Bamboo Lemurs in captivity! We are incredibly proud that both our groups have produced young this year, meaning we have four baby Bamboo Lemurs who are all going from strength to strength every day. They have all had their first taste of solid food and are becoming more confident, spending some time away from their mothers playing and exploring their enclosures”.

The as-yet-unsexed and unnamed new arrivals have made their debut ahead of World Lemur Day (31st October 2025) and visitors can see Bijou and Veloma’s babies inside the Park’s Lemur exhibit Madagascar.

30/09/2025

Cotswold Wildlife Park celebrates a record-breaking breeding season and becomes the only zoological collection in the UK to breed “Critically Endangered” Greater Bamboo Lemurs this year.

Not only has 2025 been a record-breaking year for visitor numbers, but it has also been the most successful breeding season on record for one of the collection’s rarest species – the "Critically Endangered" Greater Bamboo Lemur. Recently, the Primates, Small Mammals and Birds team celebrated the arrival of four Greater Bamboo Lemur babies. Births in captivity are extremely rare. In fact, the Park is the only zoological collection in the UK and one of three worldwide to have bred these rare primates this year. With a population of 13, Cotswold Wildlife Park is now home to the biggest breeding group in the world. In the wild, there are fewer Greater Bamboo Lemurs left than higher profile species such as Black Rhino, Tiger and Giant Panda. The new youngsters have made their debut ahead of World Lemur Day (31 October 2025).

The UK's only Greater Bamboo Lemur births join an impressive baby boom at the Park – over 523 births so far this year. Other new arrivals include:

• Four Great Grey Owl chicks - first brood from the Park's breeding pair.
• Four rare Humboldt Penguin chicks, classified as "Vulnerable" on the IUCN's Red List of Endangered Species. This year was the Park's most successful Penguin breeding season in ten years. One in particular, Pippin, caught the attention of visitors due to her special bond with keepers who hand-reared the chick after she was abandoned in the nest box.
• Four Yellow Mongoose pups from new pair Chip and Nutmeg - their best breeding season since joining the collection.

As well as these new arrivals, visitors can also see the Park’s other recent breeding successes on show too: Bactrian Camel calf Tillie (named after Mammal Keeper Liam’s daughter), a rather energetic young Black-and-White Colobus Monkey named Pili, Parma Wallaby joeys and Straw-Coloured Fruit Bat pups (only two other zoological collections in Europe hold this species).

Read more about the new arrivals here: https://www.cotswoldwildlifepark.co.uk/whats-on/park-news/

Our great thanks to Paul Nicholls Photography, Philip Joyce, Rebecca Louise, the Primates, Small Mammals And Birds Team, Reptile Keeper Matt, Conservation Officer Beth, as well as visitors Brian Lilly and Lauren Crow for their photos/videos.

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20/09/2025

To celebrate International Red Panda Day, we wanted to share some facts about these special animals.

A much-loved species at the Park, the Red Pandas have been popular with visitors since they first arrived at the collection in 1972. Although they share their name and love of eating bamboo with the Giant Panda, Red Pandas are actually more closely related to Raccoons and Skunks. This is evident in their talent for climbing trees; as well as having fur on the pads of their paws to insulate from the cold weather, they have flexible ankles which enables them to climb head first down tree trunks. In the wild, Red Pandas face threats of habitat loss and poaching which has led to them being classified as 'Vulnerable’. However, conservation work such as tree-planting across the Himalayas means that the future of this unique species is in good hands.

Thanks to Mammal Keeper Abbie for this video of one of our Red Pandas enjoying their breakfast. Their main diet consists of bamboo but they are also given grapes as a treat.

• International Red Panda Day, 20 September 2025, is a global movement to help protect Red Pandas and their habitat.

• In 1825 French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier awarded the species its name, Ailurus fulgens, meaning shining or fire-coloured cat. He also described it as “quite the most handsome mammal in existence.” Often dwarfed by its black-and-white cousin, Red Pandas were discovered forty-eight years before the first Giant Panda was catalogued. Despite its name, it is only distantly related to the Giant Panda.

Written by Activities Assistant Harriet.

Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens

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