Rare Species Opening Day

spike241

spike241

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Selena
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The Rare Species Conservation Centre opened again today, for the first time in years.
I got to stroke a hand-reared binturong as she tried to climb my leg, it was a very surreal day!

Jaguarundi


Fossa


Binturong


Clouded Leopard


They've got a lot of work going on but it's a lovely little place with some incredibly rare animals (they are also the only collection to hold Malayan tigers in the UK).

Thanks for looking!
 
What an amazing day
Superb portraits too especially the Jagurundi wonderful:)
 
Never heard of any of these bar the leopard amazing and great captures. Love the jaguarundi and leopard.

Was the Fossa in the film Madagascar?
 
Is this place in Kent ? That Fossa is the cheekiest looking thing.
 
All great shots. That Bintruong looks rather heavy to be sitting on shoulders though.
Thanks for the heads up on what looks like a great place for photography, I'll probably be heading there on Wednesday now (Was thinking of Colchester Zoo on Wednesday if the weather holds) :)
 
Lovely set Selena and really good to see a clear shot of the Jaguarundi; I knew they were prettier than my pics ever made them appear (y)
 
Thanks guys,

It is in Kent, on a roundabout between Sandwich and Deal.

The binturong was hand-reared. She is big but they weren't struggling with her so I'm guessing they're used to the weight :)

This one was right in front of the glass so it was an easy shot. I was expecting the place to be packed but there was only a handful of people so the animals weren't afraid to come right up and say hello. Almost everything is shot through glass but, for now at least, it was very clean glass.
It is a very small place and quite a lot of animals are off show while they're finishing building work but the animals they do have are incredibly rare.
These are currently on show, I think the only one I didn't see was the Fishing cats:

SUN BEARS 2, very friendly
MALAYAN TIGERS 2
AARDWOLF ~4 but they are shy
CLOUDED LEOPARDS 3- 2 7 month olds that are very active and playful and the cub
FOSSA 2
RED RUFFED LEMUR 2
FANALOKA 2?
RING TAILED MONGOOSE 1?
SMOOTH COATED OTTER 2, very noisy
YELLOW THROATED MARTEN 2
JAGUARUNDI 2
RUSTY SPOTTED CAT at least 3
PALAWAN BEARCAT 3
SULAWESI BEAR CUSCUS
FISHING CAT
BUSH DOG 4
Snow Leopard 2, partially blind so not very active

I hope that helps a bit
 
Cracking set Selena!
Love the Fossa most of all (y) Closely followed by the Jaguarundi :)

I feel a trip to Kent coming on :)
Is it open all the time? or just "odd days"?
 
Thanks Chris.

It's open til October now, they plan to reopen every March-October from now on. Due to building work and off-show animals, entry is £10 at the moment.
You might want to combine it with a visit to Howletts or something, although I could've spent all day there if my OH wasn't ill and I'd fully charged my battery :)
 
Thanks Selena :)
I've done Howlettes recently.
But but must do Port Lymph (again) sometime too.
There are a few things down there, I'd like to "do" actually.

I feel a "short break" coming on, when it warms up a bit :)
 
I thought Port Lympne was quite far away but it's only 40mins from RSCC. That's not too bad :)
I need to go back there soon, I think we're going to Howletts tomorrow though.
 
spike241 said:
I thought Port Lympne was quite far away but it's only 40mins from RSCC. That's not too bad :)
I need to go back there soon, I think we're going to Howletts tomorrow though.
Click to expand...

I'd not checked the mileage / distance TBH.
But if I do stay down for a few days, I'll need to make my mind up,
where I want to go and stay somewhere near a "mid point"
But not just yet though :)
 
Oh now this is somewhere I've never heard of, but because of this thread it's now on my list of things to do :)
The cloudy shot is gorgeous. ..as is the Fossa.
Fossas are amazing. So cat like but actually related to the mongoose I believe. Lemurs are their favourite chow :LOL:
 
viv1969 said:
Oh now this is somewhere I've never heard of, but because of this thread it's now on my list of things to do :)
The cloudy shot is gorgeous. ..as is the Fossa.
Fossas are amazing. So cat like but actually related to the mongoose I believe. Lemurs are their favourite chow :LOL:
Click to expand...

Thank you, shame about the left eye of the cloudy but I'm sure I'll be back there soon to try again.
That's not good, their enclosure is next to a pair of red-ruffed lemurs :D
 
I couldn't resist another visit on my last day off. Things are moving along with the safety barriers and platforms well on their way to being finished. Hopefully the new enclosure builds are going well too.

I quite like the reflections here, very strange.


Lesser bamboo lemur. These weren't on show Saturday


What a tail!


Sun bear


 
Thats another cracking set Selena (y)
Love the Sun Bear most of all :)
 
Some lovely additions there (y)
 
Cheers Chris.
Might be worth the trip when everything is on show :)
I'm looking forward to a proper look at the Maned wolves (they have 4 pups, 2 with mum and 2 hand-reared).
 
Wow, wow wow Selena, fantastic pictures (y)
Defo on my to visit list once I can drive that far :)
 
Thank you Ingrid.
Someone's posted a photo on their Facebook of a leopard, possibly North Chinese. I didn't see them and they weren't mentioned when I visited but I'll update when I hear more :)

It'll definitely be worth waiting until everything is on show though (tarsiers, maned wolves, cheetah amongst other rarer animals).
 
Great couple of sets there Selena, interesting to see the more unusual too - bit far afield for me but looks like a very interesting place to visit :)
 
spike241 said:
but I'll update when I hear more :)
It'll definitely be worth waiting until everything is on show though (tarsiers, maned wolves, cheetah amongst other rarer animals).
Click to expand...

Thanks Selena, won't be for a while., yet only just allowed back driving and need to strengthen my elbow a bit before I do a long trip :)
Might wait till I have time off later in the year and do wingham at the same time with a short stay
 
Took a trip down there myself this morning and will deffo go back when it's fully open. The chinese leopards behind the clouded leopard, but it was hiding when we were taken round to see the tiger.
 
spike241 said:
So it's off show except for the tiger tour?
Click to expand...
It looks that way. Someone else has posted a pic of it today, so maybe I just missed it.
 
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