Now there are many of us that really don’t like zoos and I’m sure a lot of us have memories of visiting zoos and seeing some very unhappy looking animals in the past. There is a zoo, or as it refers to itself a wild animal park, just outside Canterbury called Howletts that is certainly a very different place to the traditional zoo. You often read of zoos who aim to breed endangered animals and then reintroduce the animals into the wild and wonder if they ever succeed. Howletts and its sister park at Port Lympne are such places and do just that. The Aspinall Foundation has successfully reintroduced Western Lowland Gorilla, Black Rhinoceros, Sumatran Rhinoceros and Przewalski’s Horse back into the wild.

The animals in the park come first and on some visits especially if the weather is not so nice they will be hiding away in the comfort of their warm sleeping quarters. But if you visit on a good day, especially late in the afternoon when it’s feeding time you will get the park at its best and you are more likely to see many of the animals too.

John Aspinall started his famous animal collection in 1957 when he bought Howletts and it first opened to the public in the mid seventies. I will never forget the first visit Nigel and I made there which I reckon would have been about 1977, certainly not long after it opened and it was a very different place when health and safety issues were not so strict. They have always had elephants there but at that time there really was only a single strong wooden fence between you and them. It was the gorillas though that stuck in the memory most, and John Aspinall himself was in the enclosure with the animals. I have vivid memories of the huge silverback removing John Aspinall’s jumper. I must have a photo somewhere I should try to find.

I find sitting quietly watching the Western Lowland Gorillas is fascinating as they often make eye contact with you, although it’s not a good idea to try and stare out the silverbacks. On my visit on this occasion I was fascinated watching one of the Gorillas with a stick poking it through the bars of the enclosure trying its hardest to get the leaves from a plant close to They must have tasted good. They have in total 5 family units of Gorillas across both animal parks with 74 animals in total that’s the largest breeding family groups of gorillas in the world They always delight me as I watch them interact with each other.

Now taking pictures at zoos certainly has its problems Howletts itself used to be an impossible place to get pictures but in recent years they have developed more and more enclosures that are far more visitor friendly and offer you some chance of getting shots that don’t include wire fences Some now have a clear glass panel you can view the animals through and you’d think that would be good for taking pictures through. Unless you are able to get right up close to it mind you are likely to get reflections in your picture. Some of the primate enclosures are designed in such a way that you can get a very clear view of the animals especially at feeding time when you might be able to get some good shots. The hardest thing though is when the animal is behind a chain link fence. What you can try to do is manually focus on the animal between the links as if you use your cameras auto focus it will just focus on the fence. I had some luck doing it this way especially with the new tiger cubs but would love to go back for another go as I know I could do better.

 

 

               The best place for getting pictures with out any wires without question is when you are able to walk through the enclosure with the black and white Lemurs. They really are a delight to watch although they do seem to be very lazy and sleep out in the sun if they can. They do ask you not to touch them and indeed there is always a keeper in the enclosure to make sure nothing untoward happens. They do have to be the most chilled out animals though which is why I guess they allow you to enter their space. One of Lemurs took great interest in my camera at one point and brushed up against me as I stood next to the rail Moments like that are special and thankfully the lemur soon lost interest in my camera when he found it wasn’t edible.

Another special moment on that particular visit was when I’d almost decided to go home but thought I’d take one more look at the Black Rhinos as they had been sleeping when I’d first visited the enclosure that afternoon. I arrived just as they were having some visitors Damian Aspinall the son of John Aspinall was there with a couple of other people giving the Rhinos a special treat of fruit cakes So this is the special diet that all the signs had been telling us about when they ask you not to feed the animals! They did see the joke as I pointed this out.

Once the rhinos had enjoyed the cake Damian proceeded to get very close to one of the animals particularly and they were obviously enjoying having a good scratch from him. Damian then picked up stone from the ground and proceeded to really give the Rhino a good scratch with it At one point the Rhinos was just like a dog having its tummy tickled and was laid right down with its feet in the air wanting more. It was so hard to think that these magnificent animals in the wild are critically endangered. It is beyond belief they are still killed in the belief their horn has some medicinal properties. Outside Africa Howletts and Port Lympne has the biggest breeding collection of Black Rhino and have raised 10 youngsters, long may the success continue.

When chatting with them they asked if I’d seen the new tiger cubs and told me that they were out in their enclosure and would likely still be there if I went back. Well of course I did and there they were three gorgeous Siberian tiger cubs who had been born in August so were only a few weeks old playing in the warm afternoon sun.

When I look at my pictures from my afternoon out they are probably some of the best pictures I’ve taken on any visit there so I’m definitely encouraged to return soon I think plus it’s always a pleasure just spending time watching the wonderful animals there.

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