Pallas pumpkins

I've long had a soft spot for Pallas' Cats, so naturally the two we have at WHF are favourites of mine. Wei-Shand and Tula are both amazing little cats, and Wei-Shand in particular is full of character. My enthusiasm for Pallas Cats tends to get passed on to my unsuspecting tours, who have to listen to my excited babble. Who wouldn't fall in love with them though... grumpy looking fluff-balls! Wei-Shand has a habit of following you everywhere. He'll creep up and suddenly be at the door patiently awaiting that moment when you let your guard down... But it's this naughtiness that I love about him.

When I was lucky enough to get my hands on some very cheap pumpkins just after Halloween, and donated the lot to WHF - not before carving a few first. My obvious "target" was the Pallas Cats, so I carved one especially for Wei-Shand - this is the result

The eyes and mouth give a nice little hole to put food through, and that's exactly what we did.  He was served dinner in a pumpkin that day, and he was not amused.It was pretty effective enrichment though, he spent a while plucking up the courage to actually investigate, then grabbed one chick at a time.

Below is a brief video clip of him investigating the pumpkin - there were guests at the enclosure when we fed him, so I wasn't able to get a lot of photos/videos which is a bit annoying 

Arrivals and depatures

Early last week we welcomed back two cats, and another arrived midweek. It's been a busy few weeks! 

Firstly I was really pleased to see Ares, our male jaguar returning. He had gone up to Paradise Wildlife Park (PWP) on a brief "holiday." I say "holiday" because he was filling a gap. This is common practice in the zoo world, when a zoo has an empty enclosure (following death or dispersal to other collections) animals are often brought in temporarily to fill that gap. Ares had gone to fill an empty enclosure whilst Paradise were waiting for their new jaguars (soon to arrive).  

Narnia

With Ares came Narnia, a female white tiger, who had also been at PWP. She had been in with a male white tiger (non-breeding) who sadly was too energetic for the grumpy lady who didn't appreciate his playful nature. She had been with us at WHF before now, but this was the first chance I had to meet her and I am really looking forward to working with her.

Finally came the arrival of Kushka from Marwell. I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet, but I did see her a few months back when I visited Marwell. She is another stop-gap tiger who I believe was filling a gap left by a now sadly deceased male. Photos of her will come shortly (I hope!).   

That's not the end for cat moves this month, like I say we've been busy! The end of this week will see our remaining Sumatran tiger cub (two-year old) leaving us to start his new life in France. I will be very sad to see Toba leaving, and will really miss him, he is such a character and has been so much fun to work with. His new zoo are very lucky to have him, and I will definitely be going to see him. 

Toba

Quick cat count

Looking back over some old posts I realised the counts were rather outdated with all the moves and transfers, so I thought I'd quickly update the list to our current numbers. 

African lions - both tawny and white (Panthera leo) : 12

Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) : 5

Amur/Siberian tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) : 3

Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) : 2 (1 white)

Hybrid tiger : 2

Snow leopard (Uncia uncia) : 2
Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) : 5
North Chinese leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) : 2
African leopard - black (Panthera pardus) : 1
Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) : 2
Serval (Leptailurus serval) : 5
Rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) : 1

Pumas/cougar/mountain lions (Puma concolor) : 4

Pallas cat/manul (Otocolobus manul) : 2
Jaguar (Panthera onca) : 2
Fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) : 2
Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) : 1
Jungle cat (Felis chaus): 1
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatas) : 2

Total of 56 cats across 16 species (edited 13/11/13)

Changes include: 

• birth of 6 lion cubs (2 litters - 4 + 2) 
  
• transfer of 1 male Sumatran tiger to Thrigby Hall (Norfolk)
• Transfer of 2 female Amur tiger cubs to Paradise Wildlife Park
• 1 female Bengal tiger PTS 
• Arrival of 1 male snow leopard 
• Transfer of 1 male Amur leopard to Rutland
• Transfer of 1 male Pallas cat to Cotswold
• Arrival of 1 female white tiger (edited)
• Arrival of 1 female hybrid tiger (edited) 

Jack the Jungle Cat

Jack is our Jungle Cat (Felis chaus), possibly the only one currently in the UK. I'm not sure why zoos in this country are not particularly taken by these cats because Jack is a brilliant character. He's just over a year old, and hasn't been with us for a huge amount of time. It took him quite a long while to get used to us, and spent a lot of time inside - on our open days he was nowhere to be seen even though it was lovely weather. Now that he's found his feet he is fast becoming a favourite on photo days, and I'm sure you can see why. 

Jungle cats are found across Asia to the Nile Valley in Egypt and considered common in their range, particularly in India. However, their population is in decline in some areas due to the usual habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. They are known as "swamp lynx," a name which apparently originates due to their little black tufts on the end of their ears, incidentally they are not members of the lynx family.

They have been found in Egyptian tombs mummified, suggesting that perhaps once they were domesticated (though I'm not sure Jack is a good example of how "friendly" they may be) or because they are adept at hunting rodents they were good ratters and therefore revered. The Egyptians were well known for their worship of cats regardless.

They eat pretty much anything they can get their paws on, from rodents to birds and even fish. They are very good at catching birds in flight and are good swimmers. They have been recorded swimming up to 1.5km.

One of the great things about Jungle cats is their vocalisations - something I am yet to hear anything of from Jack. Their meow is much lower in pitch than a domestic cat, and they make a sharp almost bark like vocalisation.

Hopefully there will be lot more of Jack to come, especially as he comes out of his shell. I've certainly seen a lot more of him than in previous months, and it's possible that he will be the subject of my upcoming behavioural study for my course... watch this space.

Puma enrichment

We had a lot of success using a large hemp ball in one of our Sumatran tiger enclosures - Toba went a little crazy with it... so we decided to attempt it with one of out younger pumas who is known to play with footballs and is generally very playful. So one of the keepers managed to manoeuvre it from one side of the site to Yazhi's enclosure and attacked it with a range of spices and herbs and left it for her to discover. 

 

  

The result was less than impressive as you can see by the video, although there was some Flehmen response which was probably as exciting as it got...

   

The Flehmen response in brief is when a cat (although it occurs in other animals also) lifts its upper lip and draws air in over the Jacobson's gland on the roof of the mouth. This is to establish the reproductive status of an animal in addition to other chemical cues.

Clouded leopards (and Cotswold)

I recently visited the Cotswold's Wildlife Park. It was a planned visit which formed part of the DMZAA residential study week. It was the first time I had been there, and was excited to go as our Pallas Cat, Khan, had moved there a few months back. Sadly we seemed to miss the Pallas Cats, I think they were tucked away in a corner somewhere and I didn't have time to properly search for them. A good reason to return!

We were taken around the site by one of the keepers, and got a few behind the scenes tours, which is always exciting. They have an amazing lemur walk through, the highlight of which is the crowned sifaka. A species I have long wanted to see and eagerly waited to see him move - they're the lemurs that are on every Madagascar documentary, the ones that jump everywhere on their back feet (they evolved for an arboreal existence so their legs are too long to walk properly).

Mandalay (female)

One thing that I was quite surprised by was the keepers and other members of my college group (all keepers/zoo volunteers) opinion/experiences of clouded leopards. I must point out that the only experience I really have of clouded leopards is the pair at WHF. Everyone I spoke to said that clouded leopards were nocturnal, shy, and they never really saw them (in their own collections and others). I think our two cloudies haven't read the rule book. 

The two clouded leopards at WHF are two very popular cats. Ben and Mandalay were originally a breeding pair that came from the Aspinall Foundation (Howletts/Port Lympne) in Kent. They came to us for their retirement and are helping us to learn all about keeping cloudies with the eventual hope that we will breed them ourselves. Ben has now had a vasectomy, so they can no longer breed (he was a little too good at his job so has lots of progeny out there). 

Ben (male)

What makes them extra special, or at least Ben extra special is how much he "likes" people. Mandalay is a little more shy and doesn't often come down from her "safe branch." Ben is particularly chatty, and he chuffles. The wonderful noise most often associated with tigers.  When you take tours around and get to the clouded leopards guests are usually amazed by them. Ben often trots up to the window and puts his paws on the ledge to peer out and say hello. They make a noise I can only liken to a ducks quack, and he'll often answer back if you attempt to call him using "cloudy speak."  After a long time of failed attempts, I finally managed to get the chuffle on film yesterday. After a little coaxing from a fellow volunteer he came close enough and was loud enough for the mic to pick it up. 

I apologise for the angle and the excited squeak when he does chuffle... it's just the cutest noise! 

More goodbyes

Moving an Amur tiger (PWP Facebook Page)

Part of working within a zoo is watching cubs grow up and fly the nest. It's not easy to say goodbye to any animal that you've ever looked after, but knowing that they're on their way in the world and soon to be part of their own breeding program I guess it's a little easier. 

Monday saw three of our cubs heading on their way to new lives in other zoos. 

Two of the one year old Amur tiger cubs went off to Paradise Wildlife Park. Mum and the remaining cub are still at WHF and they're really enjoying some much needed relaxation!

Kubu, one of the two year old Sumatran tigers went off to Thrigby Hall, leaving Toba on his own for now. Thrigby Hall is one of the zoos I have visited since being very small and I really look forward to the next time I'm in Norfolk and can go visit him in his new home! 

All three tigers went off without incident, and arrived safely. We're told they are all adapting well and hopefully we'll get lots of updates in the future. 

Arriving at Paradise (PWP Facebook Page)

Amur tiger cubs

Kubu

Using art to raise awareness

African bead lion

I've always loved tribal sculpture, it's one of those things you always encounter in Africa, and it's becoming more popular in the typical zoo gift shop. Intricate wooden carvings of animals are becoming more and more commonplace as people want an authentic piece of Africa to take home with them, not only that but there is a lot of ethical reasoning behind wanting something that was been made in Africa, or indeed other parts of the world. I have come across many small trinkets in zoo shops that originate from all over the world, including South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. 

Peruvian knitted sheep

You can buy tribal design boomerangs and drums from Australia, alpaca wool clothing from alpacas in Peru, bead animals from Africa, sculptures made from recycled tin cans from Africa, the list is endless. Many of these items are just a bit of fun, something that has been spotted and brought back because it's something a little "different", but slowly more items are becoming available that support conservation projects, or give an income to those who would otherwise struggle. Even thousands of miles away people are buying these items that mean that little bit more.  

Snare art African Hunting Dog

There's a project in Zimbabwe where rangers collect snares placed by poachers and give them to art projects who turn them into sculpture. In turn these are sold to raise money for projects in the reserve and to help those living there. The sculptures are very unique and very effective, the full story can be found here.

Using art as a means of raising awareness and money is something that intrigues me. I think that art can reach out to many people, and is a brilliant way of involving all ages and getting a message across. Be it educating children about the variety of animals in the world, to looking at the history of art in tribal or traditional communities.

There is an Arts Award run by Trinity London (link here) that supports young people to "develop as artists and arts leaders." It's something open to everyone 7-25yrs and can follow any direction the participant wants.  What better way to enjoy your local zoo and get more out of it with children and young adults? There is so much a zoo can offer to be involved in art projects and if it gets the younger generations interested in conservation and animals even better! Projects could look at animals in art across the globe, animals in modern art such as animation, conservation art like the snare sculptures, even just looking at life drawing from the animals themselves. The list is endless.

Construction day

Athena grump

Construction is perhaps an area of work that I've never enjoyed, or at least never been good at enough to enjoy. So when I arrived at WHF this morning and discovered I was on the construction team I didn't feel particular warm and fuzzy inside thinking about it. However, I must say that today was great fun, and it felt very productive. I just wish that the recipient cat showed as much enthusiasm for the work as we did.... 

Following the departure of the male jaguar (Ares) to Paradise Park earlier this month we have been busy planning and creating a lovely renovated enclosure for the female jaguar (Athena). The whole of her side of the enclosure was ripped out, leaving us with a blank canvas (picture 1). Our task for the morning was to build a raised platform and enclose it to form a three sided, sheltered box.

Pic. 1. Before

Lots of drilling and many screws later....

Pic. 2. Half way. Floor and roof + half a side up.

Cup of tea and a few more screws and even more drilling and finally...

Pic. 3. One cosy shelter

We were all really pleased with the results. I'm not sure we'd win any prizes, but it was strong enough to hold a person without any problems (ok, so not a jaguar but we can hope!). Athena wasn't too happy with our work, she spent most of the day sulking... I just hope when she eventually sees the completed project she'll appreciate our hard work - and if not at least we had fun making it before she ripped it to shreds!

DMZAA and Marwell

Today was a journey into the unknown, and a long drive down to Hampshire for the induction day of the Diploma in the Management of Zoo and Aquatic Animals (DMZAA). There are three of us from WHF that are doing the course this year, myself included. The course is a part-time course covering all the aspects of zoo management, and something that I've been wanting to get done for a long time now. I decided to pursue the academic route to start, building up practical knowledge through work placements and employment, and I now feel I'm in the position to specialise in zoo work. I'm really looking forward to it. 

Part of the course involves putting together a portfolio of work, something that I am familiar with during my time teaching NVQ. Lots and lots of photos and descriptions of what I'm doing. I'm hoping to make this blog part of that portfolio, so if I can keep up steam there will be lots more posts from me in the not too distant future. 

I took the opportunity to nip down to Marwell Zoo whilst I had a free afternoon in Hampshire. It was so hot! Most of the animals were hiding in the shade or away from public view. I did manage to get a glimpse of one of their young snow leopard cubs. Very cute! Can't wait to hear the patter of cub paws at WHF in the years to come.

Just some cats

 A quick post just full of big cat photos... 

Mia - cheetah

Amur tiger cub

Ben - clouded leopard

Themba - white lion

Bruno - tiger

Jack the jungle cat

Volunteer thank you day and fund raising ideas

Today all the volunteers were invited along with their families to see and enjoy the cats at our leisure. It was really nice to be able to show them all the place where I have been hiding for the last six month, and also be able to introduce them to some of the best creatures on Earth - Mia and Murphy the two cheetahs top of the list. Needless to say they all loved it too. My nan was particularly taken with all the cats, and was planning a marathon knitting project to help raise money. This got us thinking of other ways to help...

Elephant house at Cobtree Manor Park

During this visit I was able to discuss some fund raising ideas with family and friends and some staff members. I happen to know the curator of a museum in Maidstone where in the depths of his collection are some artifacts that once belonged to Maidstone Zoo, which stood in what is now Cobtree Manor Park. I find the collection fascinating, and was thinking of ways to share it with other zoo fanatics in a such a way to raise awareness and possible funds for WHF. A possible exhibition collaborating the museum with WHF would be an interesting project for both myself and the curator, and no doubt interesting for the people of Maidstone to see some history behind the zoo - everyone that has ever visited Cobtree Manor Park is sure to know of the elephant house, pretty much all that remains of the zoo today.   

The zoo was owned by Sir Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake in the early 1900s, closing in 1959. Tyrwhitt-Drake kept lots of animals on site, including big cats, so the possibility for comparison is certainly there. I even managed to find this old footage of Drake in the zoo with a little digging online - no doubt the museum has more images and clips. The museum still has a lot of the old signage from the zoo, and even the photos alone are interesting to thumb through. It's certainly something that I will dig into some more with the help of my curator friend!

Video from: http://www.britishpathe.com/video/private-zoo-1

 

Arty bug

As promised I did manage to get back into some more painting... I decided to brave some canvas work, and so painted a couple of gifts for birthday presents. The recipients were thankfully very pleased! It's getting a little addictive now. The two lions are from personal photos of lions in zoos/reserves, sadly not from WHF this time, but I intend to continue painting some of the cats from there soon. 

 

 

 

Lioness (acrylic on canvas)

 

Lion (acrylic on canvas)

Sad news

A bit of sad news from WHF. 

"It is with the deepest regret that we announce that on 19th July Padmini our Bengal tiger passed away. Over the last week her general condition gradually deteriorated and on 19th July in collaboration with both of our vets we reached the decision it was in her best interests to put her to sleep.

Padmini was 21 years of age and a great ambassador for WHF & PWP, and will be sadly missed. We have waited to announce the sad news so that all staff and adopters of Pads could be contacted by WHF first. Thank you for your support.

Thank you Jackie T for the lovely picture, there will be an album created for Pads on our FB page after the weekend."

 

Padmini taken by Jackie T.

Padmini was loved by so many. Since the announcement on Facebook only 24hours ago there have already been well over a hundred messages of condolence, for which we are all grateful.

 She will be missed by us all.

Busy times

Stall holder artist Robbie Graham

The Family Days have finally been and gone - four days of complete mayhem! We spent most of last week frantically preparing the site and getting everything ship-shape for the thousands of people soon to descend on us. This meant more painting, carting woodchip from one side of the site to the other to re-do stand-offs and dreaded marquees (Not the most enticing jobs when its 30 degrees outside! The variety of stall-holders made the heat worthwhile at least. Some amazing photographers and artists and noteable charities all involved.

Main shop in the big marquee

We had to kit out 3 shop outlets across the site, which involved carting cuddly toys, key-rings, bags and other such gift items across the site. This was a task that somehow took all day, but by the end of the day the shops were looking pretty good and full to the brim with stuff to buy. The heat inside the marquees was overwhelming, and I have no idea how the guys manning them would survive over the coming 4 days - but somehow they did! 

Jack the jungle cat

The Family Days themselves were a lot of fun. We all had our roles on the days - I was in charge of the area around pumas and jungle cat, so spent the night before frantically researching all I could about jungle cats. Unfortunately I didn't really get to put my new found knowledge to use as Jack our jungle cat spent most of the day in bed and avoided all visitors - typical. The days themselves were packed - we had around 2500 people on each of the four days, not including staff, volunteers, and stall holders and of course the roaming mascots: a bear and tiger costume character which all the cats found a little bit too interesting. 

All the money raised is going to the upkeep of the centre and the cats, so it was important to have a successful, popular day, and I think we did rather well. So a big thank you goes out to everyone that came and helped to make it a success. 

Open day visitors watching the lions (photo WHF facebook)

 

New arrival!

It's been pretty hectic the last week or so at WHF, mainly preparing for the imminent open days - painting stand off fences, weeding etc amongst the usual hustle and bustle of daily life at the site. I've been away for two weeks (returning last Saturday) and came back to some exciting news... the new snow leopard was due to arrive the following week!

Yarko's arrival

This snow leopard has been a bit of a mystery cat. He was due to arrive in January 2013 - it's now June 2013. He's a little bit late bless him. Laila, our resident female, has been awaiting his arrival and slowly becoming more reclusive in the meantime so his arrival was much anticipated. Since I've been at WHF it's very much been "he's coming but who knows when!", so hearing this news was very exciting. 

Unloading to the den

So on Wednesday we were all waiting and hoping, getting regular updates throughout the day and finally heard that he'd been cleared through Heathrow Airport and was on his way! After much waiting he finally arrived at WHF at around 7pm to a small crowd of people able to stay and help unload him. He was quite active in his crate, obviously keen to get out after his long journey from Russia. After some rearranging of the crate to the den door he finally emerged into his new home. 

First day outside

Safely arrived in his new home

His name is Yarko, he's 2 years old and amazingly handsome (for a snow leopard). He'll now be in quarantine for 4months, but in the meantime he'll be getting used to his new home (inside and out) and the other residents on site - especially the two hooligan Sumatran tiger boys opposite. He was out today for the first time in a rather precarious position underneath a platform for most of the day watching the world go by. It has to be quite a shock to be in the Kent countryside after living in Russia, but hopefully he'll settle in quickly and get to meet Laila in a few months time!  

Yarko's arrival takes us back up to 57 cats with the departure of Little Khan the Pallas Cat (to Cotswold) a few weeks ago

Streak for tigers

WHF is lucky to have a huge bunch of people willing to do crazy things to raise money for conservation and big cats. The latest is raising money through a ZSL (Zoological Society of London) organised event: "Streak for Tigers". 300 brave (or crazy) people will be running around London Zoo in nothing but a pair of tiger ears to raise money for Sumatran Tiger conservation. The 300 people will represent the estimated 300 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and what an amazing (daring) way to raise awareness and money for such a great appeal. 

Mike and Andy have already entered and are getting some practice in to raise awareness before the big day. You can read more about their challenge and support them here.  As the money total increases more "preview" photos will be uploaded on the site, so they can get a little more courage for the big day. We shall all be cheering them on, although perhaps not on the side lines doing so!

Touring

One of the most popular experiences offered by WHF is the "Big Cat Experience," a two hour personal tour of the site followed by the chance to hand feed one of the cats. It is park policy for volunteers to shadow several of these tours with a keeper prior to let loose on the general public ourselves. These were hugely enjoyable to follow and going around with lots of different people gives a huge variety of information and styles that I found largely interesting and educational.

Now two months into my internship at WHF I officially completed my first solo tour last week, and have now been doing them regularly throughout the week. The enthusiasm of the visitors makes the tours a pretty relaxed affair, and the cats usually behave themselves and come to see me/them. I'm not so keen on the obligatory "tour guide photo" that a lot of people seem to want but I guess that's all part of the experience!

I love being able to have the chance to tell people all about the cats at WHF and I feel I know enough about them now to give an entertaining and information tour. It's always nice to spend a few hours just watching the cats and seeing the delight on people's faces as we do so, especially when it's one of the little known species they've never heard of before.

I'm really looking forward to meeting more people and doing more of these tours, especially if I find the elusive cheetah lover who wants to desperately hand feed Mia or Murphy.

Tamair saying "HI!"

Incoming open day!

The dates for the WHF Open Days were finally announced last week. As WHF isn't open to the general public in the traditional zoo sense, we instead open the doors once a year for a few days over the Summer. I've never been to one before, let alone work it! So it should be an interesting experience. 

It was quite a success last year with over 7500 people turning up on one day! Needless to say this was not expected and the roads around the site were overwhelmed with tailbacks of 10miles or so (not the best for country lanes). As a result this years event will be a pre-booked over four days this year. Thursday July 18th - Sunday 21st. Tickets are on sale via the WHF website here.

It's bound to be a great day out, and one I highly recommend. It's only £10 (suggested donation) with all the money going towards building the cats a better, more comfortable life at WHF and a lot going towards conservation charities. If the cats weren't enough there will be fun activities like face painting for the kids (and young at heart), arts and craft stalls and much more!

I'll be there on Saturday 20th, and possibly some of the other days (work dependent), so hopefully see lots of people there :)

Enrichment part.1

An important aspect of looking after the cats at WHF is the inclusion of enrichment, in an attempt to bring out the cats natural behaviour. Enrichment can be in many forms, and varies between species and individuals, but can be commonly placed into the five categories (Hosey, 2009).

Target training (cognitive)

1. Food based; creating interesting and challenging methods of presenting the food to the animal, often in such a way to encourage investigation, manipulation and also to make them work for food as they would in in-situ.
2. Sensory; stimulating the animals’ senses: visual, olfactory, auditory, tactile and taste. This can include the use of herbs and spices, other animals’ bedding/hair, recorded sounds, videos, textured toys etc. 
3. Structural; enhancing the environment by providing opportunities to express natural behaviour such as climbing, swimming, jumping etc. This can be through the use of pools, swings, risen platforms and beams. 
4. Social; particularly important for animals that naturally live in groups, such as lions. This gives them the opportunity for interaction and provides the chance to express a larger range of natural behaviours, such as allo-grooming.
5. Cognitive; offering animals items such as puzzle toys that can be manipulated, promoting exploratory and investigatory behaviour. This type of enrichment also includes training, which can also then be used as a veterinary/husbandry aid.  
   

Food lures (food based and sensory)

 
Over the next few weeks I shall be looking at each type of enrichment in more detail, and showing examples of how we use such enrichment at WHF. Obviously the types of enrichment available are quite limited given that there are only cats on site, however the range of different enrichment items is quite vast. 

Scented plants (sensory and structural)

 Hosey, G. et al, (2009). Zoo Animals: Behaviour, management and welfare. Oxford University Press.

Bruno and Padmini

This is only a very quick introduction to two of the most beloved tigers at WHF. I've been run off my feet recently with my work at WHF and starting a new job besides the voluntary bits. I will be adding to this as I can! 

Sleepy Bruno

Bruno and Padmini (affectionately known as Pads) are two of the eldest residents at WHF, and well into their retirement. Bruno was born into a circus life and was fortunately rescued when he was still young, so didn't have to perform in one. As such, he is an unknown sub-species (hybrid) and was and could never have been bred from as part of the conservation effort. His companion Pads is a Bengal tiger, and the only Bengal at WHF.  

Padmini

Bruno is well known amongst staff and visitors alike for his party trick... if Bruno is around stay well behind the splash zone! Boys will be boys and if he takes a liking to you, then you can be sure to be sprayed. Not the nicest present to be given let me assure you. 

Pads on the other hand is a lovely old lady who unfortunately is beginning to feel her age. She can still stick up for herself, but needs some time away from Bruno - especially at meal times.