International Zoo Educators Association Conference

On Saturday 30 August 2014, our education manager Grant Aggett-Cox will be flying to Hong Kong to present a paper at the 22 Biennial Conference of the International Zoo Educators Association. After an initial submission of a paper earlier this year, he was chosen as a sponsored delegate to attend this prestigious conference. Following the conference, Grant will be going to Singapore to visit the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo and Gardens by the Bay. He will be posting pictures during his trip on Facebook and also blogging about the trip so keep up with our social media sites for updates. Remember you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, this blog, YouTube and our website. Go to www.umgeniriverbirdpark.co.za for all the links.

New additions to the park

Come and join us these July holidays and see our newest additions. We have recently acquired a pair of Marabou Storks, Blue-grey Tanagers, Luzon Bleeding-heart Doves, Vinaceous Amazon Parrots and Grey Peacock-pheasants as well as a Green Aracari, Red-faced Mousebird, Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Plum-coloured Starling, Green-winged Dove and Violet Turaco. This is in addition to a Narina Trogon, Buff-spotted Flufftail, African Crake and Red-chested Cuckoo which also went on display at the end of June.

We are in the process of constructing 9 new enclosures which were damaged during the installation of our storm-water drainage system last year and these will be open within the next 2 months. These enclosures will house a collection of “softbills” which are birds with a predominantly fruit, insect and grain diet. Some of the birds planned for these new enclosures are Toco Toucans, Nicobar Pigeons, Pied Imperial Pigeons, Guira Cuckoos, Scheepmaker’s Crowned Pigeon, Violet Turacos, Lady Amherst’s Pheasants, Ring-neck Pheasants, Silver Pheasants, Crested Wood Partridges, Malay Crestless Fireback Pheasants, Siamese Crested Fireback Pheasants, Reeve’s Pheasants, Swinhoe Pheasants, Palawan Peacock-pheasants, Kalij Pheasants, Golden Pheasants and Grey-peacock Pheasants among others.

The opposite side of the pathway will be home to some of our larger meat-eating birds like the Silvery-cheeked Hornbills, Trumpeter Hornbills, Black-casqued Wattled Hornbills, Pied Crows, Laughing Kookaburras, Blue-winged Kookaburras, Crested Guineafowl, Helmeted Guineafowl and Common Barn Owls.

We are constantly changing and improving the park and encourage you to keep coming back to see the changes. With more than 700 birds from 180 species on display, there is something for everyone at the Umgeni River Bird Park.

Price Increase

Please note that our entry fees increase with effect from 1 July 2014 as instructed by eThekwini Municipality. The new entry fees are R50 for Adults and R30 for Children (4-12 years) and Pensioners. This is still excellent value for money so come and see us these holidays. We have 5 new species of birds on display along with more than 700 other birds from 180 species. The free-flight shows are at 11am and 2pm every day during the holidays (weather permitting). The park is open from 9am to 5pm every day.

30th Anniversary Celebrations

There is just one week to go till we celebrate our official 30th anniversary. We have been busy for the past couple months getting plans together and sorting out details for this major milestone and over the  course of the next week will be making those plans public on our social media sites and also on our website. Whilst much has changed over the last 30 years, we are still committed to Inspire to Conserve. Judging by the support we have had over the ups and downs of the last 30 years, we know we have inspired our visitors to make a difference for conservation and give a voice to those who can't speak for themselves.

We are planning an exhibit for the anniversary with memories from our visitors of the park and want to know what your favourite memory of the park is? You can post your comments on this blog or email them to education@urbp.co.za. A selection of these will be added to this permanent exhibit so feel free to add a pic of the memory or yourself too :)

Christmas Specials

New on display and Updates from the Park

Vultures are admittedly not liked by many people and mostly because of a lack of understanding about them. Our King Vultures though are absolutely gorgeous and amazing birds. The female comes to us on loan from the Montecasino Bird Gardens in Johannesburg and the male is Bishop who was one of our show birds. They are one of only 3 pairs in the country which makes them even more special to us. The King Vultures are found in large parts of South and Central America where their bright colours serve as camouflage in the rainforest. They went on display on Tuesday 24 September and have already drawn large crowds to their exhibit near the entrance of the park.

The storm-water drain is still being installed more than 2 months after work started due to major delays with reinforced concrete structures being found and taking more than 2 weeks to break through, granite rock which also delayed the process and numerous electrical cables which weren't on any plans the contractors were given. The bulk of the work in the park has been done though and we have started moving birds back into some of the enclosures. There was severe damage done to some of the enclosures and these will be rebuilt over the next month or so. New pathways will also be installed as well as new landscaping, safety barriers and a garden opposite the show auditorium. All this work will be finished by the December holidays and we again apologise for the inconvenience caused during this construction. The big advantage though is that the park will no longer flood during heavy rains and the birds will be safer because of this drainage system.

Finally for now, we are embarking on some major recycling projects and have obtained a recycling box from Green Office who recycle old printer cartridges. More than 300 million printer cartridges end up in landfills every year and this is a way we can help reduce that. We would like to encourage members of the public to bring their empty printer cartridges to the park and dispose of them in our recycling box. Money raised from the recycling of these cartridges will be donated to the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project. Go to www.ground-hornbill.org for more information about them and the work they do. We are proud to support them and have done so for the past 9 years. Help us to help them and bring your empty cartridges to the park.

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