I must apologise for the late blog upload as I visited Knowsley Safari Park in July 2018 with my good friend and carnivore keeper, James. I hadn't yet visited the collection since the opening of their brand new £1.4m Amur tiger exhibit, attached are some shots of the new exhibit.The exhibit itself is excellent, well themed and detailed, the interpretation surrounding the exhibit is also something which I particularly enjoyed. Knowsley Safari Park currently house two female adult Amur tigers, Bira and Sinda who were both born on the 1st April 2008 at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent. The duo's parents are Ingrid who was born in Norway in 2003 and the ever popular Tugar, born in 1998 at the Port Lympne. Sadly, the big fella, Tugar is no longer around, however, Ingrid is still around and kicking as far as I am aware.
Previously, the two females were housed on a drive-pass enclosure up on the safari, next to the pride of lions, however, the two never really were seen by the public. I rarely saw them myself whenever I visited the Safari Park, so the addition of this large enclosure is very much welcomed. Bira and Sinda both arrived at the park on 25th November 2009 as two rather young tigers and have since transitioned into two beautiful tigers.Bira is the more dominant of the two females, who often investigates the enrichment and food provided, whereas Sinda is the more playful and curious of the two. The two females have aside from their father, never met another male tiger, therefore, the addition of this huge enclosure will allow the arrival of a male when allocated by the EEP. Personally, I think it will be extremely interesting to see how two feisty females such as Sinda and Bira deal with a male, it certainly will be a challenge for those involved anyway.
The exhibit itself is housed in a large woodland part of the walk-around section of the park, the development took around two years to complete. It features a large pool which is situated in front of the huge glass viewing windows and also a small cave where you potentially can come nose to nose with the largest big cat on earth. The signage for me is brilliantly displayed, it features a wide range of issues which the Amur tiger faces in the wild and more importantly, a keeper checklist prior to entering the exhibit. This is hugely significant as it will almost certainly assist keepers working with the cats in follow the correct procedures.The Amur trail looks set to be a huge success, the entire enclosure itself is split into two, one large exhibit featuring a large pool and a second, smaller enclosure which if breeding does occur, can turn into a small nursery den which is perfect for cub rearing. Overall, I really like the Amur trail at Knowsley Safari Park, it is well themed and detailed, however, if there's one thing which could be improved or added, would be the addition of some smaller exhibits around the enclosure. Personally, I am a huge fan of exhibits which display an echo-system, small bird species such as merganser or potential prey species such as wild boar or deer would be the perfect experience to show the public the life of a tiger in Russia.
This has been one of the more detailed blogs I have uploaded, though, I hope you all enjoy it - please leave a comment with what could potentially be improved. For me information regarding Knowsley Safari Park's pair of Amur tigers please follow the link here: https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/explore/foot-safari/tiger-trail-map/tiger-trail/
Thanks all,
Jordan
