While most of us are spending time with loved ones over Christmas, the staff at Camperdown Wildlife Centre in Dundee will be enjoying the company of a different kind of family.
The zoo is home to about 300 animals from more than 50 different species – from sleepy bears to a diabetic anteater.
And although the park will be shut to visitors on Christmas Day, the work will not stop behind the scenes – with staff at the centre working away as normal to look after its many and varied residents.
As The Courier paid a pre-Christmas visit to the centre, we caught up with Phil McCarlie-Davis – one of the park’s seven keepers – to find out what Christmas looks like at Camperdown.
He says it will be “business as usual” at the zoo with a handful of keepers tasked with keeping the animals well-fed and watered throughout the festive period, including Christmas Day.
Among those able to enjoy some festive treats are the ring-tailed lemurs, who tucked into some food gifts as The Courier watched on.
However, the park’s most famous residents – the three European brown bears – will have a much more low-key Christmas than most of the other residents.
Phil said: “The bears are in torpor at the moment, which means they will get up every now and then, before going back to bed again.
“We maintain 24/7 care for all the animals on Christmas Day and not all of the animals are on show.
Turkey off the menu at Christmas for Camperdown zoo animals
“For example, we are overwintering the blue-throated macaws at the moment.
“The macaws might get some bananas and the parrots like opening some boxes.
“But the animals won’t get anything beyond their specific diet.”
Turkey is not on the menu, then.
Two zoo residents who definitely won’t be tucking into a box of Quality Street are the park’s giant anteaters, Lucifer and Nala.
Nala was one of the first giant anteaters in the world to be diagnosed with diabetes and her glucose levels will be monitored closely over the Christmas period.
Two of the keepers and the wildlife centre manager have an app on their phones that tells them when they are getting low.
Conservation efforts at the zoo will also continue and Camperdown works closely with the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (BIAZA) conservation network.
Phil added: “A lot of the birds that we have are quite heavily endangered like the Bali starlings and the hyacinth macaws.
“An obvious example of conservation are the wildcats.
“We have a studbook keeper who knows where all the wildcats are from any given line.
“And they can contact different zoos to ask them to breed with certain cats.
“We’ve had four to five cats caught to breed to have offspring which has gone into the release programme.
“All the species here have their own studbook keeper.”
The park has had a challenging couple of years, particularly when its pack of wolves had to be put down due to safety concerns in spring 2023 following the death of their alpha male.
The large wolf enclosure has remained empty ever since.
Leisure and Culture Dundee, which runs the zoo, says it has no current plans to replace the wolves.
No plans to replace wolves at Camperdown Wildlife Centre
A spokesperson said:Â “At the moment, we are focused on our current animal residents and related conservation programmes, so don’t have immediate plans to add more animals to the vacant enclosures.
“We will also continue to explore opportunities within the centre, both in terms of animal residents and infrastructure to improve the visitor experience.”
Camperdown Wildlife Centre will close on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
It will then be shut from New Year’s Day to January 3.
Conversation