Love Hearts for Animals Big and Small this Valentine's Day
Our keepers have been getting the animals involved in the Valentine’s Day celebrations, by gifting them some Love Hearts ‘sweets’.
Special animal relationships, big and small, were celebrated with custom-made, hand-crafted Love Hearts, complete with suitable messages for each species.
The iconic sweets, crafted by Midlands-based company Swizzels, were recreated on a grand scale for the African elephants, lions, and penguins, whilst the fruit beetles were allowed a little nibble on an actual Love Heart sweet.
The oversized treats, made from cardboard and papier-mâché, provided an exciting and enrichment-filled experience for the animals and were a tribute to the importance of all the different animal relationships around the Park.
Head of Wildlife, Angela Potter, said, “We are celebrating Valentine’s Day with our animals, which is all about love and relationships of all kinds. While some of our animals live in mated pairs or herds, conservation breeding programmes also rely on wildlife parks that care for all-female groups and bachelor groups. These animals play a vital role in maintaining healthy populations and may one day join other groups to help sustain their species.
“We have some animals that have very close bonds of friendship such as our female African elephants, Suzy and Gitana. They have lived together for many years and as such they are celebrating ‘galentines’ and were happy to share their heart treat with each other. Whereas our four male lions, although they share a brotherly bond and enjoy being in each other’s company, like all brothers, they can squabble from time to time, but they soon make friends again afterwards.”
She continued, “Relationships can also be found in the insect world, but it is very different to the mammals. Our fruit beetles are a colony, so males and females live together and are always seen mating. They have four life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult.
“It’s a different story for our penguins, who tend to form close bonds as a couple. We have five couples currently, including same sex penguin pair, Arnie and Frodo, who have been together for several years now and nothing breaks the bond between this devoted pair. We hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine’s Day.”
Many of the species at the Park are listed as vulnerable to extinction in the wild, so lots of these animal relationships are very important for the survival of their species.
The African elephants and Humboldt penguins are part of an EEP (EAZA Ex-situ Programme), which is a collaborative effort from European wildlife parks to ensure the survival of endangered species in human care.
Whereas African elephants, Suzy and Gitana, celebrated ‘Galentines’ as they haven’t been properly introduced yet to the male, Coco, many of the Humboldt penguins have ‘coupled up’, so celebrated in their pairs with some tasty fish!
Meanwhile, keepers attempted to celebrate the ‘bromance’ between lion brothers Hodge, Harabi, Hercules and Havoc, but the latter certainly was not in the mood for sharing and quickly swiped the Love Heart for himself.
Even the smallest animals were included, such as the colony of tiny fruit beetles, who keepers explained spend most their days eating and breeding – perhaps not one of the most-loved species but equally as important for recycling nutrients back to the soil and keeping ecosystems healthy.
For Valentine’s Day we have teamed up with Swizzels, so every guest visiting the Park on Friday 14 February, will also be shown some love, by receiving a mini roll of Love Hearts from staff on the gate.
Claire Lee, Senior Brand Manager at Swizzels, said, “We’re thrilled to be sharing the love with the animals at West Midlands Safari Park! Love Hearts have symbolised kindness for generations, and it’s wonderful to see them bringing joy to these incredible animals. From giant Love Hearts for elephants to tiny treats for fruit beetles, it’s all about sharing the love, big or small, this Valentine’s Day!”
