New exotic wildlife centre to open tomorrow
As show season kicks off, folk from all over the county will be flocking to the various agricultural show to see livestock, poultry, dogs, and other animals.
But this weekend will also see a selection of animals of a rather more exotic variety go on display.
Tomorrow, Saturday, at Fernvalley Wildlife Centre near Tingwall in Rendall will open its doors for the first time. With a variety of reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals, the centre will be giving visitors and locals a chance to see some animals that you wouldn’t normally be able to see in Orkney.
Head keeper Lisa Farrer, who will be running the centre, has spent her life working with animals as both a zoo keeper and in pet care.
Having grown up in Lancashire, Lisa trained in-house at a small zoo in a nearby area. But a bad experience caused her to leave the zoo world behind.
“They didn’t treat the animals very nicely,” she recalled.
“There was a lot of arguments between me and the boss and I left, and I set up my own pet care business.
Though she enjoyed working with domestic animals such as dogs, Lisa has always had a passion for more exotic creatures.
“I wanted to get back into it, but someone warned me once, a long time ago, that once you leave the zoo world, you never get back in,” she explained.
But when family members moved to Orkney in 2015, Lisa saw an opportunity to create a centre which provided the a positive environment for its animals.
“It was sort of a ‘We’re not going to be like that zoo’ kind of thing,” she continued.
“I’ve been pretty particular about it, so it’s cost a lot more than I originally thought, because I wanted to put the best equipment in there.”
According to Lisa, each of the animals at Fernvalley Wildlife Centre have been given double the minimum space required, to ensure that they are given the best welfare and treatment. With a focus on animals that have become endangered, have been treated poorly, or have been illegally marketed as domestic pets, she hopes that the centre will be first and foremost an educational experience for its visitors.
“We’re a wildlife centre for entertainment purposes, but we are — at the end of the day — an education centre,” she explained.
“So, I would hope people would come and go out having learnt something, rather than just having had a raging day out with the kids. It would be great if they could go away with a message that we’ve passed across about the animals and the pet trade.”
See next Thursday’s The Orcadian for the full story, including the tale of Fernvalley’s very lucky terrapins. Check out our slideshow below for more photos of the centre’s various animals.