Kelling Heath Holiday Park Welcomes Rare Autumn Litter of Endangered Red Squirrel Kittens16/12/2023 The Holiday Park's rare Autumn litter will help restore endangered native populations as part of a conservation network across the UK
Kelling Heath Holiday Park in North Norfolk has welcomed a litter of two healthy red squirrel kittens, born late September to its resident breeding pair. An autumn arrival of red squirrel kittens is remarkably rare, with the species usually producing litters between February and June. The thriving litter of kittens will further the Park's historic conservation efforts. The new red squirrel kittens will join the previous litter born in July 2023 and can already be seen outside the nest box in the enclosure, settling into their new home. In an effort to help protect this endangered native species, Kelling Heath has successfully bred three healthy litters this year, totalling nine kittens in 2023 alone. David Martin, Countryside Manager at Kelling Heath Holiday Park said: “Welcoming a litter as late as autumn is an incredibly rare thing and took the team by surprise. We're overjoyed at such wonderful news and we're happy to see the little ones out and about in their enclosure already.” Before the kittens go on to join other conservation and rewilding programmes, they will spend at least six months at Kelling Heath learning everything they need to survive and thrive in the wild. With the help of their parents, they will learn how to climb trees, jump and forage for pinecones while independently exploring their protected enclosure. Kelling Heath was one of the last places in Norfolk that red squirrels called home before they disappeared from the region over 40 years ago due to the introduction of the non-native American grey squirrel. Now, the red squirrel population is slowly increasing thanks to both regional and nationwide conservation efforts. “We're very proud to support the biodiversity of the region and the legacy of the red squirrel through our ongoing conservation efforts. We're thrilled to see the numbers of red squirrels increasing across the nation and are proud of the part Kelling Heath's efforts play in that for this magnificent native species”, Martin adds. To keep up-to-date with the kittens' journeys, follow Kelling Heath Holiday Park's Facebook @kellingheath or Instagram @kelling_heath pages. Since 1999, Kelling Heath has kept red squirrels as part of a national conservation scheme to help restore population numbers of the endangered species. Since then, Kelling Heath's red squirrel kittens have either been sent to other licensed captive programmes or released into the wild where established colonies still thrive within the UK. Red squirrels are an endangered species due to the loss of their woodland habitat and the introduction of the non-native American grey squirrel. To find out more about Kelling Heath Holiday Park, go to: www.kellingheath.co.uk
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AuthorI'm Gilly, award winning journalist, travel writer, 13 x author. Credits include: Telegraph, Mail, CNN, Express, BBC mags, Country & Town House, The Scotsman, World of Cruising & countless others Categories
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