Along the land animal pathway behind Tava’s Jungleland, you will find a small building with a platform and a set of viewing windows. This is our Animal Nursery/Veterinary Clinic. On the other side of the windows you may see Lucy the White-Throated Monitor Lizard, Bacardi the Giant Indian Fruit Bat, Ginger the Two-Toed Sloth, Mya and Sadie the White-Nosed Coatis, and Clover and Clementine the Domestic Ferrets.
Bats are incredibly important to the ecosystem and our environment. Fruit Bats like Bacardi help spread seeds from the fruit they eat, and insect-eating bats can eat thousands of insects in just a single night, helping to control the pest population.
Sloths have a reputation for being slow, which they certainly live up to. Out in the rainforest, moss and algae will even grow on their fur. Even their digestive systems are slow – Ginger only goes to the bathroom about once per week!
Coatis are excellent climbers – they can rotate their ankles to allow them to climb head-first down trees. Their long tails also help them to balance.
While our trained professionals have special permits to house them here, it should be noted that Ferrets are actually illegal to own as pets in the state of California. This is because they are master escape artists and vicious hunters – a combination that could be bad news for California’s native small mammals, birds and fish.
Many of these animals are nocturnal and can be seen sleeping throughout most of the day. Their indoor spaces are have controlled temperature and/or humidity so that they can enjoy climates similar to those from which their species originate. Depending upon the weather, Bacardi the bat, Ginger the sloth and both ferrets can sometimes be seen at The Wildlife Experience show at Discovery Theater. All of the inhabitants of the Animal Nursery also enjoy walks around the park accompanied by their Animal Care Specialists.