West Midlands Safari Park expand lodges
For the first time in the Park’s history, red panda will now be part of the vast range of wildlife that call Bewdley home.
The state-of-the-art exhibit, named ‘Red Panda Retreat’, is the new home of a one-year-old female red panda named, Mei Lin. Born in 2020, Mei Lin has come from The Welsh Mountain Zoo located in Colwyn Bay, North Wales and has been settling in well at the Park for the past week, prior to moving into her new habitat.
Mei Lin’s new home has been designed to showcase her species’ natural behaviours, with stimulating and enriching environments such as nesting boxes, climbing structures, feeding platforms and bamboo.
The open-air enclosure will give Mei Lin 24-hour access to both her indoor and outdoor spaces. This also provides guests staying at the cottages 24-hour access from their accommodation windows to see Mei Lin in her new habitat.
Chris Kelly, Managing Director for the Park said, “We’re thrilled to be welcoming red panda to our wildlife collection here at the Park, and to be able to offer the UK’s only overnight experience of its kind with this wonderful species!
“Our Red Panda Cottages mark the next step in expanding our accommodation offering here at West Midland Safari Park. We’re committed to upgrading our animal facilities here at the Park, and this accommodation will allow us to continue to do this, as well as providing our guests with an incredibly unique experience.”
Mei Lin will eventually be joined by a male red panda in the future, and it is the hope that the pair will go on to breed.