Eight capybara pups draw record crowds to Isle of Man zoo — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Curraghs Wildlife Park welcomed eight capybara pups born to two females on 26 September and 1 October — its first capybara birth in four years, when only a single pup arrived.
- Park manager Kathleen Graham said the October weekend was the busiest ever, describing "the car park was full, it was like a bank holiday," with even grown men cooing over the animals.
- Each visitor contributes £1 to the park's conservation fund unless they opt out, and Graham said the pup-driven surge translated directly into extra conservation money over the weekend.
- The fund supports the Manx Wildlife Trust locally and international projects including wetland conservation work in the Pantanal, where wild capybaras live in South America.
- Graham said capybaras are not endangered themselves but serve as ambassadors for threatened wetland habitats — the park sits on a Ramsar-designated wetland and is part of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria's Wetlands for Life campaign.
- The pups' social media debut attracted far more attention than staff expected, with Graham noting the animals arrived at a time when "there's so many just awful things that happen in the world" and people sought "light relief."
Why it matters: The £1-per-visitor levy turns viral animal appeal into direct conservation funding — a single October weekend's worth of capybara-driven footfall at a small Isle of Man zoo generated measurable extra income for the Manx Wildlife Trust and Pantanal wetland projects.
Ask SkimNews
