With Spring approaching the fire-bellied newts are starting to indulge in courtship behaviour. The males' tails have flattened sideways, they have developed a blue colouring, which will along a courtship dance and the release of chemicals into the water indicates to the females mating time has arrived. There is no physical mating, the deposits a packet of sperm on to the bottom and the female picks it up with her cloaca. Soon the female will begin to lay eggs, folding plants over and depositing the sticky jelly covered eggs singly to hold them thus, giving the eggs some protection.

This baby gold-stripe gecko would have been born earlier in the year but was recently found in the enclosure along with the adults. It was pleasing to note that it had not been harmed at all by them.It is always a risk leaving young lizards with their parents [skinks in particular] but there does at times seem to be some tolerance to them within a group as opposed to those admitted from elsewhere.

A new addition to the park are these Florida soft- shelled turtles which as their name indicates come from the southern states of the U.S.A.  The larger one would be in excess of 20 years in age and the smaller about 15. There is only a few of these turtles in the country and as they would appear to be a pair we are hoping for them to breed in the coming years.  They have settled in satisfactorily and are eating well, also attempting to bite anyone that gets too close.

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