Visit Drusillas – and meet their surprise arrival

Wondering what to do at half term with the kids? Drusillas Park is open for business, and they’ve got a surprise for you! Warning: very cute pictures below.

If you’re wondering what to do at half term in Sussex, a trip to the zoo may be in order. Title’s Carly and Lili had the novelty of visiting East Sussex’s Drusillas Park last week, following the surprise arrival of a baby sloth. As well as having the novelty to see the baby, we were completely overwhelmed by the cute animals. Scroll down for the sweetest pictures you’ll see today!

Why we love Drusillas

Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge there’s something for everyone at Drusillas. Whether you’re looking for a family day out to captivate the kids, or you fancy meeting new animals on your next romantic date, Drusillas is the place to be. Half term is the perfect opportunity to stretch your legs and explore the park.

The variety of animals coupled with the knowledgeable staff makes for an enjoyable and educational day out. The new addition of SPARK has added another fantastic section to the park, this time in the way of child-friendly sensory play.

SPARK is the UK’s largest immersive play experience, and includes 360° projection software, turning an ordinary soft play area into an interactive sensory space. You can slide into the sea, create your own patterned creatures for the lake, help animals get big and strong by eating, and ride a number of jungle friends through the rainforest.

On top of this, Drusillas offers a wide range of outdoor adventure play areas, as well as a number of rides and the Safari Express train.

Oh, make sure you remember to pick up your Zoolympics book from the beginning, and don’t forget to write down your results! Are you as fast as a cheetah? As heavy as a warthog? And can you jump as far as a kangaroo? You can find the answers to all of these questions by partaking in the Zoolympics as you go around.

Remember your stamp booklet too, so you can stamp each animal you see from your keepsake book!

Stuck for ideas this half term? Have you visited Brighton’s Paradox Place yet?

Have the best half term meeting the new arrival

We had the absolute pleasure of visiting the gorgeous baby sloth, whose arrival was a complete surprise to the sloth’s team of keepers.

According to Drusillas, “keepers couldn’t believe their eyes when resident sloth female, Halina, wandered down from her bed to say good morning and had a new addition tenderly clinging to her.”

The arrival of the baby means Drusillas now boasts five Linne’s two-toed sloths. Our visit to see the baby sloth, who shares its home with fruit bats in a walk-through enclosure, was wonderful. We learned so much about the nature and lifestyle of the sloths, with the volunteer keepers giving David Attenborough a run for his money!

Did we get to see the sloth?!

We were fortunate to see the baby clinging to its mother as she slowly pulled herself along the tree branches, at one point hanging upside down to give us a full view of her child. The pictures are certainly sweet enough, but they don’t do justice to the real-life allure of the sloths. We spent at least an hour in their enclosure, learning all sorts of new bits with our eyes glued to the family of three.

Mark Kenward, Zoo Animal Manager, spoke about the surprise arrival: “We are always prepared for the birth of new infants as we know this can happen at any time. We remained at the zoo late into the night to make sure everything was moving in the right direction, with this being Halina’s first born. Whilst baby and mum looked very healthy, the baby on occasion got a little confused and would climb onto dad Sophocles, remaining attached to him for a number of hours.

“Male sloths don’t usually have anything to do with the rearing of young, and wouldn’t normally take too kindly to an infant climbing all over them. Sophocles, however, was amazing and accepted the baby happily, giving Halina the chance to rest – but we did need to get the baby back to Halina to begin feeding.

“Late into the evening, when sloths are most active, we calmly removed the baby from Sophocles and placed it back on Halina, but not before we had a chance to quickly weigh and check the gender. Halina and the baby – which we now believe to be a female – have been closely monitored ever since. The baby has been feeding really well and received the all-important colostrum from mum.”

As part of Drusillas’ commitment to conservation, they proudly support The Sloth Conservation Foundation. You can help with their mission here.

Meet the animals

Photos by Lili Harrington-Lowe