Baby honey badger can be seen at Devon zoo for first time
Staff said the best times for members of the public to see the badgers were just after 10:00 and 15:00.
The baby badger was born on 16 January, zookeepers said. They have tried feeding her different types of meat, as honey badgers are scavengers.She has been introduced to mice, quail, chicken, steak and locusts – and some of her meals were covered in a honey drizzle.
Staff have named the mother Mrs Stoffel but the baby is yet to be given a name. Exmoor Zoo's senior carnivore keeper, Tina Rowtcliff, said: "We'd really love to give her a name, but we think letting the public come up with a name would be amazing."She said the zoo would be running a naming competition on social media.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Call for greater monitoring of £12m Colwick fish pass
A charity is calling for greater monitoring of England's largest fish pass, which cost £ described as a "motorway for fish", it was installed at Colwick Country Park in Nottinghamshire by the Environment Agency (EA) and opened in November aim was to "make it easier for salmon and other fish to reach their spawning and feeding grounds" along the River Trent, boosting declining EA has no legal obligation to monitor the effectiveness of the structure and will carry out short-term checks during key migratory windows, but the Trent Rivers Trust fears it is not enough. 'Canary in the coal mine' Wild Atlantic salmon were once native to the River Trent and are the main species the fish pass was designed to help fell rapidly during the industrial revolution when weirs and dams prevented them from reaching breeding grounds and water pollution destroyed their habitats."They've been referred to as the canary in the coal mine," said Alison Baker, restoration director at the Wild Atlantic Salmon Trust."Salmon require cold, clean water and if there's no cold clean water, then we all suffer."The fish pass is built around Holme Sluices, part of a 1950s flood defence scheme owned by the EA on the notoriously unpredictable structure is 210m (656ft) long, 6m (19.7ft) deep and 6.5m (21.3ft) is divided into 20 ascending chambers - each slightly higher than the previous ones to match the slope of the landscape - into which water flows through narrow slots. The EA said the pass - built under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 - was "carefully designed and is relevant for all fish species, including salmon".It is yet to carry out any monitoring and plans to perform short-term checks using underwater cameras to "better understand fish migration" in autumn of this year and spring Dr Scott McKenzie, head of rivers and nature-based solutions at the Trent Rivers Trust, said it was not enough to know how efficient the fish pass is or to learn from it."We don't just want a snapshot into whether they can get through at certain times of year," he added."A fish pass like this costs a lot of money; we want to make sure it's worth it."Dr McKenzie said monitoring should involve counting salmon at key breeding sites to check they were "not only navigating the structure, but actually reaching their breeding habitats", and include other recovering species. Dr McKenzie said monitoring should involve counting salmon at key breeding sites to check if they were "not only navigating the structure, but actually reaching their breeding habitats", and include other recovering species. The Trent Rivers Trust is leading a recovery of a 75km stretch of the river - a project that could see further fish passes McKenzie said the facility at Colwick was "only worth it if it's part of a bigger recovery plan which should include monitoring".The EA said: "For salmon monitoring, funding is concentrated on those rivers designated as 'principal salmon rivers', which the River Trent is not."Therefore, a strategy of monitoring at key migration windows is being applied here."Should further funding become available, the monitoring will be enhanced."
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Norfolk County Council urges action over battery farm fire fears
Energy secretary Ed Milliband will be asked to fund training and equipment for fire services in areas where large battery farms are County Council voted in favour of asking for government support for emergency services because of concerns they may have to deal with blazes at battery energy storage systems (Bess).A number are planned for Norfolk, and Conservative council leader Kay Mason Billig said she fears "they pose a serious risk", whilst calling for fire services to be consulted on battery farm planning Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said "fires at storage sites in the UK are rare" and "high safety standards" were already in place. Bess are used to stockpile excess energy from sources such as fossil fuels, solar and wind - and then release it when the power is needed electricity is held inside lithium batteries, which are housed in structures similar to shipping are seen as a key part of the government's plan for green power and energy security, with it aiming to increase storage capacity from 4.5 GW in 2024, to up to 27 GW by whilst Bess fires are rare, concerns have been raised about their safety, with Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service describing them as "an emerging risk".There is currently no single authority setting safety standards for them, but they are regulated by the Health and Safety Executive.A growing number of applications have been submitted for Bess sites, although developers recently suspended their plans for a large one at Rushall, near Diss. Mason Billig told a meeting of Norfolk County Council that she was concerned there was no legal requirement for fire services to be consulted on planning applications for Bess for a change in the law she also said she wanted ministers to make sure emergency services were equipped to deal with any fires at them."They present a real challenge to our fire and rescue services who are expected to respond to these highly complex incidents with no additional funding, training or equipment from the government or developers," she Billig added she wanted the government to set national safety standards for battery farms. Catherine Rowett, who leads the council's Green group, said she supported tighter guidelines and fire service funding – but warned against "scaremongering".She said Bess sites where there had been fires – such as one in Liverpool in 2020 – were based on older technology that is now out of use."We should resist the temptation to overstate the risks from Bess installations because local residents are receiving sensationalist misinformation that are causing many to fear for their lives," she councillors voted in favour of Mason Billig's proposals – 11 abstained and none voted against – so she will now write to Milliband.A spokesman for Norfolk's Fire and Rescue Service said it "would welcome closer fire service involvement in these sites as a positive step towards greater public safety in an emerging technology".The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero's spokeswoman said that "every battery storage facility we construct helps protect families from future energy shocks".She added: "Battery fires at storage sites are rare in the UK and we already have high safety standards in place to ensure batteries are safe throughout their lifespan." Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Emergency repairs for historical Peterborough building agreed
Emergency repairs to a historical building are to be carried out after plans were approved and backed by Historic of Grade I-listed Laurel Court, next to Peterborough Cathedral, are believed to date back to Chapter of Peterborough Cathedral, the cathedral's governing body, has received listed building consent to begin repairs and surveys to the roof, as well as a number of windows and building is mostly empty, but used for some storage and it is hoped that a new use for it can be found once the structural concerns are rectified. The exact history of Laurel Court is not known but it was used as a school from 1870 and later a choir school, the Local Democracy Reporting Service documents stated: "The condition of Laurel Court has been a significant concern for several decades, and remains... extremely poor."It needs a major phase of complete repair, to deal with all of the external fabric and structural issues."Historic England backed the works at what it described as a "handsome house of several phases".An inspector at Historic England wrote: "Historic England supports these emergency repairs and investigative works in principle."With the input of a suitably qualified structural engineer, we accept the necessity of the works in principle, and consider that no harm to the significance of the building is likely to be caused."The work will be overseen by conservation-accredited professionals, the cathedral architect and a structural engineer. Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
