Lotherton Hall: Tropical birds still missing after heavy snow allowed them to escape

Wildlife World at Lotherton Hall has been closed all week but is due to reopen today (Jan 11) in a limited capacity after staff have been working day and night to repair the damage.

Seven Incas Terns and two Waldrapp Ibis managed to escape due to damage caused by the snow and while three terns and one ibis have been returned to the zoo, the others still remain in the wild.

Staff at the much-loved Aberford estate zoo battled their way in to work last Sunday (January 5) to discover some of the biggest aviaries were badly collapsed and damaged due the heavy snow, allowing some of the birds to escape.

Due to their massive efforts in clearing the snow from the nets, the zoo staff managed to prevent any more birds from escaping despite holes in the netting.

The staff have thanked members of the public for their help in locating the escaped birds - but are still appealing for sightings of the other birds.

Shannon Gill, animal keeper at Wildlife World, said: “Having looked after these birds for nine years, I have been very worried about them. All the keepers have been giving up their spare time following leads of where sightings have been in the hope that we can return them to Lotherton.”

Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Leeds City Council’s executive member for climate, energy, environment and green space, said: “It’s devastating to see the damage to the aviaries at Wildlife World, especially after so much recent work has gone into making the site superb for animals and visitors.

“I want to commend the staff for their hard work in keeping the birds safe and working with the help of the public to recover the escapees.

“We’re glad to be able to reopen on Saturday, although in a limited capacity, and we will continue to work towards restoring all the aviaries as soon as possible.”