Coatis enjoy some Wimbledon-style enrichment

Monday 20 June 

Rain may stop play at Wimbledon this week, but Marwell Wildlife’s new arrivals are letting nothing get in their way. 

Unlike visitors to Centre Court, these baby ring-tailed coatis weren’t tucking into strawberries and cream, but were enjoying some tasty meal worms stuffed inside tennis balls. 

The tennis balls were just one of the latest forms of animal enrichment at the park in Hampshire. 

Gordon Campbell, curator at Marwell Wildlife said: “Coatis are opportunist when it comes to food so they have to develop into quick and dexterous adults. 

“This enrichment allows them to practice chasing prey and develop their digging skills.” 

Marwell currently has 11 adult coatis and five babies which were born in April and May. 

Coati facts:

• Coatis are omnivorous and primarily eat fruit and invertebrates.
• They are double-jointed and their ankles can rotate beyond 180°which means they can descend trees head first!
• They search for fruit in trees and use their snouts to poke through crevices to find prey on the ground.
• Coatis produce soft whining sounds, but alarm calls are different, consisting of loud woofs and clicks.

For further media information please contact Becky Churcher, Marwell Wildlife Media Relations Officer. Email:  beckyc@marwell.org.uk Phone: 01962 777 947

Marwell Wildlife is a registered charity, Number: 275433 which is dedicated to the conservation of biodiversity and the natural world.

Marwell Wildlife seeks to address causes of extinction such as habitat loss and the over-exploitation of biological resources and to manage vulnerable populations of threatened species to ensure their survival. This is achieved through a range of species and habitat conservation programmes locally through Marwell’s base in southern England and internationally, with a particular focus in Africa.

Marwell Wildlife is a member of the British and Irish Association of zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA).  BIAZA represents its member collections and promotes the values of good zoos and aquariums.