Latest news with #Gef
BBC News
3 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Escaped Manx mongoose Gef recaptured at brewery 17 miles from home
A missing yellow mongoose has been caught at a brewery 17 miles from its home at a wildlife park on the Isle of small carnivorous mammal, nicknamed Gef in a nod to Manx folklore, disappeared last month from Curraghs Wildlife Park in Ballaugh and was found in the grounds of Heron & Brearley brewery on the Old Castletown Road in will now spend time in the sanctuary's quarantine facility, ahead of plans to find the nine-month-old mongoose a female mate at another said they were "very relieved" that Gef was "safe and looked well" after his adventure. The wildlife park's manager, Kathleen Graham, said Gef had burrowed out of the northern wildlife park "before TT began" in late MayWildlife officers "looked everywhere and there was no sight of him" at the enclosure, she were then "surprised" to receive a tip-off from a resident in Union Mills who had spotted a mongoose in their to southern Africa and sometimes nicknamed the red meerkat, mongooses can "cover distance and move very fast", Ms Graham said."Animals will escape, if they have the motivations to... I think he was highly motivated to go and find a female." Gef was next spotted in the National Sport Centre car park in Douglas, before being recaptured using traps at the brewery, the park manager said."You couldn't make it up," she joked."Some people have said 'keep him here', but we think he wants to go", Ms Graham said."In all honestly there's a lot of dangers out there and we'll find him a nice home and a nice female, so he will have a happy ending." Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Escaped mongoose from Curraghs Wildlife Park spotted in Douglas
A yellow mongoose that has escaped from the Isle of Man's wildlife park has been spotted in the capital animal, nicknamed Gef by the Curraghs Wildlife Park, disappeared from the sanctuary in Ballaugh last week but has since been seen about 15 miles (24 km) away in Manager Kathleen Graham said keepers had laid out traps where they know the animal was and hoped to safely recapture it. She said they believe Gef was on the hunt for a new family and "looking to find a female mongoose". The fugitive, thought to be called Gef as a nod to a well-known Manx fable, had burrowed out of the northern wildlife park. 'Evading us' The park had been searching locally, but Ms Graham said they were surprised to get a call from a resident in Union Mills who had spotted the juvenile mongoose, who was born in September, in their garden. Ms Graham said they were shocked as that was "a long way from the park", adding: "He's not going to to find another female mongoose out there"."So far he's been evading us but we're hoping to catch him up soon," she added. Gef is not the first wildlife park resident to long for adventure, after a red panda called Kush made headlines in 2019 and 2020 for his Graham said mongoose were "very canny" and Gef would "eat insects, small rodents, molluscs, there's plenty of food out there for him".She said on Gef's safe return to the park they would look to find another zoo for rehoming, where the animal could enter a breeding programme to "find his new family". Read more stories from the Isle of Man on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X.
