A team of volunteers from the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society who were allocated some funds from the Gibraltar Government set about constructing suitable enclosures and aviaries for these unfortunate animals, some of which were in a state of shock due to their dreadful ordeals through their capture and subsequent incarceration.

Some of the animals that you will see at the Alameda Wildlife Park are the original birds and monkeys from the first container ships to be boarded by customs officers. These and other animals that came from such ships had to be housed, and so the Alameda Wildlife Park was born.

The park is open to the public and the relatively small entry charge is used entirely as a contribution towards the upkeep of the park and its animals.

Below are descriptions and photographs of some of the parks residents, please enjoy and pay a visit sometime.

These fascinating tiny primates have a life span in captivity as high as 25 years whereas in the wild it is about 13 – 16 years. There are Less than 1000 of these tiny primates in the wild and about 1800 in captivity, this continues to decline, having lost around three-quarters of its original habitat to deforestation. They are now protected by international law. Cotton tops habitat ranges from south-eastern Costa Rica in Central America to north-western Colombia, South America. They prefer dense vegetation with lots of vines where insects are numerous. Biomes: tropical forests, open woodlands, dry tropical, dry thorn forest savannah, scrub and edge forests.

Females usually gives birth to twins. The father assists at birth receiving and washing the young. The new-born have a coat of short hair and are helpless. New-borns are able to cling tightly to the body of the mother or father by using their hands and feet. The father carries the young, but transfers them to the mother at feeding time. Tamarins main diet consists of insects, ripe fruit, seeds, nectar, and gum from trees. Other foods may include some tender vegetation, spiders, small vertebrates, and birds' eggs. Mice, frogs, birds and even the odd lizard. As with all our animals here at the Wildlife Park we like to stick as close to the natural diet as we can.

These monkeys have the longest tails of the Thai macaques usually averaging between 80-110% which is the length of the body and head These wonderful creatures are often called Long Tailed Macaques.

Although the crab eating macaques do indeed eat crabs, most of their time is spent foraging for fruit. These macaques are excellent swimmers and climbers but they spend more time on the ground than other species of macaques.

They are found in Indochina, Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Philippines and many small islands.

The dominant males mate with high-ranking females. Mating can last 12-20 minutes, after which partners remain attached and are often harassed by other members of the group. The Estrus cycle is 30 days with gestation around 180 days.

Pigtail macaques have a wide range throughout Southeast Asia. Southern pigtail macaques are found in north-eastern India, southern China, in Indonesia on Borneo (Kalimantan) and Sumatra, in eastern Bangladesh, as well as in Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They are also found in Malaysia, both on the Malay Peninsula and on Borneo. Northern pigtail macaques are found in peninsular Thailand , through Burma and Indochina and into Bangladesh , India , and Southern China.

These large ground birds are related to pheasants but the primary difference is the plumage. These hardy birds can live up to 50 years with proper care.

Peafowl are native to India, Burma, Java. Ceylon, Malaya. and Congo and can come in a variety of different colours including blue, green. white. light brown. and purple. Peahens begin laying eggs in April and will lay eggs every other day until a clutch of seven to ten eggs is achieved. The eggs are light brown in colour and are similar in size to turkey eggs. If any eggs are removed the peahen could keep laying up to 30 eggs. Peacocks mature at around 3 years old. The tail train of feathers can reach 2 foot long. The tail feathers are shed in late summer when mating season has ended, this is called moulting. A two year old peacock that has a one to two foot long tail train will be a better breeder at this age than a peacock of the same age that doesn't have a tail train of any size.

Pot bellied pigs are a subspecies of the common pig, possibly descended from a Chinese ancestor. This dwarf swine breed were developed in the 1960's from the Í breed of Vietnam. They were originally brought into Sweden and Canada and have since moved into a number of countries.

They are even-toed, cloven-hoofed mammals. Despite their reputation they are clean and extremely intelligent creatures. They have a life span of between 12 and 18 years. Pot-bellied pigs, sometimes called "Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs," originated in Southeast Asia and China. The Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig is usually black (although spotted animals do occur) and they have a thick skin and short legs. Adults weigh about 125 pounds on average and can grow to be 16-26 inches at shoulder height.

In the wild, a male pig will usually wander about on his own whereas the sow (female pig) can live in groups of around 6 to 10 sows. Our pig is male so he is perfectly happy on his own. Like all pigs he can be a little aggressive and territorial. When you visit our pig you will notice that his body looks sort of squashed together from front to rear, This is because the backbone of these pigs are bent like a saddle, causing the abdomen to nearly drag on the ground. Pigs will eat almost anything. Their 44 teeth are good for digging up things such as roots, but weak for chewing. Although primarily herbivorous. In the wild, they may take eggs, birds, and even attack weak small mammals.

Red-eared terrapins are found both in fresh and brackish waters including coastal marsh ponds. These terrapins can grow up to 35cm and can live up to 20 years in the wild and up to 40 in captivity. They are omnivorous and will eat insects, crayfish, shrimp, worms, snails, amphibians and small fish as well as aquatic plants.

The Red-eared species has been nominated as among the 100 of the world's worst invaders due to there indiscriminate release into the wild by thoughtless pet owners, the terrapins subsequently take over there new habitats.

All of the terrapins at the park are unwanted pets.

Their diet in captivity consists of at least two cups of fruit daily. They also love to eat nuts, seeds, sweet vegetables, such as tomatoes or carrots, etc., but shy away from greens.

The Provost Squirrel originated in South East Asia and the Borneo Islands, but can also be found on many islands in the East Indies. People of Indonesia have sold this squirrel for many years and kept them inside birdcages in homes and gardens, claiming them to be good luck charms. In the wild, the Provost Squirrel can be found making their homes in the holes of hollowed trees, or constructing leaf and twig nests high among the branches. The life span of these beautiful creatures can be as much as 16 years.

This species is often confused with one of its cousins, the even more formidable Alligator Snapping Turtle. These turtles have a pink fleshy lure in their mouths to fool and entice fish to take a bite.

They live in the trees of the tropical Americas, usually above water. The males and females of this species are normally told apart by the size of their head, dewlap, and scales. The males have the larger heads, dewlaps, and scales.

The claws and tail mentioned above are used by the iguana for climbing. The claws grab hold while the tail keeps the lizard balanced. This tail has another function as well, it acts as a main self-defence feature; when approached by a predator, they distract the attacker by thrashing their tail (sometimes they even break part of their tail off, the tail re-grows). They also have comb-like spines from their neck to the last third of the tail, which makes it more difficult for the iguana to be swallowed by predators.

The green iguana does not possess a temperature regulation system. When they need to be warmer, they either lay directly in the sun or beside something reflecting the sun. When they need to cool, they rest in the shade.

Like all other bats these bats are nocturnal. They roost in caves or trees during the day in a large group (sometimes numbering in the thousands) and come out to feed in the late evening and return just before dawn.

Egyptian fruit bats are frugivores, eating mainly soft pulpy fruit. The bats mature at around 9 months of age. Females typically give birth to only a single baby each year, but twins are occasionally born, after a gestation period of around 115-120 days. The young are carried by the female until they able to hang from the roost on their own (after about six weeks). The baby bat can fly at about three months of age, it will then leave the roost to hunt for its own food. Offspring typically stay with the same colony as the parents for their entire lives.

Egyptian fruit bats use echolocation, they accomplish this by emitting sharp clicks with their tongue. These clicks are normally slow and constant and speed up dramatically when the bat approaches an object. They have a range of vocalisations for communication, including grunts and screeches.

The nearest countries where we can find it in the wild are South Spain and Morocco. It is also found in Turkey, Rumania, Jordan, Syria, Iran, North Balkans and South Italy.

In the wild, this tortoise's diet consists of dandelion, wild grasses, snails, worms, seeds, and even faeces and carrion.

Spur-thighed tortoises hibernate during winter. They stop eating altogether and seem to go into stasis and only become active again when the warm weather arrives.

Most of the tortoises at the park have been confiscated or donated, whilst the rest have been born in the park.

The Senegal's diet consists of seeds, fruit, grain and leaf buds.

It is a popular pet species, therefore a large number of them are captured for the pet trade. The Senegal's at the park have been confiscated from illegal traders by Gibraltar Customs. Many of these birds die during transportation, they suffer stress and disease and, as this is a territorial bird, many of the deaths are also caused by dominant birds attacking the weakest that have no chance of escape.

Fortunately the Red Lory isn't so well known in the pet trade as other parrots but it does end up in homes taken care of by people who don't know about its proper care.

Even though this parrot has an amusing character the Lory doesn't do well in a small cage at home.

The park also has a Black Lory which has a larger distribution mostly in open habitats such as savannah grasslands, forest edges, coastal plantations and mangrove swamps. In the wild, large flocks of black Lories are seen foraging together in flowering trees.

They are most active in early morning and late afternoon. In the wild they feeds on nuts, seeds, berries and insects.

The Eleonora shown here was seized by Customs from an Indonesian ship. He arrived with a mate which was stolen from the wildlife park shortly after arrival. In captivity these birds can live to 50-60 years.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are considered ENDANGERED

Many of these birds have died from disease and stress due to the appalling conditions in which they are exported to other countries to be sold as pets. The Greys at the park have been confiscated from illegal traders by Gibraltar Customs.

In the wild, these parrots live in large flocks. They are indigenous to western and central Africa and mate for life. There are two subspecies of African Greys, including the African Grey Congo and the African Grey Timneh which is darker and noticeably smaller. In the wild its distribution ranges through West and Central Africa.

The Congo African Grey Parrot is about 13 to 16 inches (33 - 41 cm) long. With a wing span of about 18 to 20 inches (46 - 52 cm). They weigh about a pound (450-550 g). These parrots have Grey feathers, white patches around the eyes, and red tail feathers and a dark grey bill. African greys will lay 3 to 5 eggs in each clutch The eggs are laid in tree cavities high above the ground. The female incubates the eggs for around 30 days, and the male will feed her. The chicks will normally be fed by both parents.

Ravens are found in the Northern Hemisphere in many types of habitats. The raven is a permanent resident in Alaska, nesting from the Seward Peninsula and the Brooks Range throughout the mainland, south to Kodiak Island, throughout the Aleutian Chain and along the coast and mountains of Southeast Alaska.

The raven is the largest all black bird in the world. Ravens are notorious scavengers and consume a wide variety of both plant and animal matter and are at times predatory on small animals. They will hide or cache food supplies. They also have the habit, (like most hawks and owls,) of regurgitating indigestible food in the form of a pellet. These incredibly intelligent birds form loose flocks during the day and congregate to roost at night.