A & S Animal Encounters

07/06/2026

🐸 Did You Know? African Bullfrogs Have Teeth! 🦷

Most people are surprised to learn that African Bullfrogs aren’t just powerful predators – they actually have teeth too!

Unlike mammals, African Bullfrogs don’t have teeth for chewing. Instead, they possess sharp, bony structures called odontodes along their upper jaw, which help them grip and hold onto prey. Combined with their incredibly strong jaws, these formidable amphibians can tackle surprisingly large meals, including insects, rodents, other frogs, reptiles, and even small birds.

Our giant African Bullfrog Jabba certainly knows how to use his impressive mouth! Despite looking like a grumpy garden ornament most of the time, these fascinating frogs are ambush predators that rely on patience, power, and those tooth-like structures to secure their next meal.

Nature never fails to surprise us! 🐸💚

Have you ever seen an African Bullfrog up close?

07/06/2026

🐾⚽ Biscuit’s World Cup Training Has Begun! ⚽🐾

If you’ve ever met Biscuit, you’ll know that life is never boring when a football is involved! 😄

Our famous Palawan Binturong has been hard at work today, honing his skills and getting ready for the next World Cup. We can’t promise he’ll make the Wales squad, but his ball control is definitely improving! ⚽😂

Enrichment is an important part of animal care, helping to keep animals mentally stimulated, physically active, and encouraging natural behaviours. For Biscuit, a simple football can turn into hours of investigation, exercise, and fun.

Whether he’s dribbling, tackling, or simply sitting on the ball to stop the opposition scoring, Biscuit always finds a way to entertain us. At nearly 11 years old, he’s still as playful as ever and continues to be one of the biggest characters at A & S Animal Encounters. ❤️

Did you know? Binturongs are sometimes called “bearcats” and are famous for smelling like buttered popcorn! 🍿

Good luck, Biscuit — we’ll keep training and see if we can get you ready for the World Cup! 🏆⚽🐾

🖤🐾⚽🏆

04/06/2026

🕷️🐜 Mini Beast Adventures at Dowlais Primary! 🐜🕷️

Today Shona visited Dowlais Primary School and spent the morning with the Nursery Class exploring the fascinating world of Mini Beasts!

The children had the chance to meet some incredible animal ambassadors, including our Giant Thorny Stick Insect, a master of camouflage, and Rosie, our amazing 20-year-old Chilean Rose Tarantula. Rosie is always a favourite and helped the children learn that tarantulas are gentle, fascinating creatures that deserve our respect rather than fear.

It was fantastic to see so much curiosity, enthusiasm and confidence from the children as they discovered how these remarkable animals survive and thrive in the wild.

A huge thank you to everyone at Dowlais Primary for making us feel so welcome. We always love inspiring the next generation of wildlife enthusiasts! 🌿🐾

🕷️🐜🌿

03/06/2026

🐾❤️ Biscuit is getting lots of love again lately, so we thought we’d share another video of our famous Binturong! ❤️🐾

For those who haven’t met him yet, Biscuit has been part of the A & S Animal Encounters family since he was just 8 weeks old and has spent the last decade helping educate thousands of children and adults about rainforest conservation.

Known for his cheeky personality, popcorn-like scent, and love of climbing all over his handlers, Biscuit has become one of our most recognised animal ambassadors. He’s appeared at countless schools, events, festivals, and even major attractions across the UK, winning hearts everywhere he goes.

Sadly, Binturongs are becoming increasingly threatened in the wild due to habitat loss and hunting, making education and awareness more important than ever.

So sit back, enjoy another Biscuit video, and let us know where you first met this rainforest superstar! 🌿🐾

🖤🌿🐾

02/06/2026

💕 Shona & Sugar 💕

Some of you may remember Sugar from many years ago. She was actually one of our very first Animal Encounter ambassadors and helped introduce thousands of people to the amazing world of wildlife over the years.

Now 13 years old, Sugar is enjoying a much quieter retirement, filled with plenty of comfort, enrichment, and of course lots of fuss from Shona. ❤️

Sadly, her sister Honey recently passed away. As highly social animals, this has been a big change for Sugar, and we make sure she gets lots of extra attention, interaction, and companionship every day. You’ll often find Shona spending time with her, giving her cuddles, scratches, and keeping her company.

Many people ask why they no longer see Sugar at events. Unfortunately, her species was added to the EU Invasive Alien Species (IAS) list, which means she retired from our Animal Encounter programme some time ago. While she no longer attends events, she remains a much-loved member of the A & S Animal Encounters family and receives the very best care.

After all these years, the bond between Shona and Sugar is something really special to see. 🥰

Sugar may be one of our oldest ambassadors, but she still has just as much character as ever and remains a huge part of our journey. From being one of our very first encounter animals to now enjoying her retirement, she has touched the hearts of so many people over the years.

❤️ If you’ve ever met Sugar, we’d love to hear your favourite memories of her in the comments. ❤️

🦝❤️

02/06/2026

Today we were back at Cearau Primary School with Bobby the Meerkat and the rest of the A & S Animal Encounters crew for another fantastic day of animal encounters!

We delivered 4 hands-on sessions for Nursery and Reception pupils, giving the children the opportunity to meet some amazing animals up close while learning about habitats, adaptations and animal care.

We’ve been visiting Cearau Primary for well over a decade now, and it’s always a pleasure to come back. In fact, this was our second visit to the school this year already!

A huge thank you to all the wonderful staff and pupils for making us feel so welcome. We look forward to seeing you all again soon! 🐾

02/06/2026

🚨 Official Meerkat Announcement 🚨

I’m just here to inform you that Aled is currently trying to get back to everyone and catch up on emails, messages, quotes, bookings, invoices and Risk Assessments… 🐾

Unfortunately, every time he clears one message, three more appear. We believe this is some kind of rare wildlife phenomenon. 🔬

Between caring for the animals, building and upgrading enclosures, travelling to events, and keeping A & S Animal Encounters running, things are a little hectic at the moment!

Thank you for your patience — if you’re waiting for a reply, please don’t worry, you’re not being ignored. Aled is working through everything as quickly as possible.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got important meerkat business to attend to… 👀

23/05/2026

23/05/2026

🌿☀️ GOOD MORNING from Biscuit & the team at A & S Animal Encounters ☀️🌿

Biscuit the Binturong would like to wish everyone an amazing day today 🐾💚

While most people are waking up with a coffee… Biscuit is already thinking about snacks, climbing, and causing chaos 😂

We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend ahead. Thank you as always for supporting our small family business — every like, share, booking, and review genuinely means the world to us 🙌

From all of us at A & S Animal Encounters…
Have an awesome day 🦝🐍🦎🦨🦔

22/05/2026

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