This article was originally written by Elizabeth Hunter for SWNS — the U.K.’s largest independent news agency, providing globally relevant original, verified, and engaging content to the world’s leading media outlets.
While this week officially marks the beginning of spring, the weather is still quite brisk over in Scotland. Many of the country’s animals depend upon their own built-in coats to keep warm, but two adorable youngsters are getting a little extra help: Meet Cedar and Sweetheart, a pair of 5-week-old Anglo-Nubian goats being raised at Auchingarrich Wildlife Park in Perthshire.
The twins are beloved by park staff, who have been bottle-feeding them twice a day and encouraging them to start munching on hay as well. It’s their young age that also necessitates the thick coats they’ve been donning to stay cozy, as the babies are highly vulnerable to cold weather.
“The whole team is absolutely in love with them,” Honey Thomas, a keeper at the park, told SWNS. “The goats are very affectionate and easy to work with, and most importantly, they absolutely love people and animals.”
Cedar and Sweetheart — who was named for a heart-shaped patch on her back — are currently in isolation while medical tests are being completed, but they’ll soon join fellow goat Maple in the main pen. “We got these little guys for our male goat, Maple,” said Thomas. “He’s a bit older and he’s recently lost a few of his friends, so we decided to get him these baby goats as some companions.”
In terms of personality, it seems the baby goats are already coming into their own. Compared to her brother, Sweetheart is a lot more confident. “She’s very outgoing,” Thomas shared. “She’s the first one to run off to find something to play with, whereas Cedar is a little bit more calm. Sweetheart is very bouncy and all over the place, whereas Cedar will happily cuddle in your lap.”
But one attribute both goats share is something that many visitors have been stunned to see: the size of their ears — a distinctive trait of the breed. “Lots of customers don’t actually realize that’s what baby goats look like, and it’s quite a bit of a shock to see how big their ears are,” Thomas said.
In the future, the goats will take part in treks with visitors, but for now, guests can take the opportunity to bottle-feed the siblings. “People have absolutely loved them,” she noted. But the individual who may be the most delighted by the cute newcomers? Their soon-to-be roommate.
“Maple is a very, very affectionate goat and he loves other goats very much, so it’d be really sweet to bring them all together,” said Thomas.
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