Rare birds escape Lotherton Hall aviary after heavy snowfall

Rare Inca terns broke out of their museum aviary over weekend after it was damaged by heavy snowfall.  

Lotherton Hall in West Yorkshire, part of Leeds Museums, is one of many institutions across the country that have been hit by adverse weather conditions this week.  

In a post on the venue's Facebook page, a museum spokesperson said: “Our penguin aviary suffered damage during last evening’s [4 January] snowfall and our beautiful Inca Terns who live with our penguins decided it would be a good opportunity to explore the local area.”

Inca terns are a near-threatened species that reside around the Pacific coasts of Chile, Ecuador and Peru. 

The post continued: "We are understandably very concerned for their welfare and would appreciate anyone who may site these birds calling 07376 424868. We can offer advice on what to do and willl aim to dispatch one of our friendly keepers to assist."

The aviary is part of the museum's Wildlife World attraction.

The museum closed on Sunday due to the snowfall and has not yet reopened. 

Lotherton Hall was not the only museum affected by last weekend’s snow storm. 

Beamish Museum near Stanley in County Durham was forced to close on Sunday as a result of heavy snow and adverse weather conditions across the north-east. 

The open-air history museum said it was unable to open due to safety concerns. 

Hopetown Darlington Museum in Teesside also closed early as a result of the snow.  

The railway attraction announced on social media that: “Due to the predicted further drop in temperature, the effect the weather has had on staffing, and for the safety of visitors and our staff, Hopetown Darlington will close at the earlier time of 3pm today.”

Further south, Leeds City Council announced that all Leeds Museums sites would be closed, while Castel Howards in North Yorkshire, Dales Countryside Museum and Hawes National Park Visitor Centre also opted not to open. 

Floods have also caused damage to museums. In Leicestershire, the Retro Computer Museum was forced to close over the weekend due to flooding. 

The museum was inundated by four inches of water in the main building and 10 inches in its separate arcade building. 

A Facebook post from the museum described the incident as “devastating”, saying that there was “lots of damage”. 

The museum has made a plea for help to replace some of the items lost in the flood.