Some Weyburn residents may have been wondering why the Weyburn Therapeutic Animal Park was closed temporarily earlier this week.

It was for good reason, as Coconut the pig gave birth to eight piglets on Monday night.

"Coconut our pig, she went into labour, and we decided, for the safety of Coconut and her new piglets and for her to be good and comfortable during labour, we just shut down the park for just about a day, it wasn't very long, until she was completely done," said Media Director for the WTAP, Vince Sheldon.

"It was just a safety thing," he said. "Everyone is very much welcome to come and check out Coconut and her piglets."

He added that they are asking visitors, however, to try to be a little more quiet around the new family.

"She is still a bit protective of her piglets," he explained. "We've got them safely protected so they can't get anywhere and they're safe with their mom, but just to be sure that everyone stays comfortable for a few weeks."

"At the park we've got two sheep, we've got Coconut our pig, and then we've got four goats, two ponies, a bunch of chickens and two pheasants," listed Sheldon.

He added that although the rabbit pen has finally been assembled, they won't be adding bunnies until next year.

Sheldon also wanted to extend a big thank you to the volunteers who have helped this year to get things done at the park.

"We've had a ton of volunteers this year," he said. "It's been a hectic year with us in a transition phase."

The park has been in transition to being a board-run organization, with a new focus on community volunteers from one single volunteer, Don Sealy. They're now setting up the legal end of things with the new board of directors.

"We've got some really fantastic volunteers that are doing our weekly chores," he noted.

"They're just doing a really awesome job at making sure the park is well-maintained, all the animals are being taken care of," Sheldon said. "And you know, we're really grateful to have the community has given so much help, with us, with the park, and it's going to be so easy to keep the park going and keep it as part of our community, as everybody wants it to be."

Coconut's piglets are doing well at the Weyburn Therapeutic Animal Park (photo by Marna McManus).

Coco and Lillie are the resident miniature ponies at WTAP (photo by Marna McManus).

One of the three goats at WTAP is expecting a litter of kids soon (photo by Marna McManus).

The ducks at WTAP have it made in the shade, and the pond (photo by Marna McManus).

The sheep at WTAP love attention (photo by Marna McManus).

Chickens and pheasants are some of the birds residing at WTAP (photo by Marna McManus).

The duck pond at WTAP is a testament to the hard work of the volunteers, as well as a relaxing feature for all patrons (photo by Marna McManus).