Last half term saw us, and lots of our lovely visitors, join in with BIAZA’s ‘Love your Zoo’ campaign – a great way for us to explain the role we play in animal welfare and conservation.

We enlisted the help of our holiday villagers and general visitors in making things that would enrich the lives of our animals and raise awareness on why this is a vital part of ensuring the welfare and happiness of our animals.

During the week visitors were invited to take part in activities to make things that could be placed in the animal enclosures such as weaved willow balls, scented pinecones and foody treats so that the inquisitive natures of our animals were stimulated.

It was a great learning curve too as we observed many interesting things, not just of the animals, but humans too! Not many of our participants had heard of enrichment before but after the session many people were able to point out other enrichment items across the zoo, and comment on what the animal may use it for. It was great to see our holiday guests returning to more sessions during their stay with us and help to make a real contribution to the animals that they visited.

We hope it’s helped visitors understand why we love our zoo and our animals too and the work we undertake to care for them.