The zoo education team at Flamingo Land have been busy planning activities for 2015. Two of our projects are Keeper Academy for children aged 15-17 and a brand new Zoo Kids Club for children aged 8-12, both of which will be running from February.

Keeper Academy is a course designed for teenagers who would like to gain practical experience with exotic animals and learn more about them from theory sessions. Restricting our numbers to just 6 teenagers for each course means that we can offer a highly personal experience allowing them to really get involved with life at the zoo. This is ideal for anyone looking to pursue a career in zoo keeping, veterinary science or general animal care as practical work can be difficult to obtain for under 16s. The course was revamped for 2014 and received excellent feedback from participants. Therefore we have decided to run it again for even more dates in 2015 during selected school holidays. The course runs over 3 days and covers a range of animals for the participants to work with.

Targeting a different age group, the brand new Zoo Kids Club is ideal for children who would like to learn more about animals, make friends and have fun. The club will run between February and May 2015 and will take place on two Sunday mornings each month. Activities may include games, crafts, trails and tours of the zoo, native wildlife hunts and fun fact sessions about different animals. The club is designed to be completely different to our other experiences in that it doesn’t involve direct contact with our zoo animals. Participants will have the chance to learn about the animals whilst making friends with like-minded people. Places are limited to only 8 children per session, so it may get booked up fast! If the club proves to be popular then it may become a permanent feature at Flamingo Land.

For more information about either of these activities please visit our website. Our education staff will more than willing to answer any questions or queries as we are keen to make these activities as successful as possible.