Summer Holidays! Sat 30th August – 2nd September
We've got loads going on at Wildwood this summer holiday so come on down to the park for lots of fun and surprises!
Free talks and feeds: Every day around the park during the holidays - check the What's On board on arrival.
Owl flight displays: Free displays every day at 2pm (weather permitting). Watch our buzzard and owl in flight training in a spectacular daily display.
Fun Summer Trail: Our most exciting summer trail yet! – Entries cost £1 and all completed entries win a free prize. Plus all entries submitted before 10 August will go into our prize draw to win a family ticket to the Sooty Show, Theatre Royal, Margate worth £38. All proceeds go towards our new charity appeal (details to be announced). Click here for more info on the Sooty Show!
Craft sessions: We will be holding fun, impromptu craft sessions during the holidays – check the What's On board on arrival!
Summer events at Wildwood:
To book any event please call the Wildwood office on 01227 712 111
*Please note that Wildwood membership or entry fees apply to attend events.
Beautiful Butterflies: Tuesday 29 - Thursday 31 July
Make beautiful giant butterflies to take home to celebrate the annual Big Butterfly Count (19th July - 10th August). Plus, pick up a free butterfly trail to count the butterflies you see as you make your way around the park.
11.30am - 12.30pm & 2.30pm - 3.30pm each day. £2 per child* Drop in any time (no need to book). Held in the Outdoor Classroom.
Snake Craft Event: Wednesday 6 August
Find out all about slithering snakes! Meet one of our biggest snakes, make snake crafts to take home and watch our adders being fed.
2.30pm - 3.30pm. £2 per person*. Drop in any time (no need to book). Adder feed is subject to weather conditions.
Teddy Bears Picnic: Sunday 10 August
Bring your favourite teddy for a grand day out at our fun-filled teddy bears' picnic. Enjoy stories, games and a bear-hunt, followed by a teddy bear cupcake and a drink. Everyone (young and old) must bring a teddy for a teddy-tastic time!
2.30pm - 4pm. £3 per person*. Must book.
Mini farmers' market: Wednesday 13 & Thursday 14 August
Ready your taste buds to sample a variety of Kentish fare from local suppliers with lots of opportunities to buy tasty treats for home or as gifts. Bring a bag and stock up!
10am - 5pm each day. Free* event. Drop in anytime (no need to book).
Teddy Bears Picnic: Sunday 17 August
Bring your favourite teddy for a grand day out at our fun-filled teddy bears' picnic. Enjoy stories, games and a bear-hunt, followed by a teddy bear cupcake and a drink. Everyone (young and old) must bring a teddy for a teddy-tastic time! 2.30pm - 4pm. £3 per person*. Must book.
Wildwood Bioblitz! Thursday 21 August
Bring the family and join our annual challenge to record as many plants and animals as we can at Wildwood in just one day. Help us find and identify as many birds, animals, trees, plants, flowers and insect as possible -let's see if we can beat our record of 123 species!
10am - 5pm. Free* event. Drop in anytime.
Photo Day: Tuesday 26 August
A day of Wildlife photography with expert tuition from our resident photographer. Gift vouchers also available.
10am - 4.30pm. £79 per person. Min age 18yrs. Must book.
Stunning Spiders: Sunday 7 September
Celebrate the best time of year to see spiders! Go on a spider hunt to discover the different spiders lurking around Wildwood and make stunning spider crafts to take home.
2pm - 4pm. £3 per person*. Must book.
Toddler Club re-starts after summer! Monday 8 September
Toddler club is back after the summer break! Come along for games, crafts and meet some of our animals too.
Free* Toddler club for pre-school children and parents. 10.30am - 12pm every Monday and Thursday during school term time. No need to book, drop in any time.
To book any event please call the Wildwood office on 01227 712 111
*Please note that Wildwood membership or entry fees apply to attend events.
Say hello to Doris & Sixpence - our new otters!
For those of you have not seen them yet, don't forget to visit our two new Eurasian otters this summer!
The delightful pair; a male called Sixpence and a female called Doris, settled in extremely quickly and visitors can see them in their purpose-built enclosure.
Their new life at Wildwood is truly a happy ending for them after they were both found orphaned and in desperate need of rescue to ensure their survival.
They were originally taken in by New Forest Wildlife Park who are leading experts in the rescue, rehabilitation and re-release of Eurasian otters. The New Forest team worked tirelessly to treat and rehabilitate the pair for release back to the wild but sadly this wasn't to be. They discovered that Sixpence couldn't cope on his own in the wild and Doris's fur wasn't sufficiently waterproofed, leaving her at risk from hypothermia. As neither animal could be released back to the wild, Wildwood stepped in to give them a permanent home.
Jon May, Wildwood's park manager said "We were only too delighted to offer Doris and Sixpence a home at Wildwood. Otters are an iconic British animal that has faced the very real threat of extinction in recent times and we hope they will both delight and inspire our visitors about the story of British wildlife."
As a conservation charity which is dedicated to educating people about British wildlife, otters are a particularly important species for Wildwood. After nearly being wiped out across the UK in the 1960's their numbers started to slowly recover until they were found in every English county with the exception of Kent. Today otters have started to return to the county but their numbers remain very low and experts believe that it will take many more years before their population fully recovers in Kent.
Wildwood hopes that Doris and Sixpence will help to educate visitors about the continuing importance of ensuring that otters can truly call Kent home once more.
Look out for free talks and feeds at the otter enclosure (next to the ravens) throughout the summer holidays.
Wildwood beavers go to Beaver Water World
Wildwood is delighted to have donated a pair of beavers to Beaver Water World near Westerham, Kent.
The beavers; a male and a female which were raised at Wildwood, will hopefully breed at their new home, increasing the number of captive beavers in the UK. This is of particular importance to Wildwood as we campaign to return wild-living beavers to the Britain, as a strong captive population will one day be vital to making our dream a reality.
As a conservation charity, Wildwood wants Britain to teem with wildlife once more and one of our charitable objectives is to promote the return of once-native species to our shores. Chief amongst these is the beaver which is one of the most important now-extinct species that should be returned to the UK thanks to the benefits they bring to the ecosystem.
Beavers are currently classed as a "non-native" species after being absent from the UK for so long. This leaves them with no legal protection and open to persecution. Wildwood believes that this classification is wrong and that beavers should be legally allowed to live wild in the UK.
Wildwood recently campaigned to save the "free beavers of the Tay" near Perth, Scotland. The campaign was a huge success and the Government was forced to abandon its plans to kill over 100 wild-living beavers. Wildwood Trust's members rallied to the cause, joining hundreds of others in urging the Scottish Environment Minister to save the beavers. The Scottish Government reversed its decision to carry out the trapping and instead will now review the position in 2015, when an official reintroduction study is due to end. Wildwood continues the fight to return beavers to our shores we hope that before long before the Government will decide to allow beavers to live wild and free again legally across the UK.
Peter Smith, Wildwood's Trust Chief Executive said:
"Beavers are crucial in helping restore the British countryside and are a vital, natural tool for improving the health of our riverbanks and wetlands. Beavers are marvellous habitat managers and their presence has benefits for animals and humans alike. Beavers create wetlands which act as giant sponges, helping to retain and purify water, prevent pollution, and reduce flooding which could help reduce water bills."
We would like to thank all of our members who helped us in the fight to save the free beavers, it is because of your efforts that these amazing creatures remain wild and free. We hope that this is just the beginning of the story to bring the beaver back to Britain.
Beaver Water World is open every day from 10am, in Tatsfield
. Nr. Westerham
