Wildwood Trust: April 2017

Newsletter - April 2017

Welcome to the April edition of our monthly newsletter. In this issue we're reporting on a couple of births at the park, the building of an exciting new addition to the play park and congratulating one of our trustees on receiving a prestigious award. If you wish to know more about any of our stories or The Wildwood Trust in general, then please feel free to email us at info@wildwoodtrust.org

Thanks for reading and your continued support. We'll see you again in May!

Bears are back

Our bears are now fully out of hibernation and are once again meandering through their large enclosure on a daily basis. ITV recently featured their story - click the button below and relive the amazing story of how The Wildwood Trust's members and keepers rescued and rehabilitated these amazing animals.

ITV News Coverage

Easter competition winners

Congratulations to Ryan, Craig and Ayden who all won vouchers after being randomly picked from our 'Find the bunny' prize draw.

The online only 'Golden bunny' competition was won by Sacha, who was hand-delivered a mini mountain of Easter chocolate, much to her delight.

Books for bears

The ongoing success of our books for bears appeal means we are always looking for new literature for our visitors to purchase with a small donation.

If you have any spare books laying around, then please bring them in to help fill up one of our bare shelves. All proceeds from donations go directly to the bears.

Many thanks!

Arctic fox moult

The more eagle-eyed of you may have noticed that our Arctic foxes have been slowly losing their glossy winter coats over the previous weeks. The speed of their hair-loss has dramatically risen over the past few days, and they'll soon be ready for the summer.

Don't be disturbed if you see them looking a little more grey and less fluffy next time you visit!

New antlers

Desmond the red deer is well on the way to achieving his usual majestic look, as the first bumps of his new antlers appear. They should prove to be bigger and better than last year's impressive growth!

Fact of the day: Antler growth is one of the fastest known types of tissue growth in mammals, and a deer's antlers can grow at a rate of ¼ inch per day.

Pine marten appeal

In the 1800s pine martens were hunted for fur and this, combined with predator control by gamekeepers and habitat fragmentation, led them to the verge of extinction in many areas of the UK. At The Wildwood Trust, we are passionate about the possibilities of reintroducing pine martens back into our woodlands and really need your help this month.

Click on the button to find out about our captive breeding and research programs and how you can contribute to bringing this wonderful creature back into our countryside.

Pine marten appeal

Pine marten play towers

Our new addition to the play park is almost complete! The rope bridges are up, the climbing frames are going up and your little 'uns will soon be able to scamper about like pine martens in and around the towers.

Pine martens are renowned for their playful antics, which is why we have based our exciting new addition on this acrobatic creature. We can't wait to see our towers being enjoyed, but we do have the envious task of naming them.

Can you help? If you have a catchy name for our towers, which must include reference to pine martens, then please let us know at info@wildwoodtrust.org including 'Pine tower' in the subject box.

Thanks!

Bird flu restrictions lifted

From 13th April, restrictions on bird movement put in place by the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for high-risk areas have been removed.

Wildwood's location close to wild bird migration routes meant that we were in one of the high-risk zones and had to keep our birds under cover to help avoid contamination from outside of the park. This is no longer the case and, due to our ongoing biosecurity measures, we're happy to announce that none of our birds have been affected.

Find out more

We have a new baby!

Our reindeer Holly gave birth at first light on the 20th April. The new calf and mother are both doing very well. The calf, as you can see, is adorable and enjoying life in its new home.

Fiction of the day: A reindeer calf is 95% legs.

Richard Griffiths

We're very proud to announce that Professor Richard Griffiths has just been awarded the ZSL's prestigious Marsh Award for Conservation Biology.

In addition to working at the University of Kent for more than 20 years, serving as the director of Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology between 2013 and 2015, serving on the Executive Committee of the World Congress of Herpetology and being President of the The British Herpetological Society, Professor Griffiths is also highly valued as a trustee for The Wildwood Trust.

His commitment to conservation and vast ecological knowledge has inspired and improved The Wildwood Trust's own conservation efforts dramatically over the years, and we couldn't be happier that he has been rewarded for his contribution to our natural world. Congratulations!

Wallaby birth

The end of March saw us welcome another joey to our wallaby family. The middle of this month saw the first appearance as a head poked out of mother's pouch.

Fiction of the day: A wallaby joey is 95% ears.