Spooky October Half Term Events at Wildwood

Spooky events at Wildwood this autumn             October Half Term   Sat 25th October - Sun 2nd November Join us for a packed week of spooky activities in our family friendly Halloween week. We've got lots of great events to get you in the Halloween spirit, from Magical Mushroom Crafts to Woodland Wizards, Fairy Fest and many more. You'll find our full October half term programme of events and beyond listed below.   Plus, don't miss our free daily animal talks and feeds throughout October half term week.               SOLD OUT - Please note that due to overwhelming demand our Family Fright Night on Friday 31st October has sold out. Most of our activities need to be booked in advance, so please book early to avoid disappointment.               Don't forget after the clocks go back, we change to our winter opening hours. From Monday 27th October, we'll be closing an hour earlier, our new admission times wil be 10am - 3pm (park closes at 4pm).               To book an event now, please call: 01227 712 111 Office hours: 9am - 5pm (Mon - Fri) *Please note Wildwood membership or entrance fees apply to attend events. Excludes photo/keeper days & courses/workshops.             Fungi Ecology & Identification   Sat 25th October   An introduction to the identification of fungi and their role in the ecosystem. Indoor microscopic examination followed by a forest foray to search for fungi in their natural habitats.   10:00am - 4:00pm. £30 per person (price includes Wildwood entry fees). Minimum age for this course is 18yrs.         Magical Mushroom Crafts   Mon 27th October   Get into the Hallowe’en spirit with this mushroom-themed children’s workshop. Discover the fascinating world of fungi, create spore prints and make crafts to take home.   1.30pm - 2.30pm. £2 per person, one adult free per group*. Must Book.     Photography Day .   Tue 28th October   A day of wildlife photography with expert tuition from our resident photographer. You will have the chance to photograph different animals across the day, with animal feeds for the more elusive animals. Suitable for all levels and abilities. Gift vouchers also available. We are now able to accept 16 & 17 year olds on our photography days.   9am - 4pm. £79 per person. Min 16yrs. Must book.         Woodland Wizards   Tue 28th October   A spell-binding craft event to make your own wizards’ hats, magic potions and brooms in time for Hallowe’en. Can you make the spookiest hat?   1.30pm - 2.30pm. £2 per person, one adult free per group*. Must Book.     Fairy Fest   Wed 29th October   Come dressed as a fairy, imp, goblin or other magical creature (there will be prizes for the most imaginative costumes), have your face painted and make a fairy wand, crown and scroll of wishes to post in the fairy postbox.     1.30pm - 2.30pm. £2 per person, one adult free per group*. Must Book.         Hallowe’en Crafts   Thurs 30th & Fri 31st October   Our most popular annual craft event. Decorate your home with witches’ cats, rats, pumpkins and bats for a super spooky Hallowe’en. Book early to avoid disappointment.   1.30pm - 2.30pm. £2 per person, one adult free per group*. Must Book.     Grubby Gang   Sat 1st November & Sat 15th November   Let your kids go wild in the woodland. Learn about animals and nature with different activities each week; including games, dens, bushcraft and mud sculptures. Parents need not attend.   1st & 3rd Saturday of each month (approx). 9.45am 12.15pm. 7-11yrs. £8 per child, per session. Must book. Book 3 sessions, get 4th FREE.           To book an event now, please call: 01227 712 111 Office hours: 9am - 5pm (Mon - Fri) *Please note Wildwood membership or entrance fees apply to attend events. Excludes photo/keeper days & courses/workshops.             Pumpkins Win Prizes   Sat 1st November   Donate your hallowe’en pumpkin for us to feed to our animals on Sunday. Prizes for the best.   Drop in (no need to book). Judging at 3pm. Free event*     Tasty Pumpkins   Sun 2nd November   Our animals will be enjoying their treat-filled pumpkins today. If you donated one on Saturday, see if you can spot who’s eating it.   All day event. Free event*. No need to book.         Wolf Workshop 1: Life in The Pack - Wolf Ecology & Behaviour   Sun 9th November   Part 1 of 2 wolf workshops this autumn. This one looks at the wolf pack, how wolves communicate and conservation efforts to restore them back to their former range. Includes a visit to see Wildwood’s own European wolves.   10.30am - 4pm. £30 per person. Must book. Book together with Wolf course 2 (23rd Nov) for £50.     Junior Zoo Keeper   . . Sun 16th November   Do you know a budding zoo keeper? Let them discover what it’s like to work as a keeper at Wildwood and how we care for our animals to keep them happy and healthy.   10am - 12pm. 7-11yrs. £50 per child. Must book.         Wolf Workshop 2: Understanding the Wolf Inside Your Dog   Sun 23rd November   Part 2 of 2 wolf workshops. Understand how your dog’s behaviour is an echo of his wild wolf ancestry. With dog trainer Dave Butcher and wolf expert Anne Riddell. Includes a visit to see Wildwood’s own European wolves.   10.30am - 4pm. £30 per person. Must book. Book with Wolf course 1 (9th Nov) for £50.     Photography Day . . Tue 25th November   A day of wildlife photography with expert tuition from our resident photographer. You will have the chance to photograph different animals across the day, with animal feeds for the more elusive animals. Suitable for all levels and abilities. Gift vouchers also available. We are now able to accept 16 & 17 year olds on our photography days.   9am - 4pm. £79 per person. Min 16yrs. Must book.           Important Information   * Membership or entrance fees must be paid to attend events. Excludes photo/keeper days & courses/workshops. All events must be paid for at the time of booking and are non refundable (except if cancelled by Wildwood). All under 18’s MUST be accompanied by an adult. Must Book - Limited space events that must be booked in advance. Free Event - Events that do not attract any additional fee except for usual membership or admission into the park. Drop in - Events that do not need to be booked. Participants can attend at any time during the session (space allowing).               To book an event please call: 01227 712 111   For more information, please visit: www.wildwoodtrust.org     DONATE TO WILDWOOD TRUST   Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7LQ Registered Charity No. 1093702.   Don't miss out. Add news@wildwoodtrust.org to your address book or contact list.

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Wildwood's final push to save Bulgaria's neglected bears

Wildwood's final push to save Bulgaria's neglected bears      Wildwood Trust, Kent's unique wildlife park and conservation charity is in a desperate race against the clock to rescue two brown bears from appalling living conditions in Bulgaria, with just weeks before they are trapped for another long winter of solitude and neglect.   The team at the Kent conservation charity have been working tirelessly to raise £50,000 to liberate the bears from their tiny concrete cells where they have been trapped for their entire lives. This ambitious sum is required to rescue the bears and transport them to Kent, to a 1.5 acre specially constructed woodland home at Wildwood where they can be rehabilitated and given a safe, natural life.   People have shown huge generosity and have helped raise an incredible £38,000 so far. But it is now a desperate race against time to raise the remaining £12,000 needed to rescue the bears before the harsh Bulgarian weather turns and traps the animals for another miserable winter in the mountainous region where they are held.   The bears are among the last survivors of Kormisosh, an ex-Soviet bear breeding station that bred bears for the cruel practice of "canned hunting" whereby wild animals are hunted in a confined area from which they cannot escape. When bears received protected status in 1993 hunting was outlawed but rather than re-home the bears, Kormisosh was abandoned, leaving the bears to fend for themselves. The bears continued to breed inside the station and almost 20 years on the last survivors are still trapped in their barren concrete pits where they have lived their whole lives.   With the Bulgarian winter fast approaching the Wildwood team are now under enormous pressure to reach their final target and complete the new enclosure in time to bring the bears to the UK. The stakes could not be higher as another winter spent at Kormisosh increases the bear's chances of losing their minds.   Wildwood's Chief Executive, Peter Smith said "The bears' living conditions in Bulgaria are nothing short of horrendous. We simply have to bring them to Wildwood where we can give them the specialist care and rehabilitation they so desperately need and let them live the rest of their lives in our beautiful woodland".   This momentous project is the largest ever undertaken by Wildwood and has been made possible so far, through the amazing support of everyone who has made a donation, Wildwood's charitable members and the outstanding efforts of volunteers and staff who have been working tirelessly to raise the funds to rescue the bears and to build the new woodland enclosure.   Jon May, Park Manager said: "We are so grateful to everyone who has donated to the appeal; we have had amazing support from our members, visitors and both the local and wider community. Now we are against the clock and need to raise the last £12,000 to rescue the bears, we hope that everyone will continue to be so very generous and get us to our final target".   How to donate to the Wildwood Bear Appeal: Donate online: https://mydonate.bt.com/events/bears Donate via text: Text BEAR21 plus an amount between £1 and £10 (e.g. BEAR21 £5) to 70070* Donate by phone: Call 01227 712 111 *Donations will be deducted from your mobile phone account and cost £5 plus your standard network text message rate. Wildwood Trust will receive 100% of your donation. Always get the bill payers permission. RELATED CONTENT Watch the Wildwood bear rescue appeal video: http://youtu.be/wzJUqafcbMs Watch the Daily Mirror video of the Bears at Kormisosh: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/worlds-saddest-bears-bred-hunters-4445124 ABOUT THE BEARS OF KORMISOSH How old are the bears? What sex are they? Were they born at the breeding centre? The bears are both male and were born in 1998 at Kormisosh so will be around 16 when they arrive at Wildwood. They have been there all their life and have never seen the outside of their concrete enclosure. What state are they in, are they heathy? They have been fed bland porridge-type food all their lives, nothing else. So while they are surviving and receive enough food for sustenance, they are in poor health as they do not receive the essential vitamins/minerals/variety of food that they need. They have never been outside their concrete pens. So aside from their physical health, mentally they are suffering too - they receive no enrichment or any form of entertainment at all. For such intelligent, active and inquisitive animals it really is torturous for them. Who looks after them? They are currently fed by 2 elderly locals from the nearby village. Alertis (a charity dedicated to finding new homes for the bears) staff also monitor the bears and try and carry out health checks when they can. What sort of support will the bears need when they arrive at Wildwood? The bears will need a wide-range of health checks and procedures. They will need an extensive course of dentistry as many of their teeth will need to be re-built after years of neglect. They will need a long-term care plan to improve their diet and to introduce new foods (that they will have never seen before) and to teach them how to eat these new foods. The biggest task will be their slow rehabilitation to teach them how to display their natural behaviour. This will be a huge challenge but we are extremely lucky to have the help of one of the UK's leading experts on bear behaviour who is helping Wildwood with the project. When will the bears arrive at Wildwood? We hope to have the funds to remove the bears from Kormisosh before the end of the 2014 as we cannot risk leaving them over the harsh Bulgarian winter. As Bulgaria is a country with a risk of rabies, the bears will need a long quarantine period; this may be at Wildwood or at another European zoo. Once the bears are at Wildwood and past their quarantine phase, we cannot be sure how long they will need until they are comfortable enough to be on display to the public. We will take the pace as fast or as slow as the bears' require us to. CONTACT More images can be provided on request. Professional crews are very welcome to visit the park, please get in touch. Wildwood Trust: +44(0)1227 712 111 Fiona Paterson: fiona@wildwoodtrust.org Warren Ashfield: warren@wildwoodtrust.org Peter Smith: peter@wildwoodtrust.org Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, Nr Canterbury, Kent CT6 7LQ Registered Charity No. 1093702 FOLLOW US Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewildwoodtrust Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WildwoodTrust Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/thewildwoodtrust EDITOR'S NOTES Wildwood Trust opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife, and was established as a registered charity in 2002. Wildwood is Kent's best British wildlife park. Home to over 200 native animals, past and present and set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland, see wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx, wild horses, badgers and beavers plus many more. As one of the leading British animal conservation charities in the UK Wildwood Trust is dedicated to saving Britain's most threatened wildlife. Wildwood Trust have taken part in many ground-breaking conservation programmes to date, which include, saving the water vole, using wild horses to help restore Kent's most precious nature reserves, bringing the extinct European beaver back to Britain and returning the hazel dormouse & red squirrel to areas where they have been made extinct.

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Peter Smith: Sir Richard Attenborough & his Beaver Obsession

Peter Smith: Sir Richard Attenborough & his Beaver Obsession: Sir Richard Attenborough & his Beaver Obsession Tributes poor in for this great man but it is fitting that just as his death marks and...

Wildwood bear appeal update - Watch us on ITV!

  Wildwood Bear Appeal update

 

- Appeal total reaches £23,000

- Wildwood appears on ITV News

- Celebrity support for Bear Appeal

We are pleased to announce that the Wildwood Bear Appeal total now stands at £23,000! We now have enough funds to start work and will shortly begin construction of the bears' night-time accomodation area which will form part of the finished enclosure.

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far – but we still need help to reach our target and rescue the bears from a life of misery and neglect.

• Please donate now and help us reach our £50,000 target:
  
  Online: Click here to donate online
• By Phone: Please call the Wildwood office on 01227 712 111
• By Text: Text "BEAR21 £5" to 70070*
• By Post: Send cheques made payable to "Wildwood Trust" to Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 7LQ. Please write "Bear Appeal" plus your name and address on the back of your cheque. If you would like us to Gift Aid your donation please indicate this also. 

 

 

 

Watch the ITV news report

Click here to watch the report on ITV Meridian News

Watch this moving piece from ITV Meridian News about the bear appeal, please note that this was filmed at the start of our appeal when our total was only £5,000!

 

Celebrity support for the Bear Appeal!

Click here to watch Sooty's video about the Wildwood Bear Appeal

 

Wildwood has been left star-struck after one of Britain's best-loved celebrities joined the fight to rescue two brown bears from misery and neglect.

The celebrity in question is none other than Sooty; Britain's favourite bear! With a magical career spanning over 60 years and a special place in the hearts of children young and old; the cheeky bear is the perfect personality to help the our ambitious charity appeal.

Wildwood's Park Manager, Jon May said "To be honest we are stunned to receive such high-profile support. We are just a small charity and Sooty is a genuine British super-star! We are very grateful for his help with the appeal."

Click here to watch Sooty's video about the Wildwood Bear Appeal

 

More about the Wildwood Bear Appeal

 

 

 

Wildwood is appealing to all of its members and supporters to help raise £50,000 to rescue two brown bears from horrendous living conditions and give them a safe happy home in our woodland wildlife park.

The bears are currently kept in small, barren concrete pits in an abandoned bear breeding centre called Kormisosh, in Bulgaria. Kormisosh was used to breed bears to be shot by hunters until 1993 when bear hunting was outlawed. As a result, Kormisosh was abandoned, leaving the bears to a life of misery and neglect.

The bears receive only basic care and a sub-standard diet of dried porridge. They have never been outside of their concrete pens, have never seen a tree or walked on grass, and with no mental stimulus they are in danger of losing their minds.

Wildwood is working in partnership with Alertis; a bear welfare foundation based in the Netherlands which works to protect and rehome mistreated and neglected bears. Alertis runs projects to protect bears around the world and works to find them suitable homes free from neglect and abuse. Alertis is currently monitoring the bears at Kormisosh until Wildwood raises the funds to bring them to their new home.

 

 

 

Wildwood Trust will receive 100% of your donation. * Text donations will cost £5 plus your standard network text message rate. Please always get the bill payers permission.

The Wildwood Team

Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7LQ

Wildwood Trust is a registered charity no 1093702

Summer holiday fun at Wildwood

 

Summer holiday fun at Wildwood!

It's the summer holidays and we have loads going on at Wildwood!

 

Everyday Excitement!

• Free talks and feeds around the park - Every day during holidays & weekends.
• Free bird flight displays - Every day at 12pm & 2pm (weather depending)
• Teddy bear trail – take part in our fantastic teddy bear trail to find the real teddies around the park. Every entry wins a prize! All proceeds towards the Wildwood bear appeal

 

Fantastic Events!

Wed 13th & Thurs 14th August - Mini Farmers' market

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! Suppliers will include Godmersham Game (meat & BBQ), Core Fruit Juices & Sweet Nostalgia Fudge 

10am - 5pm each day. Free* event. Drop in anytime.

 

Thursday 21st August - Bioblitz!

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.

 

Extra Excitement!

 

Meet Tall Ted! – keep your eyes peeled around the park for Tall Ted, the Wildwood Bear Appeal mascot who may be meeting and greeting people around the park!

 

Craft sessions – We will be running impromptu craft sessions throughout the holidays, check the What's On board on arrival to see if there is anything on for your visit!

 

Fun activities – There are different fun fundraising activities for our amazing Bear Appeal  - keep an eye out on your visit.

 

 

See you soon!
The Wildwood team

Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7LQ
Registered charity no. 1093702