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Coronavirus Kent: Canterbury's Wildwood Wildlife Park films lockdown diaries of animals

By: Charlie Harman

Published: 15:34, 13 April 2020

Updated: 15:17, 15 April 2020

A wildlife park is filming lockdown diaries of its residents, showing how they're spending the quarantine.

Keepers at the Wildwood Wildlife Park, between Canterbury and Herne Bay, have been regularly updating the site's social media accounts with videos and information on the animals' maintenance.

Wildwood's residents animals are starring on the Trust's Facebook, YouTube and Twitter accounts.

Paul Whitfield, director general at Wildwood Trust, said: "With the videos from the park we hope to both show people, that we continue to take very good care of our animals and that we are still here, but also to highlight the pressure that we are under, if we can’t secure funds to cover the essential daily work."

Wildwood officially locked down the attraction on March 23, the first such closure since the park opened in 2002.

However the park's 120-plus animals still have to be fed, watered and cared for, which costs the trust about £11,000 a week.

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Special rotas are being employed to ensure minimal contact between keepers, who are trying to do the same amount of work with fewer people on site at any given time.

Video: Snowbell the Dormouse still a bit sleepy after coming out of hibernation

Wildwood noted that during the Covid-19 lockdown, some animals don’t much notice the difference.

Meanwhile, others actually really miss the daily interaction with visitors at Wildwood and keepers are making sure to give them that extra attention. A vet is also checking on animals regularly.

Normally relying mostly on memberships, ticket sales and individual donations go a long way to ensuring the welfare of the animals can be maintained.

The Wildwood Trust has now set up a fundraising appeal and created an Amazon wishlist in case anyone is able to put some money towards the creatures in their care.

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Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury

Read more: All the latest news from Herne Bay

Escaped animals, unusual finds and news from the RSPCA can all be found here.

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