An animal park ranger renowned for his dedication to the job was buried in his uniform to honour his dying wish.

Martin Revill, 61, asked to be laid to rest in Wildwood green after learning of his terminal cancer diagnosis.

His colleagues – also dressed in the animal park’s uniforms – even acted as pall-bearers at his funeral.

His partner, Christine Yeo, cared for him until his death on April 30, even enjoying a last adventure to Mexico against medical advice.

She said: “Martin always led life to the full; he was exciting, fun to be with and I am sure we all shared the ‘magic’ that was him.”

Martin was a gifted carpenter and senior ranger at the Wildwood Trust in Herne Common, near Canterbury and Herne Bay.

He was part of the ranger team and had recently helped build the park’s new wolf woodland.

The rangers, who build all of Wildwood’s enclosures and maintain the woodland, will dedicate a new lynx enclosure to be built later this year to Martin’s memory.

Leading tributes to him at his funeral was Wildwood chief executive Peter Smith, who said: “He was a patient teacher of others, keen to help and bring people together, with his generosity of spirit, his patience and sympathy always giving to others and those gifts will go on in our hearts, and our hands, for many years to come.

“Hundreds of thousands of visitors will continue to benefit from his work in building our animal enclosures and adventure play park, bringing joy and discovery to all.”

Martin was born in Birmingham and became a joiner, turning his hand to many trades including running his own sustainable energy business.

He was also a great outdoors man, lover of wildlife and an adventurer, travelling across the world.

He was a talented diving instructor and valiantly joined an expert team to rescue seals off the coast of Shetland during the Braer Oil tanker disaster in Scotland in 1993.

Braving one of the most extreme storms ever seen in the North Atlantic, Martin worked tirelessly to save the seals and other wildlife devastated by one of the biggest oil tanker disasters of all time.

His philosophy was to lead by example, winning him universal admiration at Wildwood.

The trust’s head of visitor services, Laura Shae, said: “Martin always had a smile on his face and was willing to help anyone with anything.

“His positivity was always inspirational and he never let anything upset or anger him. He was a true gentleman to work with and will be sorely missed every day.”

Wildwood keeper Sally Holt remembers Martin for his positive attitude.

“He was always smiling - even after his cancer diagnosis,” she said. “Nothing was ever too much to ask of him. He always went out of his way to help me with my work, from letting me borrow his tools to offering advice about enclosure construction.

“He was always one to crack a joke and make people laugh. He was kind, immensely generous, and a truly good man. I will miss him very much.”

Martin left a generous legacy to Wildwood in his will. To find out more on leaving a legacy visit wildwoodtrust.org.