See Kent's animal parks residents as they go online during the coronavirus outbreak
Published: 10:58, 29 April 2020
Updated: 12:00, 29 April 2020
Are you missing visiting Kent's animal attractions? We may not be able to visit, but we can still see many of the wild and native creatures living in the county, thanks to the wonders of technology. Take a look here:
Big Cat Sanctuary, Smarden
The sanctuary near Ashford, which attracts thousands to its annual open days in the summer to see the majestic felines living there, is holding weekly live streams on Facebook Live while it is closed to visitors.
Viewers will be able to find out all the goings-on at the sanctuary, with insights from keepers and of course the cats. The stream is on Fridays at 11am.
Visit facebook.com/TheBigCatSanctuary and to find out more about the sanctuary, and donate to keep the conservation charity running, which costs £3,000 a day to operate, click here.
Wildwood Trust
Wildwood Trust, which is a registered charity in Canterbury, Kent has more than 200 native animals, and is set in beautiful ancient woodland. It has been posting a video a day so would-be visitors can see some of the bears, wolves, bison, deer and owls at the site, and learn more about them during quarantine. You can find the daily diaries on YouTube and also see clips on its Twitter feed @WildwoodTrust. It costs about £11,000 a week in order to feed and care for its 120-plus animals. Donate at wildwoodtrust.org.
Port Lympne Lion Cam and Tiger Cam
The Aspinall Foundation may have had to close its doors to visitors, but you can still get a glimpse of life for some of the animals.
Its site in Port Lympne Reserve near Hythe has a Lion Cam, showing scenes live from the lion enclosure, including the chance to see the male cub and two female cubs explore their expertly-designed enclosure, while dad Adras, a Barbary lion born at the reserve, naps in the sun and mum Oudrika, a two-yard-old first-time mum keeps a watchful eye over her brood.
If the cubs are hiding, there's still hours of highlights to enjoy.
The Tiger Cam brings you a slice of life in Port Lympne's Amur Tiger enclosure, where you can see tigresses Amba and Amura. Amba is the more laid back of the two, while Amura, who has no stripes on her front legs, is the boss and the more feisty of the two.
Visit the Aspinall Foundation YouTube and the Facebook page, facebook.com/portlympne/ while on the website aspinallfoundation.org/ you and donate to keep the sites at Port Lympne and Howletts near Canterbury running during lockdown, which cost £1.5m to feed the animals annually.
See lambing across Kent by clicking here.
For other ideas for things to do during lockdown click here.
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Angela Cole