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Let your kids run wild with our fantastic family prize.
To celebrate the summer, we’ve teamed up with Howletts Wild Animal Park to give one lucky winner a family ticket to one of Kent’s biggest wildlife parks.
Howletts, in Bekesbourne, is putting on six themed weeks during the school holidays to showcase some of its best-loved species and educate the public on its conservation efforts.
Whether it’s monkey madness, carnivore capers or gorilla greatness, visitors can explore the park’s 390 inhabitants with fun facts and activities about the different species.
It all starts on Monday, July 22 with Monkey Week. There will be animal-themed face painting, expert ranger talks, extra feeding sessions and activity trails where you can figure out clues and pick up some unique snacks as you stroll through the park.
To celebrate Monkey Week, your prize also includes a chance to feed the park’s family of Gelada baboons and join them from the feeding platform while they tuck into lunch.
TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING THIS APE-MAZING PRIZE, CLICK HERE.
The Wild Summer weeks will also give visitors a chance to find out more about the conservation work that Howletts and its sister park, Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve in Hythe, do with the Aspinall Foundation.
The team has successfully rescued, rehabilitated and rewilded a pair of rare siamang gibbons from a rehabilitation centre in South Sumatra.
At the end of 2023, the Aspinall Foundation, in conjunction with the South Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry successfully released the first pair of rescued siamangs, Jon and Cimung, back into the wild.
Howletts is also currently working on a project with the Aspinall Foundation to rewild five Javan Langurs and seven Javan Gibbons to protected sites across Java as part of the Back To The Wild initiative.
This successful programme has released over 280 primates and subsequent births in the wild have been recorded by our monitoring teams, including four Javan Gibbons, four grizzled langurs and more than 40 Javan langurs.
You can find tickets to Howletts online here and Port Lympne here.
If you’re planning to visit Howletts with a group during the summer, you can save up to 35% with the park’s new ticket bundle.
If you visit Howletts over the next six weeks, here’s what you can expect to see at the park…
MONKEY WEEK
July 22 to 28
Meet the white-naped mangabey, dusky langur and Sulawesi macaque monkeys with extra keeper talks and feeding sessions, plus find out how Howletts’ partner charity, the Aspinall Foundation, is sending Javan gibbons back to the wild.
CARNIVORE WEEK
July 29 to August 4
Watch the servals and African painted dogs be fed by the team of rangers and hear all about the park’s lion cubs, Zemo and Zala, who are preparing for their journey back to their natural habitat.
RHINO WEEK
August 5 to 11
Sammy, Damara and Rukuru make up Howletts’ family of black rhinos who roam the park. There will be an activity trail to follow and special talks - collect stamps from all three and you’ll get a sticker to take home.
ELEPHANT WEEK
August 12 to 18
This wildlife park is home to the UK’s largest herd of African elephants and is currently working on a project to help return the animals to the wild - the first of its kind in Europe. Pick up an elephant-themed snack from one of the kiosks as you explore.
GORILLA WEEK
August 19 to 25
Howletts is currently home to several families of Western lowland gorillas and has successfully reintroduced gorillas born at the park to protected forests in Africa. Follow the trail and see if you can spot all 24 gorillas!
LEMUR WEEK
August 26 to September 1
The team will be on hand to show you just how friendly the park’s lively lemurs can be with additional talks and feeding sessions throughout the week. There will also be fun activities themed to the Madagascar natives.