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Hadstock Road, Linton, Cambridgeshire, CB21 4NT. Telephone: 01223 891308
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KIM’S CLIMBING KILI FOR CATS!

In January 2014, Linton Zoo Director Kim Simmons, along with 9 colleagues from other zoos across the region, climbed Kilimanjaro to raise money for wildlife conservation.
Kim is raising money for The Lion Guardians.
  

To sponsor Kim and show her your support please

 
 
It is not generally understood how closely zoos work together. In the British Isles most good zoos are members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquaria (BIAZA) and on a European level EAZA, you will be surprised to know that we generally all know each other across the world. We are a huge family!
     

As visitors wander around our parks, most do not appreciate that many of the animals they view are some of the last few on our planet and are all part of very well managed captive breeding programmes, which provide a safety net against total extinction. The Anglian region is lucky and has a wealth of zoological parks to visit and support, each unique in their own way and specializing in their favourite species.

We all have education as a high priority too, our zoos offer a wonderful opportunity for visitors to learn about the animals in our care and to get connected to nature.

 

There are less that 250 Blue Throated Macaws left in the wild.
This is a species frequently bred here at Linton Zoo,

 
Children are especially important to us as they are going to be the next generation responsible for the state of the world and without their interest and enthusiasm, which is often inspired by a zoo visit, there will be no-one to take our important work forward. Educating local people to understand, appreciate and want to protect their own native species is an essential part of the conservation process, so the role of a zoo goes far beyond teaching only within our own setting, it is world wide.
     
 
The breeding programmes and education work we all do are the two main job roles at our parks, but if you ask any zoo keeper or staff member where would they prefer to see animals they will tell you "in the wild where they so rightfully belong", so that is why we all work hard in our third role to raise money to support projects which do exactly that.
     
FUND RAISING AT THE ZOO
Keepers and staff are always looking for new and exciting ways to raise money to help fund the important field conservation projects we support. Since February 2011 we have raised over £19,000 through our VIP Behind the Scenes Lemur Tours here at the zoo. We have been able to fund important research work and a special education project for schools in Madagascar.
 
     
 
Our newly introduced VIP Tortoise tours are also proving extremely popular and are a fantastic way for visitors to get up close and personal with some of our tortoises ranging from the newly hatched up to our mighty giants, funding a river turtle conservation project in Yupukari, Guyana.
The VIP tours have been a great way to find out a little bit more about the work of the zoo, whilst knowing that the fee paid for this privilege, contributes to projects which are helping to save animals in the wild.
 
A FUND RAISING PLAN IS HATCHED
At the recent European Association of Zoos and Aquaria annual conference some of us got our heads together and hatched our most adventurous fund raising plan yet….. The Kili Climb!!!
     
 
Senior staff and directors from zoos across Britain with at least one representative from each of our East Anglian parks took on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in January 2014, together we are aiming to raise awareness for the recently launched EAZA “Pole to Pole” campaign and of course through sponsorship and support each of us will concentrate on boosting funds for the conservation projects closest to our hearts, for us this will be lions.
 
ARNIE'S TRIBUTE FUND

Earlier this year we sadly lost our dear old zoo cat Arnie, a favourite among regular visitors, Arnie would often greet and escort families around his park. Arnie was especially fond of any abandoned cubs, kittens and other zoo babies brought in for hand-rearing and his pictures comforting new borns were often published worldwide.

A facebook tribute page has also now been set up which will be a celebration of our dear old Arnie cat and the incredible life he enjoyed here at Linton Zoo, together with his many friends, both animal and human!
     

Arnie teaching bad habits to African lion cub 'Safina' at 10 weeks old!

  

A tribute to Arnie was posted on our Facebook page and to our surprise the post went viral within hours appearing all over the world. We were inundated with kind words and messages which were a huge support. As Arnies favourite job of all was babysitting lion cubs so we felt it appropriate to set up a tribute fund for projects aimed at saving lions in the wild.

Lions have always played a significant part of our lives here at Linton zoo and local people are well used to hearing the evening and early morning chorus of lions roaring as our two groups compete with each other.
 
LIONS IN THE WILD
Everyone knows about the plight of tigers in the wild, but it is little understood that lions are probably in a worst situation. Lions are disappearing at an alarming rate, once the most widespread mammal apart from humans, there were over 400,000 lions in the wild just a mere 50 years ago, now some scientists have predicted that in as soon as 10 years time, lions could be extinct in the wild.
     

The Lion Guardians

  
Arnies lion fund has raised enough money this year to pay the annual salary of two lion guardians ‘Mingati Makarot’ and ‘Gisa Nkasumani’. The Lion Guardians approach involves recruiting young non-literate Maasai warriors to become actively engaged in protecting lions rather than killing them. Enrollment in the Lion Guardians programme becomes a life-changing experience for these young Maasai, who have had no formal education.
     
Taught to read, write and communicate in Swahili and trained in wildlife management and conflict mitigation techniques, the Lion Guardians monitor lion movements, warn pastoralists when lions are in the area, recover lost livestock, reinforce protective fencing and intervene to stop lion hunting parties. The Lion Guardians are provided with comprehensive and rigorous field training, GPS and telemetry tracking of radio collared lions (shown right).
  
 

Kilimanjaro overlooks the areas where the lion guardians operate, so it feels very appropriate and right that for Linton this climb focuses on raising money to continue supporting the fantastic work the Lion Guardians do in the shadow of Kilimanjaro.

To sponsor Kim and show her your support please

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