Wildwood News

Under the dark cloud that has been hanging over Wildwood since our re-opening plans for June 5th had to be shelved at the eleventh hour, nature is doing very well, thank you.

Wildwood planned to open to the public today after being closed for almost three months. We had spent a huge amount of time and money putting measures in place to ensure that we could open in a safe and covid secure way.

Wildwood Trust is delighted to be working in partnership with Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) to restore species of conservation concern to Britain, with a particular focus on the European wildcat (Felis silvestris).

Wildwood announced last week that we hoped to be able to open to the public on June 5th based on all the information and guidance available. We had even sent our reopening plan to Canterbury City Council and DEFRA to show all the work we had done to ensure that the park would be safe to visit.

Sadly, at midnight last night the government passed new laws that mean all zoos and wildlife parks must remain closed.

There is an old saying - “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” Obviously, it means that if you drop your basket you lose the lot, whereas with the eggs separated out in more than one place there is a better chance some will survive in the event of an accident.

Normally at this time of year, we would be welcoming thousands of visitors to the park and sharing our wonderful British species with you all. The coronavirus has forced the closures of both of our Kent and Devon parks, but we're still working hard behind the scenes caring for the animals and pushing on with our conservation projects.