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News release


12 December 2011

Adopt an animal for Christmas at Golders Hill Park Zoo

Staff at Hampstead Heath’s Golders Hill Park Zoo are offering animal lovers the Christmas present of a lifetime this year through its animal adoption scheme.

Six species of animal are available and in return, adopters will receive a ‘thank you' pack containing a certificate, a photograph of the animal and a fact sheet about their new pal.
They will also be entered into a free draw - with the winner and two guests going behind the scenes of the animal enclosures with Golders Hill zoo keepers.

In addition, kids who join the free Golders Griffins children’s club will receive an activity sheet, fact sheet and a picture of their animal to colour in. They will also be invited to exciting ‘Zoodays’ run by the Heath Life Education Team.

Animal-lovers can sign up at /goldershillpark and adopt from a choice of six different animals this Christmas, ranging from a white-faced whistling duck for £20 a year, to the much loved resident donkeys, Calypso and Sienna, for £50.

Ring tailed lemurs and ring tailed coatis will both cost £50 for a year’s sponsorship that will go towards their upkeep, while a laughing kookaburra, immortalized as “king of the bush” in the famous Australian nursery rhyme will cost £30 a year to adopt.

The City of London Corporation, which runs Golders Hill Park, is encouraging people to adopt the animals so that the local community can support the zoo and its species. Funding will also help to bring in a wider range of animals to the zoo in the future.

Michael Welbank, Chairman of the City of London Corporation’s Hampstead Heath Management Committee, said: “Adopting an animal from Golders Hill Park Zoo is a wonderful gift for anyone this Christmas, and all the money raised will go directly towards the animal’s care, food and the any necessary trips to the vets.”

Golders Hill Park is one of only two free zoos in London registered with BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Notes to editors

  1. Press enquiries
    John Park, Press Officer, City of London Corporation
    Tel 020 7332 3639 / Mobile 07824 343 456
    Email john.park@cityoflondon.gov.uk

  2. About the City of London Corporation
    The City of London Corporation is a uniquely diverse organisation. It supports and promotes the City as the world leader in international finance and business services and provides local services and policing for those working in, living in and visiting the Square Mile. It also provides valued services to London and the nation. These include the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama; the Guildhall Library and Art Gallery and London Metropolitan Archive; a range of education provision (including three City Academies); five Thames bridges (including Tower Bridge and the Millennium Bridge); the Central Criminal Court at Old Bailey; over 10,000 acres of open spaces (including Hampstead Heath and Epping Forest), and three wholesale food markets. It is also London’s Port Health Authority and runs the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow. It works in partnership with neighbouring boroughs on the regeneration of surrounding areas and the City Bridge Trust, which it oversees, donates more than £15m to charity annually.

  3. About the Animal Adoption Scheme
    Children will be able to adopt a wide range of animals from a laughing kookaburra (£30) to a ring tailed lemur (£50), a ring tailed coati (£50) a donkey (£50) and a white-faced whistling duck (£20). The initial payment is for a year’s sponsorship although the City of London would like to encourage people to adopt for a longer period of around three years. In return they will receive a photograph of and a fact sheet about the animal and the chance to go in a draw for a behind-the-scenes visit into the animal enclosures with the zoo keepers

  4. About Golders Hill Park Zoo
    Golders Hill Park is home to a free zoo, with a growing collection of rare and exotic birds and mammals such as laughing kookaburras, ring-tailed lemurs and ring-tailed coatis. Golders Hill Park was opened to the public in 1898 and has been managed as a discrete and historically important part of Hampstead Heath by the City of London since 1989. Beautiful plant displays enhance the peaceful setting of the Mediterranean and flower gardens, while the park houses a popular café. There is also a variety of leisure facilities
    including tennis courts, croquet lawn, golf practice nets and a children’s play area.

  5. About Golders Hill Park
    Golders Hill Park was opened to the public in 1898 and has been managed as a discrete and historically important part of Hampstead Heath by the City of London since 1989. Beautiful plant displays enhance the peaceful setting of the Mediterranean and flower gardens, while the park houses a popular café. There is also a variety of leisure facilities including tennis courts, croquet lawn, golf practice nets and a children’s play area.

 


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