Valentine’s Day at Twycross Zoo
8:42am Wednesday 6th February 2008
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and what a better way to spend it than with a romantic stroll around Twycross Zoo with the one you love? Our many animal families would love you to visit them on cupid's special day. Take a look at the three week old triplet pygmy goats in Pets' Corner or watch Suntangha the baby hand-reared Lar gibbon become the sweetheart of the watching crowds.
To carry on the love theme of Saint Valentine's Day, why not visit the only group of breeding Bonobos in the Country? Bonobos seem to live by the code "make love not war" and are man's closest living relatives as they have 99.6% similar DNA to humans. Twycross Zoo currently has eleven of these adorable apes, seven females and four males, which include three youngsters. Bonobos are restricted to humid forests and live south of the Zaire River in central Africa. They are more arboreal (live in the trees) than the common chimpanzees; their build allows fast movement through the forest canopy.
Their diet consists predominantly of fruit but foods eaten include young leaves, shoots, tree bark, insects and eggs. Bonobos are an endangered ape and their habitat is dwindling fast due to habitat deforestation. It is estimated that there are fewer than twenty thousand currently existing in the wild.
When you visit Twycross Zoo on Valentine's Day to enjoy the wonderful animals, you will almost certainly fall in love with one or more of them. After your journey around the Zoo, call into the Information Centre where you can fill out a form stating which animal you have fallen in love with. At the end of the day, we will choose one lucky person to receive an adoption pack for their chosen animal. This will allow the fortunate person free entry to the Zoo for twelve months, to continue to visit the object of their animal affections.
For more information contact: Twycross Zoo East Midland Zoological Society Ltd, Atherstone, Warwickshire.
CV9 3PX
Telephone 01827 880250/880440Fax 01827 880700 Twycross ZooTwycross Zoo East Midland Zoological Society is a registered charity (No 501841) and aims to "care for our world's animals and environments through conservation, communication and integrity"
Twycross Zoo is the world's most comprehensive collection of primate species. Twycross is a popular visitor attraction for families and school children welcoming over 500,000 visitors annually. Opening times for visitors are summer 10.00 am - 5.30 pm and winter 10.00 am - 4.00 pm; the Zoo is open 364 days a year only closing Christmas Day.
Twycross has informal and formal education programmes for all sectors of society about wildlife conservation. We incorporate our animals wherever possible into regional and global breeding programmes to aid species conservation. We have developed environmental enrichment programmes to give our animals a fulfilled life, both physically and mentally.
Twycross Zoo is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and Wildlife Information Network (WIN) organisations which represent their member collections and promote the values of good zoos and aquariums.