Following a roaring reopening, Wildwood the popular wildlife park in Kent is set for a really wild summer of fun starting from May half term after a phenomenal reopening.
More than 9,000 people visited the popular park near Canterbury in the first week of reopening 12-18 April, with families enjoying the last week of the Easter holidays as lockdown eased. It was the second busiest week in the 20 year history of the park, which is ready to welcome Brits thirsty for staycation attractions and days out as restrictions ease again on May 17.
Director General at Wildwood Trust, Paul Whitfield, said: “We have been almost fully booked ever since we reopened which is fantastic,” and continues:
“We’ve put in place reduced capacity and several systems and additional measures so that visitors can enjoy a fun day out with no worries, and we’re delighted that everything has been running smoothly. It’s been wonderful to see so many people safely enjoying the park and reconnecting with nature and we’re thrilled to be welcoming visitors old and new after a long winter lockdown.”
Visitors’ favourite attractions at the park since reopening have been a brand new zipline at the playground, adorable soay sheep lambs, and the joy of observing brown bears Fluff and Scruff as they amble about their 1.5 acre woodland home from the exhilarating heights of the bear bridge.
The park’s exclusive ‘animal experiences’, where visitors can feed and get nose-to-nose with animals such as lynx, bears and wolves, are also popular as ever and booking up fast.
“We are just so grateful to have been able to reopen and for all the support from our visitors and followers. Despite a very tough year we are looking ahead to an exciting summer with lots of great things planned for both our conservation programmes and the park itself.” said Paul.
With more than a year of postponed animal reintroductions to the wild, limited resources for animal rescues and a generally hard strain on funds for conservation, the Trust is also thrilled to be back in the swing of wildlife conservation. Projects such as the release of hazel dormice and water voles to the wild, and the building of new breeding facilities for the endangered wildcat can finally restart and funds generated by reopening are all helping to ensure that these vital projects can continue.
Wildwood has the Visit England ‘good to go’ seal of approval, highlighting covid safe places to visit. The Trust is doing both daytime and evening opening slots throughout the summer. To book a visit go to https://www.wildwoodtrust.org/
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