On Tuesday 7 January 2020, Santander UK will officially open its newly redesigned branch at 157-159 Armada Way, Plymouth, PL1 1JF. The new-look branch has been designed to deliver even better customer service and community-friendly banking.
The branch will be opened by Toby Gorniak MBE and Jo Gorniak, founders and directors of local charity Street Factory CIC, who will cut the ribbon...
If animal training makes you think of tricks and shows, think again. Top zoos use training to improve animal welfare, reduce the need for risky general anaesthetics and to keep both animals and people safe.
For example, bird keeper Sam Gray has trained Alfie Junior the Southern cassowary – as tall as a person and part bird, part dinosaur – to follow a target, which means she can get...
A Devon charity is inspiring young people to change the world – and they’re doing it for free.
Wild Planet Trust is launching new sustainability workshops for schools. The six free workshops – called All Our Futures – aim to empower children and young people to make good choices for the future. Group Education Manager Steve Nash explained:
Paignton Zoo bird keeper Lisa Jones freely admits that she has an interest that borders on obsession. She’s fascinated by feathers.
“During the summer months, lots of birds at Paignton Zoo start to moult… I think feathers are among the natural world’s most incredible adaptations. While I was cleaning out the Ural owls, who are moulting heavily now, I wondered if anyone else would be as...
A major South West conservation charity has announced its patrons. Both are star names regionally and nationally.
Naturalist Nick Baker and broadcaster Judi Spiers have been unveiled as patrons of Wild Planet Trust, the charity that runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall.
These are the first patrons that the Trust, previously known as Whitley...
Two vets from Indonesia are the first to benefit from a unique new scholarship programme run by a Cornish vet charity. OVAID – Orang utan Veterinary Aid – is run by Nigel and Sara Hicks, based in Launceston. They help hard-pressed orang utan rescue centres and sanctuaries with veterinary support and donations of equipment.
The new OVAID Bronwyn Scholarship meant that two South East...
England’s chances in the Rugby World Cup would be greatly improved if they had this chap in the line-up.
Male Western lowland gorilla Pertinax lives at Paignton Zoo in Devon. He‘s around 6 feet from head to toe – modest for a professional rugby player these days, but he weighs in at a hefty 190 kilos - and it’s pretty much all muscle. At 37 he’s a bit of a senior now, but even the All...
The charity zoo has its very own branded blend – Zoorabica. It’s the first time the charity has offered its own named coffee. The new beverage is supplied by Coffeeworks, based in Exeter, an independent company with over 20 years’ experience.
Paignton Zoo Group Catering Manager Jennifer Proctor, who helped choose the final blend, said: “We have gone for this new blend because of taste...
Local zoos are setting high environmental and ethical standards for their suppliers to ensure the quality of products in their shops. Questionnaires were sent to some 70 different suppliers asking about the environmental, ethical and recycling components of their businesses. The initiative was launched by South West Zoo Enterprises, the retail arm of Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts, Torquay’s...
This Vietnam pheasant chick – and others like it hatched recently at Paignton Zoo – could be the future of its species. Bird keepers at the charity zoo are based in the Avian Breeding Centre, commonly known as the ABC. The chick is being cared for here; while it’s preferable for chicks to be parent reared, keepers will step in to give nature a helping hand when needed. Another six (unrelated)...
