Happy December darlings!!!!
Now we’ve got that silly lockdown down and dusted I think its about time we actually got dressed, brushed our hair and maybe left our house right? RIGHT??…
Because guys a certain magical thing they call CHRISTMAS is around the corner and boy have we have got some celebrating to do!!!! And today I want to tell you about just the place to visit to get you and your family into that sparkly Crimbo spirit!…..
…..The one and only….LONDON ZOO!!!!!
Teddy and I were extremely lucky to be able to visit all of our animal friends at the zoo just before the second lockdown doomed on us all, and whilst I was there I learnt something that made my heart ache into a million pieces.
It has been a terrible scary year for so many of us, with so many losing our jobs and loved ones. But during all of the chaos it is easy just to think about the humans have been suffering, I know I was guilty of that. But there have been SO many poor animals that have also had their year torn apart because of lockdown too.
Did you know that it costs ONE MILLION pounds a MONTH to feed all of the 20,000 animals at their two zoos?
I KNOW!!!!! That actually blew my mind too!
The zoo has really really struggled to cope during lockdown and are doing everything they can to raise money for those gorgeous animals to feed and protect them. It really opened my eyes to the struggles every business is facing right now and totally devastated me.
So this is why I wanted to raise awareness today and tell you all how much effort has gone into the zoo’s Christmas themed celebrations. And as of this week, London Zoo has re-opened its door and is totally restoring the magic into the world, which everyone needs right now! A magical outdoor winter wonderland awaits your family with giant twinkly light up animals and sculptures, an exciting Christmas trail, wonderful decorations, shiny trees and a very special express postbox for children to send their letters to Santa.
(Psssss, I also heard a little rumour that Santa goes to visits the animals everyday so that is a sure fire way to get your wish list to him! Plus you might even get to see the main man himself if your lucky!)
With over 36 acres of fun, nature and amazing wildlife, to explore London Zoo really is such a fun way to spend a family day out right now! Plus all the funds raised from tickets this Christmas will help international conservation charity ZSL continue to care for all of the beautiful animals at the zoo.
Whilst I was at the Zoo I also found out some info that BLEW MY MIND, so I thought it would be really really fun to tell you their top facts.
- The tales of our favourite cuddly bear Winnie the Pooh was inspired by a very special female black bear called Winnie, who lived at London Zoo from 1914-1934. Author Alan Alexander Milne decided to call his main and iconic character Winnie The Pooh whilst visiting the Zoo with his son, Christopher Robin and being really inspired by the bear. How much does this make your heart ache????
- The Zoo has a really famous spider program for people who suffer from arachnophobia, which as a whooping 99% success rate. Eek!!! Try if it you dare.
- That fabulous iconic scene in Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone, where Harry discovers he can talk to a snake was filmed at The Reptile House at London Zoo.
- ZSL regularly works with the UK Border Force to help identify and re-home illegally trafficked animals – just last year they gave a home to four critically endangered Chinese giant salamanders who were smuggled into the UK in a cereal box. Just heart breaking!!!!
- Fresh fruit and veg is delivered three times a week from Covent Garden market to the Zoo. Within one month all of the animals eat 215 corn on the cobs, 29 boxes of carrots, 97kg of sweet potatoes, 59kg of broccoli, 5 boxes of apples, 145 oranges, 60 kg of bananas and much, much more! Just a tad more than my weekly Tescos online delivery ha!
- London Zoo’s penguins were the inspiration behind the logo of the famous Publishers Penguin Books. How adorable is that!!!!
- All the herbivore poo at both ZSL London and Whipsnade Zoo is composted and sent to a farm near Whipsnade. And I’ve been told there is a hellllllaaa lot of poo mmmmmmm!
- That genius Charles Darwin regular visited the Zoo whilst writing ‘Origin of The Species’ and studied the first ever orangutan who lived her. Her name was Jenny and Charles noticed the human-like behaviour and characteristics of Jenny when she was listening to the zoo-keeper, throwing tantrums when she didn’t get a snack and being surprised by her own reflection in a mirror. What an absolute babe!
- All of the animals are looked after by a dedicated and hardworking team of zookeepers and vets, and there is even a Vet Hospital on site. The zoo also has a special zoo dentist on site to regularly check on their gnashers!
- London Zoo doesn’t receive any public funding. It’s funding comes from admissions, charges and donations which is why any visits or donations this year mean the actual WORLD to them!!! They are totally reliant on income from ticket sales to care for the animals and fund their global conservation efforts and this years enforced closures have put the charity zoos under huge financial pressure.
So there we have it guys, I hope these facts made you really smile and hope you enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it!!!!
Working with London Zoo to raise awareness for their beautiful animals is such a huge honour and I am counting down the days till our return!!!
Love you all loads,
Sammy xxxxxxx
If you are interested in booking tickers to London Zoo’s Christmas experience please click here!!! The Magic of Christmas at London Zoo will run from Wednesday 2 December – until Sunday 3 January 2021.
If you kindly wish to donate to ZSL please click here!
P.S Did you know that London Zoo has a carpark making it SO easy to get too. And even better… it is out of the congestion zone!!!
Please note that my tickets were kindly gifted to me, but I was under no contractual obligation to post about my experience. I have written this blog straight from the heart and because I really do care about the animals!
Please click below to read more of my London experiences:
Mary Poppins Afternoon Tea at The Shard
The London Bake Off Experience
The Winter Garden at The Landmark Hotel
