Yew and Aspen arrived at Paradise Wildlife Park with high hopes of what we’d see; our expectations were exceeded! The weather was perfect and the animals seemed almost as interested in us as we were in them. Sitting in a mock safari jeep, a majestic white lion slumped against the enclosure’s glass - millimetres away from our fingers. (Sleeping 18 to 20 hours a day appealed to some of our group!). Nearby, the African penguins were also enjoying their rest with some waddling merrily past us.

Moving on, we were able to get up very close to the emus who appeared to parade especially for us. The children were also delighted to see energetic baby wallabies. Camels and zebras stood proudly so that we could admire their fur. Particular favourites also included climbing red pandas and a feasting snow leopard. We giggled as we saw the animated meerkats, monkeys and many more!

A key focus on our trip was to explore the ‘Endangered Status’ of the wonderful creatures we saw. Our pupils were highly motivated in their research to list results from Least Concerned through to Extinct (LC – NT – V – CE - EW – E). They defined conservation as the protection of animal species and read about how increased education and research, teamed with the reduction of loss of habitat and poaching, will ensure that we preserve a world with magnificent wildlife.

Our final adventure was through the dinosaur enclosure. The children were delighted when they spotted moving replicas of their chosen extinct animal for their current Science project. Their imaginations of what they dinosaurs were doing ran wild!

What a day - the Wildlife Paradise Park really did live up to its name and our pupils made us proud! Miss McCall