Creating habitats

We’re doing our bit for native wildlife and highlighting the importance of natural habitats.

We’ve signed up to BIAZA’s (British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Grab That Gap campaign by creating a mini-meadow for visitors to enjoy.

DZG Conservation Officer, Chris Leeson, pictured above, said: “We’ve planted wildflower seeds in an empty patch in front of the Peccary enclosure, which we’re hoping will bloom and attract insects of all varieties.”

In the coming weeks we’ll be carrying out a mini-bioblitz on the area, noting what flowers have appeared and counting the number of species we find.

The initiative aims to encourage visitors to plant up their own spaces to support native species and highlight how much of a difference even the smallest of areas can have.

BIAZA’s Director, Dr Kirsten Pullen, said: “This is the second year BIAZA has encouraged our members to Grab That Gap.  We had some extremely positive feedback from last year’s campaign and this year we have even more of our members taking part.

“We will compile the results with photographs to identify the gap with the richest biodiversity, and all our participating zoos will receive a BIAZA ‘Grabbed That Gap’ certificate.”