How Zoos and Aquariums are celebrating David Attenborough’s Birthday

Celebrations are rife across the BIAZA zoo and aquarium community as Sir David Attenborough turns 100.

For example, Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire has been busy with staff quizzes, school visits, photo ops, and a new sign in their zoo with an iconic quote from Sir David; “No one will protect what they don’t care about, and no one will care about what they haven’t experienced.”

At Tropical Butterfly House Wildlife Conservation Park, near Sheffield, hundreds of resident leafcutter ants have been exploring a miniature tea party. The park’s team is also delivering a series of remarkable nature talks and animal encounters throughout this special day including conservation-focused insights into the park’s red squirrel and harvest mice families.

Blair Drummond Safari Park, Stirling, welcomed 9th Callander Beavers to the park as part of the celebrations. Activities included a Sir David Attenborough-themed scavenger hunt, where the Beavers followed famous quotes from David over the years to discover which animal habitat to visit next.

Twycross Zoo has marked the occasion with a huge announcement: the expansion of their nature reserve in a major step to exceed UK biodiversity targets. This 14-hectare expansion will more than quadruple the zoo’s nature reserve, supporting precious native wildlife. They’ve begun by planting their first 100 trees in celebration of Sir David, alongside members of the 9th Leicester Scout and Cub Group - the same Scout group Sir David Attenborough belonged to as a child - helping to create the foundations for future woodland habitat as part of the reserve’s long-term restoration.

Once established, this new reserve expected that the expanded reserve will provide vital habitats for a range of native species, including harvest mice and rare butterflies such as the white-letter hairstreak, helping to strengthen biodiversity across the local landscape.

Dr Rebecca Biddle, Chief Conservation Officer, said: “This is about giving nature the space it needs to recover and thrive. Using species specific habitat management techniques, we will create conditions that allow wildlife to flourish, and a natural space in which wildlife is protected.

“It is even more special that, in Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday year, the man who inspired so many of us to love and protect wildlife, has been celebrated in the first chapter of our new reserve – helping to create a legacy for future generations of both people, and wildlife. I’m so proud.”

Not to mention, a 100th birthday human sign from Dudley Zoo and Castle, a David Attenborough inspired Beach Clean at Galway Atlantaquaria, the Ocean Conservation Trust has listed a whopping 100 ways we are connected to the ocean, and our very own Atten-Bake Off judged by The Big Cat Sanctuary’s Cam Whitnall.

Happy Birthday Sir David Attenborough, from all of us across the BIAZA community.