Wildheart Animal Sanctuary in Sandown (previously the Sandown Zoo) is working hard over the winter months to bring a brand new and exciting addition to the attraction in 2022 that visitors won’t be able to see anywhere else, not just in the UK, but the whole of Europe… It’s the first of its kind!
You may remember the lemur house at the attraction on the Isle of Wight, which was an astonishing 22 years old. Well, that has now been taken down, and construction has begun on the biggest and most ambitious project in the trust’s history.
Over the coming months, the team at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary will create a pioneering Primate Rescue Facility, a European-first. It will consist of two spectacular domes built using 72 bales of straw and over 700 bamboo poles – interesting fact, if these were laid side by side, they would stretch to nearly 3km (that’s from approximately the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary to Culver Down).
The pioneering technologies involved and scale of vision for this project will put the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary and the Isle of Wight at the forefront of primate rescue and conservation in the UK today.
This new sustainably built primate facility will be the first design of its kind in Europe, and the only walk-through animal enclosure built from bamboo in Britain today. Bringing together contemporary design and traditional materials alongside cutting-edge technologies in construction, they will create a leading facility for primate rescue and conservation.
The primates will have continuous access to a high rainforest canopy mirroring the natural habitat. Visitors will be able to take a trail that recreates the flora, fauna and wildlife communities of some of the countries these primates originate from. The two domes will powerfully demonstrate the realities of the conservation crisis threatening our planet’s ecosystem.
Keep an eye on the Trust’s social media pages for updates on the project and what’s on.
