Local school children have been busy decorating huge animal models in aid of West Midland Safari Park’s summer of conservation.

Created by one of the Park’s talented artists, the huge papier-mâché creatures, some measuring up to two metres long and over a metre tall, include a bumblebee, tiger, penguin, zebra and African elephant.

Five local primary schools took part in the competition – Kinlet C of E, Franche, Birchen Coppice, Hartlebury and St John’s C of E – and collectively raised over £450 for the Park’s chosen animal charities. Using paint, coloured pencils, tissue paper and other craft items, it has taken several weeks for each creature to be carefully decorated to portray key conservation messages. Head Judge and Education Manager, Nicola Anslow, said:

“We received five fabulous entries for our Conservation Competition this year. Each entry displayed hours and hours of hard work and dedication, which made it near impossible to judge.

“The conservation animals all showed intricate details of the educational learning that has taken place, which is so valuable to the fight for survival these animals endure every day. A huge well done to all the entries and well done on raising nearly £500 for the Park’s chosen charities.”

The winning design was created by children from Kinlet C of E Primary School, who were tasked with decorating a Sumatran tiger and raising awareness of their plight in the wild. Featuring images of woodcutters in the tiger’s eyes to highlight deforestation and hand prints to illustrate how few Sumatran tigers are left in the wild, their design captured the hearts of all three judges at the Park.

During the Park’s Summer Nights event, each of the decorated models will be displayed at the Safari Academy and they will eventually take up residence at the school where they were lovingly created. All five animals have a week dedicated to raising awareness of their plight in the wild at the Bewdley attraction this summer.

Further information and discounted tickets are available from the Park’s website or by telephone 01299 402114.