{"id":51498,"date":"2021-05-18T15:39:52","date_gmt":"2021-05-18T14:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sykescottages.co.uk\/blog\/?p=51498"},"modified":"2021-05-18T15:39:52","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T14:39:52","slug":"exciting-announcement-our-partnership-with-local-chester-zoo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sykescottages.co.uk\/blog\/exciting-announcement-our-partnership-with-local-chester-zoo\/","title":{"rendered":"Exciting Announcement: Our Partnership with Local Chester Zoo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proud Partners<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For a fourth year running, we are proud to be in partnership with the wonderful Chester Zoo. A global conservation and education charity as well as a local attraction, Chester Zoo is dedicated to the protection of its 35,000 threatened animals who call the zoo home.<\/p>\n

Chester Zoo is working hard to create a transformative change in the hope to prevent the extinction of so many magnificent animals, by putting an emphasis on populations, places, people<\/strong> and policy<\/strong>. Be sure to check out even more of their amazing work and their 10 year conservation master plan<\/a> to discover what we can do to help as a society.<\/p>\n

In past years, our sponsorships have helped to fund their education programmes<\/a> so that we can learn more about our native species and how to prevent their extinction. This year, we are excited to be helping out with a brand new research project<\/strong>. We will be assisting the UK Wildlife Conservation Project in protecting the mustelids on the Chester Zoo estate.<\/p>\n

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Marvellous Mustelids<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chester Zoo\u2019s UK wildlife specialists have been surveying a range of native species on the zoo estate and have confirmed the presence of small mustelids. Mustelidae are a family of carnivorous mammals that consist of badgers, otters, weasels, ferrets, polecats and more! This exciting project will focus on the smaller of these species which are weasels, stoats and polecats.<\/p>\n

These inquisitive animals were first captured on the zoo\u2019s remote wildlife trail cameras. However, in order to get a better understanding of the distribution of this species they are to be observed using an adjusted camera trapping device called \u2018the Mostella\u2019. This is a non-invasive technique specifically designed to study and monitor small mustelids.<\/p>\n

The purpose of this research is to get an insight into the population dynamics of weasels, stoats and polecats across the zoo estate which will then inform the Chester Zoo Biodiversity Action Plan and any habitat management prescriptions.<\/p>\n