Students visited London and Whipsnade Zoos to learn more about the importance of Zoos in preventing species from going extinct. Both Zoos belong to the Zoological Society London (ZSL), which is a scientific, conservation and education charity.

I really enjoyed the Biology trip to London Zoo, as we got to see a vast range of different of animals - from tigers and giraffes to jellyfish and butterflies. I found out that the Giraffe House at London Zoo is the oldest zoo building in the world, that a mongoose could kill a snake and that the squirrel monkey species is threatened because of its use in biomedical research and the pet trade. The best part of the trip was the penguin show, where we watched the penguins being fed and learnt about different penguins around the world. We heard amazing facts like some species of penguins can eat up to 6 kg of fish a day! We also saw many conservation efforts around the Zoo such as for okapi, an interesting animal that looks like a giraffe, zebra and horse all mixed into one. It is an endangered species and ecologists estimate that there are only 4500 left in the wild.

Emerlyne Fuka, Year 1 Biology