EAZA Tiger Campaign 2002/4
Campaign efforts at Blackpool Zoo
A roaring success at Blackpool Zoo!
For the second successive year Blackpool Zoo hosted a fundraising Tiger Night with proceeds going to the EAZA/21st Century Tiger campaign. The zoo grounds were opened on the evening of August the 21st and over 300 guests enjoyed a variety of tiger-based events and activities.
Building upon the experience of coordinating last year’s event, Blackpool’s education team itemised costs, schedules, and publicity well in advance and saw a considerable improvement this year in terms of funds raised. The event was advertised in the local press and the EAZA campaign was highlighted at the daily tiger feed and talk. An activity tent in the zoo grounds, including badge-making, face painting and tiger trails for children, generated significant additional funds and interest from visitors.
New interpretation and information boards in the Cat House provided details of the big cats at Blackpool and was specifically designed to incorporate campaign information. Visitors are now able to see how donations are distributed to fund conservation projects and the diverse threats to Asian tigers and African lions are also explained.
Staff from all departments volunteered their services on Tiger Night itself to ensure the smooth running of the event. Guests enjoyed evening tours of the zoo, an elephant display, buffet food and bar, an auction of gifts from local supporters and companies, and a presentation on the work of 21st Century Tiger. A ‘sponsored bounce’ for children took place on the bouncy castle and live music from the excellent local trad jazz band, the Fylde Coast Jazzmen, gave a festival feel to the proceedings. Over UK£4,000 (+/- €6,000) was raised on the night and the zoo generated over UK£13,000 (+/- €19,000) in total.
The extent to which this year’s activities have highlighted the plight of wild tigers, both amongst visitors and throughout the local community, has been highly effective. Feedback from Tiger Night guests has been very positive and the zoo’s commitment to conservation has been emphasised. Most importantly, a sizeable contribution to the long-term protection of tiger populations in Asia has been made and the zoo is looking forward to organising similarly successful events in future.
