Keep Britain Tidy

"Hedgehog in litter" by Chris Packham/Keep Britain Tidy

Chris Packham visited us a couple of times of the past few weeks to take a few photographs of our animals. He was asked by "Keep Britain Tidy" and the supermarket chain "Lidl" to take a series of photographs to show the effect that litter has on our wildlife.

This new initiative from Keep Britain Tidy is aimed at young people, and encouraging them to reduce litter and waste whilst improving local parks and green spaces. Funding is being helped by Lidl's donation of £500,000, raised from their single use carrier bag charge.

"Red Squirrel in litter" by Chris Packham/Keep Britain Tidy

At the launch of the campaign, Chris Packham said "I was delighted to be asked to explore this issue through the camera lens, juxtaposing the inherent beauty of our natural world with the ugliness of litter and rubbish carelessly discarded each and every day. Through these images I hope to inspire people to dispose of their litter more responsibly and play their part in caring for the fabulously diverse wildlife that enriches us all."

"Fox in litter" by Chris Packham/Keep Britain Tidy

"People who litter are unwittingly helping to kill and injure the wildlife we all love. As a naturalist, I'm only too aware of mankind's impact on the natural world and litter is one very visible example of this. Not only is it unsightly but it seriously affects wild animals both on land and in our oceans."

"Otter in litter" by Chris Packham/Keep Britain Tidy

And so through this campaign, and Chris Packham's photos, our animals have another taste of the limelight in papers and posters around the country. Some of you may have noticed the pile of discarded tyres in the otter ponds for the last few weeks while they were getting used to them, don't worry they were not a permanent fixture and have since been removed, but Elwood duly posed for one of the shots above.

Our other animal contributions included a red squirrel in among fast food packages, Flo the fox surrounded by bin bags and Hugo the hedgehog caught up in some beer can packaging (modified so as to casue him no distress). These four images went towards the ten photographs Chris Packham took for the campaign.

To see and read more about this initiative, click on the Keep Britain Tidy logo below to go to their website.