We often reach for a heat pack to ease aches and pains, with maybe a bit of a massage if we’re lucky. This is exactly the treatment 35-year-old Sophie is getting right now. The only difference is – she’s a giant tortoise.
Paignton Zoo’s Aldabra giant tortoise Sophie weighs 106 kilos, 233 pounds or 16 stones. She’s one of six confiscated by Customs from an illegal importation and handed to Paignton Zoo for safe keeping in 1986. Individuals can live for 200 years. She could be the first giant tortoise ever to receive this sort of treatment.
This tiger snail at Paignton Zoo weighs around 500 grams – equivalent to 50 garden snails. Individuals can live for ten years.
You may not want to see this specimen in your garden, but Paignton Zoo keeper Lauren Lane is besotted with these amazing creatures – and has nick-named this individual Sausage…
The Personal Support Unit, a charity dedicated to providing free, independent assistance to individuals facing court alone, will in future be known as Support Through Court, following an extensive rebrand.
The new name, coinciding with the charity’s 18th birthday, is designed to convey more effectively the service the charity offers, which is increasingly vital at a time of extensive cuts to legal aid.
The charity, which has 23 offices nationwide and is run in Exeter from Exeter Combined Court Centre in Southernhay Gardens, Exeter, EX1 1UH, relies on the work of dedicated...
The FORCE Cancer Charity shop in Heavitree is holding a special vintage sale day next month.
All sorts of retro goodies from 80s knitwear to tin toys and vintage books will be on offer at the FORE Street store on Saturday November 2.
There will be bargains galore including collectable books at half their marked price.
“We’ll have some great deals for lovers of all things vintage plus our usual amazing selection of goods and there’ll be a bake sale. What more could you want,” said FORCE Shop Manager Anna Heard.
And early warning of a couple of dates for your...
A flooring retailer has marked the opening of its new £100,000 store in Newton Abbot by pledging its support for a local mental health support charity.
Flooring Superstore opened on the Kingsteignton Trading Estate, Pottery Road, in September.
The official opening was carried out by representatives of Step One Charity, which supports people to manage their mental health, achieve employment goals and live more independently.
Step One Charity is in the process of renovating an existing property in Newton Abbot which provides supported living services for people with...
Paignton Zoo bird keeper Lisa Jones freely admits that she has an interest that borders on obsession. She’s fascinated by feathers.
“During the summer months, lots of birds at Paignton Zoo start to moult… I think feathers are among the natural world’s most incredible adaptations. While I was cleaning out the Ural owls, who are moulting heavily now, I wondered if anyone else would be as interested in feathers as me!”
It turns out, yes. Feathers are the often overlooked wonders of nature. We might admire a bird, but do we stop to ask what feathers are, why they are like they...
This is our fifth annual CLIC for Christmas concert raising funds for CLIC Sargent. Once again, we will be hosting a celebration of Christmas in the beautiful Exeter Cathedral and will be joined by one of the winners of our Devon Schools Choir Competition, Exmouth Community College. In addition we are again thrilled to be welcoming the CLIC Sargent singers, a group of exceptionally talented young people who have all benefitted from the support of CLIC Sargent and will be sharing their stories with us as well as their beautiful music. Come along and get your Christmas off to a magical start...
Two vets from Indonesia are the first to benefit from a unique new scholarship programme run by a Cornish vet charity. OVAID – Orang utan Veterinary Aid – is run by Nigel and Sara Hicks, based in Launceston. They help hard-pressed orang utan rescue centres and sanctuaries with veterinary support and donations of equipment.
The new OVAID Bronwyn Scholarship meant that two South East Asian vets were able to make the 12,000 kilometre (7,500 mile) journey to the UK to exchange techniques and information on the care and welfare of orang utans.
A major South West conservation charity has announced its patrons. Both are star names regionally and nationally.
Naturalist Nick Baker and broadcaster Judi Spiers have been unveiled as patrons of Wild Planet Trust, the charity that runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall.
These are the first patrons that the Trust, previously known as Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, has ever had. Executive Director Simon Tonge said: “We are very proud to announce Nick and Judi as patrons of Wild Planet Trust. We’re extremely grateful for their support...
You may well have heard of Guide Dogs, we’re a national charity working to ensure that people with a visual impairment do not lose their independence. There are around 2 million people in the UK living with sight loss, and all experience a different level of vision and mobility. We offer a range of mobility services to help people keep their independence, and have an amazing number of dedicated staff, volunteers, and of course, dogs who support the Guide Dogs mission.
Guide Dogs needs volunteers who can help look after and support the training of our guide dog puppies! This is a...
