THIS is the busiest period of time in the zoo.

In fact, it is a record-breaking period.

After the severe effects of foot and mouth disease and the resulting lack of visitors, the summer has brought out an amazing number of people to support our conservation work both here and abroad.

It is a welcome relief from the pessimism of the past few months and our natural optimism can flow again.

One of the main education roles of the zoo is to open up the reasons for the demise and extinction of most species in this modern world.

It is in fact caused by two distinct reasons.

How many people realise that buying mahogany furniture or windows and doors etc is one of the main direct killers of spider monkeys in the forests of Brazil and Columbia.

Our demand for this wood in the UK wipes out vast tracts of amazing rainforest habitat.

Luckily there are a great deal of people who truly care and help us with donations and support.

The other main destroyer of nature is over population, this is the single largest problem for nature and until this is reversed then the world is, sadly, on a road to destruction.

The zoo in Dalton has a major role to play in all of this and a whole new department has recently been formed by the employment of an experienced full-time Zoologist/Teacher to the staff to bring this and all the wonders of nature home to the community around our region.

A new arrival this last week is a Little Corella Cockatoo.

Many caring people donate their loved pets to the zoo.

We are happy to take in parrots to the programme, as it gives great opportunities for breeding and a wonderful life flying with other parrots and natural foods and behaviour.

It is a great time of year in South Lakes Wild Animal Park.

The grass is green, the trees are fruiting, the lemurs, all five species, are totally wild in the trees, feeding naturally and showing all the amazing skills that primates have when running through the woods.

The South Lakes Wild Animal Park web site has been re-designed and is well worth a look: on www.wildanimalpark.co.uk Preparations for our exiting new animals arriving next year are under way, still a secret though!