West Midland Safari Park will be hosting a special fundraising week, dedicated to supporting dogs in Africa who help to protect and conserve endangered rhinos and cheetahs.

Staff will aim to raise awareness of the vital role dogs play in conservation programmes for wildlife during Conservation Dogs week which runs until September 17th. All the funds raised during the week will go towards Save The Rhino International’s Dog Squad and a research project to aid the work of the Cheetah Outreach’s Livestock Guarding Dog (LGD) Programme.

During the week, a variety of fun activities, quizzes and competitions will take place, including the chance to win an exclusive Cheetah Feed for two. The Park’s Conservation Tent will house interesting facts and information, and there will be an opportunity to purchase badges of the Park’s cheetahs, rhinos or sponsored dogs. Additionally, the brand new Safari Academy is running hands-on crafts and games linked to Conservation Dogs during weekends.

Research and Conservation Officer, Katie McDonald, said, “Dogs are the new ‘best friends’ of wildlife conservation. Increasingly, those working to protect threatened species are using dogs for a huge variety of tasks. These range from sniffing out illegally sourced products of animal origin, such as ivory, to disarming rhino poachers.

“During our Conservation Dogs campaign, we want to spread the word about how dogs are employed in conservation and raise funds to help two conservation initiatives. Cheetah Outreach’s LGD Programme supplies guard dogs to farmers in Africa. The dogs protect livestock from predators, such as cheetahs, reducing the farmers’ need to remove carnivores from their lands. In Kenya, the Save The Rhino International Dog Squad uses dogs to track and disarm poachers who would otherwise kill black and white rhinos for their horns.”

She continued, “Cheetahs are on the decline in Africa and the threat to rhinos from poaching is increasing. We want to support conservation efforts for these animals by championing the dogs whose special skills are helping to save the species.”

Further information and tickets are available from the Park’s website www.wmsp.co.uk or by telephone 01299 402114. You can also find out more about this special week on the Safari Park’s official Facebook page: www.facebook.com/WestMidSafari.