Conservation & Fundraising
We pride ourselves on the strong relationships we have built with several conservation charities. Throughout the year Noah's Ark hosts several conservation events, each with a different flagship species. The events strive to inform the public about the conservation status of various species, what the threats are and how the public can help. The events are often interactive and encourage visitors to engage in the message.
Read our conservation policy below
Spectacled Bear Conservation - Peru
Why did Noah’s Ark start working with them?
When our spectacled bears had cubs at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, it deepened our connection to this incredible species and strengthened our desire to support their conservation in the wild. We wanted to find a meaningful way to help protect spectacled bears beyond the zoo, which led us to the amazing work of the Spectacled Bear Conservation in Peru.
We have been supporting them ever since, helping to raise awareness of the challenges spectacled bears face in the wild and inspiring our visitors to care about their future.
When did we start working with them and what do we do?
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm began supporting the Spectacled Bear Conservation in 2022 when two cubs were born at the zoo as part of the breeding programme . Since then, we have worked to raise awareness through visitor engagement, interpretation and educational storytelling focused on spectacled bears and their rainforest habitat.
Alongside fundraising efforts, Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm has supported the purchase of GPS tracking collars for spectacled bears in Peru. These collars provide vital research data, helping conservationists better understand bear movements and behaviour and informing future conservation efforts within northern Peru's equatorial dry forest and the Machu Picchu region.
We also share behavioural research, videos and observations from the spectacled bears in our care, helping to support a greater understanding of the species.
In addition, we sell SBC's Feltis in our Gift Shop — handcrafted felt decorations made by women from Indigenous villages near critical bear habitat in Peru. Proceeds from these products help support both spectacled bear conservation and empower the women and communities working to coexist with bears and protect their habitat.
Safina
Who are they?
The Safina Lion Conservation Fund (SLCF) is a registered charity in England & Wales (no. 1172709) founded in April 2017. They are a passionate conservation charity dedicated to raising awareness and funds for wild lion conservation and education projects across East Africa. Inspired by zoo lions, the charity is named after a lioness called Safina, who was born at Linton Zoo in Cambridgeshire in 2005. Safina was also the grandmother of our male lion Tau.
What do they do?
The SLCF works closely to bridge the gap between zoos and conservation organisations working on the ground. Their mission is to work with others to protect and monitor lion populations in the wild. They support several conservation organisations in Kenya and Tanzania that encourage coexistence between the local communities and their native wildlife, with a focus on lion conflict. Lions are now extinct in 25 African countries, with wild populations continuing to decline due to habitat loss, human conflict and poaching. The current wild lion population estimate is thought to be at around 23,000.
The charity supports frontline conservation initiatives with close ties to supporting the work of Lion Guardians, KopeLion and the Mara Predator Conservation Programme in particular. Through this support they have sponsored various conservation activities including the cost of GPS collars, the construction of bomas and the salaries of Lion Guardians. These Lion Guardians are members of the community, often previous lion killers, trained now to protect and monitor them. Their work includes monitoring lion prides, reducing conflict with local herdsmen and educating their communities about the importance of conservation. This focus on coexistence has become an incredibly important part of all lion conservation work particularly over the last two decades.
Why did Noah’s Ark start working with them?
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm is passionate about helping visitors connect with the challenges lions face in the wild. Our partnership with the SLCF allows us to directly support conservation projects protecting the species while also inspiring our visitors to care about the future of lions. Our lions act as ambassadors for their wild counterparts helping to raise awareness of the challenges faced by lions in the wild.
When did we start working with them and what do we do?
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm began supporting the Safina Lion Conservation Fund in 2017. Since then, our Big Cat Keepers and engagement teams have worked closely with the charity through fundraising events, awareness campaigns and educational activities, including World Lion Day celebrations and our Somerset Safari Lates events.
More recently, funds raised by Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm have helped support their Better Bomas project, which works to reduce conflict between lions and local farming communities by creating stronger, predator-proof livestock enclosures. We have also contributed towards the refurbishment of a tracking collar for a wild lion, supporting the vital conservation work carried out by KopeLion in Tanzania.
“On World Lion Day 2017 we joined the team at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm to launch our ‘Ambassadors For The Wild Project’ highlighting how zoo support can aid lion conservation in the wild. Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm were the first zoo to fundraise for us and we are delighted to still have their support 9 years later as they continue to help us to aid efforts to protect and monitor lions in the wild while providing the very best in modern zoo environments for the lions in their care. We all look forward to seeing how this partnership will continue to grow over the years to come.”
James Welch, Chairman of Safina Lion Conservation Fund
Elephants for Africa
Who are they?
Elephants for Africa is a conservation charity dedicated to protecting endangered African elephants through research, education and community collaboration. Established in 2008, they are one of the longer-running elephant research charities working in the region. Their work is based in Botswana, in and around the Makgadikgadi Pans National Park and the Boteti region, one of Africa's most important strongholds for elephants.
What do they do?
Their work focuses on increasing understanding of male elephants, reducing human-wildlife conflict and inspiring the next generation of conservation leaders. Young male elephants leaving the breeding herds are disproportionately involved in human-elephant conflict, often raiding crops as they disperse into farmland, while older bulls play a stabilising social role for younger males. Despite this, male elephants have historically been under-studied and misunderstood compared to breeding herds, leaving a gap in conservation planning and mitigation. Since beginning field observations in 2012, Elephants for Africa has built one of the longest-running behavioural datasets on male African elephants.
They work closely with local communities to encourage long-term coexistence between people and elephants. Their community work helps protect over 2,500 hectares of high-risk farmland from human-elephant conflict, while their environmental education programme, EleFun, reaches over 300 rural schoolchildren and young people across Botswana each year, building the next generation of local conservation leaders.
Why did Noah's Ark start working with them?
As home to African bull elephants, Noah's Ark Zoo Farm is passionate about supporting projects that protect elephants in the wild and help address the growing challenges they face. We were particularly inspired by Elephants for Africa's work studying and protecting male elephants, whose behaviours and conservation needs are often less understood.
When did we start working with them and what do we do?
In 2025, Noah's Ark Zoo Farm began fundraising for Elephants for Africa. We support the charity through conservation education delivered in our workshops, keeper talks and onsite interpretation, helping visitors learn more about the challenges facing elephants in the wild.
We also raise funds through our elephant experiences, World Elephant Day activities and wider engagement programmes. Conservation in the Makgadikgadi is demanding work, carried out far from the nearest town by a small team based at a remote research camp. The funds we raise help keep that team in the field, supporting the research, education and community work at the heart of the charity's mission.
Ripple Effect
Who are Ripple Effect?
Ripple Effect is an international charity that works alongside farming families in rural Africa to build sustainable livelihoods, improve food security, and create thriving communities. Their approach empowers people with the skills and knowledge they need to create lasting change.
What do they do?
Through community-led farming programmes, Ripple Effect helps families improve crop production, care for livestock, protect natural resources, and build resilience to challenges such as climate change. Their work supports both people and wildlife, creating positive impacts that spread through entire communities.
Why did Noah's Ark Zoo Farm start working with them?
At Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, we share Ripple Effect's belief that people, wildlife, and the environment thrive together. Their community-based farming solutions create lasting benefits for families while helping to protect the natural world, making them a natural conservation partner for our charity.
When did we start working with them and what do we do?
Our connection goes back to the very beginning. The founders of Noah's Ark Zoo Farm were also founding farmers of Ripple Effect, then known as Send a Cow. Today, we continue to support their work by raising awareness through educational signage, interpretation, and conservation messaging across the zoo.
Supporting conservation around the world
-
![Birds eye view of African Elephant walking through trees.]()
World Land Trust
We are proud to support World Land Trust, a charity that protects threatened habitats and species through local conservation partners.
We support World Land Trust’s Action Fund, helping them respond quickly when urgent conservation action is needed. We also use Carbon Balanced Paper for our maps and leaflets, balancing the carbon impact of our printed materials by supporting forest protection projects.
Together, these actions help protect precious habitats for wildlife, people and future generations.
-
![Two Rhinos on muddy field, looking towards the camera.]()
Helping Rhinos
Noah’s Ark supports Helping Rhinos, a conservation charity working to protect rhinos and their habitats in the wild.
Through visitor awareness, education and fundraising, we help support vital rhino conservation work, including anti-poaching efforts, habitat protection and community-led projects that give rhinos a safer future.
-
![Elephanteden (37)]()
Elephant-Human Relations Aid Namibia
Noah’s Ark supports Elephant-Human Relations Aid, a conservation organisation in Namibia helping desert elephants and local communities live safely alongside one another.
Through education and fundraising, including funds raised in 2025, we help support practical, community-led conservation for elephants in the wild.
-
![Vulture 1]()
Horstmann Trust
Noah’s Ark supports The Horstmann Trust, a charity dedicated to protecting endangered species and supporting conservation projects around the world.
Through awareness, education and fundraising, we help support their work to protect threatened wildlife and inspire people to care about the future of the natural world.
-
![ring tailed llama, sat on the grass with its legs bent in front of him. Looking straight on the camera.]()
AEECL
Noah’s Ark supports AEECL, a conservation organisation working to protect lemurs and their habitats in Madagascar.
Through education and fundraising, we help support vital work to protect endangered lemurs, restore habitats and work with local communities to safeguard wildlife for the future.
-
![Aquaarrivaloctober2025 1 Of 6]()
WildCats Conservation Alliance
Noah’s Ark supports WildCats Conservation Alliance, a conservation initiative working to protect wild tigers and Amur leopards in their natural habitats.
Through education and fundraising, we help support projects that protect threatened big cats, reduce conflict, tackle poaching and safeguard the wild places they depend on.
Supporting conservation locally
-
![Ponddippingoliver240724 12 Of 13]()
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust
Noah’s Ark supports the work of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust, a UK charity dedicated to protecting reptiles, amphibians and the habitats they depend on.
ARC manages nature reserves, carries out scientific research and leads conservation projects across the UK to help species such as newts, frogs, toads, lizards and snakes thrive in the wild.
Here at Noah’s Ark, we contribute by carrying out research in our conservation pond, monitoring newts and their habitats. This helps add to important conservation data and supports wider efforts to protect these fascinating native species.
-
![Female keeper with brown hair installs a bat monitor]()
Bat Conservation Research
Noah’s Ark is proud to take part in the North Somerset Bat Survey, helping to monitor and protect native bat species in our local area. In 2025, our team carried out surveys across six nights and recorded seven different species of bats on site.
This important work helps build a better understanding of local bat populations and supports wider efforts to protect these fascinating nocturnal animals and the habitats they rely on. If you live in North Somerset, you can get involved too by following the link below.
-
![Colourful Peacock butterfly on a hand]()
Spotted on site
Our Spotted on Site updates help us record and share the native species seen around Noah’s Ark throughout the year. Visitors and staff regularly spot wildlife such as buzzards circling overhead, small birds moving through the hedgerows, badgers, foxes, bats, amphibians and a wide variety of insects and pollinators.
These sightings are more than just exciting wildlife moments — they also contribute to our understanding of the species using the habitats across the zoo. Where possible, sightings are uploaded to iNaturalist, helping to build a wider picture of local biodiversity and contributing to citizen science records that can support research, habitat monitoring and conservation planning.
By recording and sharing these sightings, we hope to inspire visitors to notice and care for the wildlife living all around them. Noah’s Natives reminds us that conservation is not only about protecting species around the world, but also about valuing, understanding and supporting the nature found right here on our doorstep.
Find out more about our native wildlife
Breeding Programmes
Noah's Ark is home to several threatened species including the Vulnerable Lowland Tapirs, African Elephants and Spectacled Bears, the Endangered Crowned Cranes and Siamang Gibbons and the Critically Endangered Black and White Ruffed Lemurs, Bactrian Camels and White-headed Vultures. We are working with the European Breeding Programme to help maintain the captive populations.
Rescue Tiger Appeal
Noah's Ark set out it's biggest and boldest mission to date, to build a new habitat for a tiger in need of a forever home, Aqua. Aqua’s journey began in 2019 when he was one of 10 tigers rescued from appalling conditions at the Poland-Belarus border after being trafficked. Sadly, for one of those tigers, it was too much to bear, and they didn't make it. Rehabilitated in Spain and he is now awaiting his forever home at Noah's Ark.
Last year, we were racing to raise £175,000 to build a special rescue tiger home for Aqua. With your support, we built a new habitat for Aqua, giving him the safe, spacious enriching home he desperately needed.
We are now asking for the public to support Aqua's new beginnings.
Sign Up to the newsletter
Would you like to receive marketing emails from us? Please tick the box if you would like to receive information about future events, ways you can support our charity, offers and discounts.