Marwell Zoo: Thousands raised to help save England's rarest lizard - the sand lizard
Money to be used to upgrade specialist lizard facility
Marwell Zoo have thanked the generosity of its visitors after money raised will be used to help save England’ rarest lizard.
The sand lizard used to be widespread across southern England but today they survive in only a handful of protected heathland sites and rely on conservation efforts. Their population have declined dramatically due to habitat loss, development and environmental pressures but there has been some good news for the species at Marwell Zoo.
Between April 22 and 29 £16, 390 was raised to help save the lizard from extinction. The money was raised during The Big Give’s campaign week with the money raised from supporters matched by the Garfield Weston Foundation.
The funds will be used by Marwell’s conservation experts to upgrade a vital sand lizard breeding facility to improve welfare, research and long-term survival in the wild.
Marwell Wildlife CEO Laura Read said: “We just want to say a huge thank you to our supporters for being part of something so incredibly important.
“The funds that have been raised will allow us to renovate and upgrade Marwell’s specialist facility, managing lizards by age group and enabling new research through camera technology to monitor behaviour and interactions with the environment.”
More details on the campaign can be found at https://www.marwell.org.uk/.