Chronicle plea leads to special zoo adoption

Nov 7 2008 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

A HEARTFELT plea published in The Chronicle led a Chester woman to adopt a pair of unpopular birds from Chester Zoo.

The Mindanao bleeding-heart doves – so called because of the flash of brilliant red on their chests – can be found in the Tropical Realm and are among some of the prettiest birds at the zoo.

After reading an article about a lack of adopters for the birds in the Midweek Chronicle on October 22, kind-hearted Wendy Richards, of Parkfield Road, Broughton contacted the zoo and adopted a pair.

“When I read the article my heart just went out to them,” said Wendy.

“Doves are such beautiful creatures and I thought it was such a shame people were not coming forward to adopt them.”

Natalie Stokes, of Chester Zoo’s adoptions department, said: “We made a plea on behalf of some of our smaller species of animals in the hope of finding them adopters, and we were thrilled when Wendy decided to adopt the bleeding-heart doves.

“Some of our animals might not be as big as an elephant or as graceful as a giraffe but from a conservation point of view they are just as important.”

The adoption scheme helps the zoo, a registered conservation charity, meet its annual animal food bill.

For more information on the scheme and the species available for adoption, visit www.chesterzoo.org.