Conservation Programme

Conservation Work

Here at Eagle Heights we assist with conservation work using a variety of ways.  Please find below an explanation of the ways we use. Should you have any further queries or questions please do feel free to email the Director of Eagle Heights via This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and he will be happy to expand or explain anything that is unclear.

Conservation Demonstrations

Here at Eagle Heights we pride ourselves in giving some of the best conservation demonstrations in the country. For example, we are the only wildlife collection in the UK to bring our Cheetah outside of the enclosure to run, simulating natural behaviour, in front of the public and this has without a doubt raised awareness of the plight of the Cheetah.

Eagle Heights holds 3 demonstrations throughout the day to educate members of the public on conservation, ecology and population dynamics. 

They are:- 

Birds of the World: Staring, 'Chilli' the Bald Eagle, 'Skye' the White Tailed Sea Eagle, 'Azamat' the Saker Falcon, 'Abuko' the Lanner Falcon, 'Butthead' & 'Frank' the Striated CaraCaras, 'Harold' the Eurasion Griffon Vulture, 'Bernard' the Eurasian Black Vulture and 'Doris' the Barn Owl.  Information is given in a fun and educational way about Birds of the World and their plight.

Reptiles and Mammals: Staring, 'Geoffery' the 8' Asian Water Monitor, various types of Snake and Timone & Pumba our Meerkats. Again information is given in a fun and educational way about Reptiles and Mammals and their needs in the modern world.

The Africa Show: Staring, 'Annie' the African Fish Eagle, 'Anakin' the Barbary Falcon, 'Zina' & 'Boumani' our Cheetah and finally THE SCAVENGERS! This includes 'Gonzo' The Hooded Vulture, 'Honey' the Tawny Eagle, 'Batty' the Bateluer Eagle, 'Becks' the White Backed Vulture and 'Ant', 'Dec' and 'Marge' our Marabou Storks!  This demonstation concentrates mainly on the plight of African Wildlife.

We believe that by holding these demonstrations we can inspire the public, young and old, to understand more about wildlife and conservation and judging by the response we have, this is definitely the case.

 All of our animals give the visitors a  close up and personal experience that allows them to interact with these animals like never before.

Alan Ames - BirdMan - BRINGING SCIENCE ALIVE!

Alan Ames, affectionately known by all the schools as 'Birdman', visits over 35,000 school children each year with his team of Birds of Prey including: Alaska the Bald Eagle, Guinevere the Lanner Falcon, Casper the Barn Owl and Sybil the Harris Hawk. Together they teach children the  importance of conserving their environment and the wildlife in it. We hope that through this children will grow up with more understanding for the environment that they will one day be responsible for. Some of these school are based in areas where these children would never have had the opportunity to see such amazing wildlife in 'real life' and we believe this truly 'brings alive' conservation.

Rehabilitation of wild rescued Birds

So far, Eagle Heights has rescued many sick and injured birds over the last 14 years for various reasons. Sometimes all they need is a safe environment to recover from minor problems and then they are ready for release. Sometimes some of the young birds have never hunted before and would not be able to survive in the wild without sufficient training in the art of Falconry. It is our intention to release as many wild birds back to their natural habitat as possible and therefore once the birds have undergone 'training' they will have successfully hunted for themselves and will then be in a position to survive on their own in the wild. A prime example of this is the young Sprrowhawk below.  This beautiful bird was  handed in to us in September 2010. This Sparrowhawk was 3/4 grown and we were worried that it would become imprinted on humans. So, we put her in an aviary where she had no contact with humans until she was fully grown. We then trained her to hunt for herself and after approximately 10 successful kills she was ready to be released back into the wild in January 2011 (Pictures below)

We have also successfully released back into the wild a number of Peregrine Falcons, other Sparrowhawks, Tawny Owls (one of which can be seen below), Barn Owls, Little Owls and Common Buzzards.

Wild Bird and Hedgehog Rescue undertaken by our Mammal Keeper Lori Williams

Lori Williams is our very own 'Elisa Dolittle'. She even has wild birds following her every move around the park! They know she will never let them go hungry. She has feeding stations for all wild song birds around the centre to ensure their survival through the cold winter months and this can be seen when visiting.

Lori Williams has also undertaken her very own Hedgehog Rescue, so far rescuing and rehabilitating 10 underweight and vunerable Hedgehogs.

Conservation in Africa.

We currently donate money to The Cheetah Conservation Fund and Landmark to assist with projects in Africa.

Please refer to their websites at www.cheetah.org and www.landmarkfoundation.org.za for full details of their projects.

Our Cheetah here at Eagle Heights are ambassadors for raising awareness and can be seen whilst visiting.

Conservation at Home

Here at Eagle Heights we have an 'Adder Pit' which is the start of our breed and release of Adders back into the wild.

Barn Owls and Buzzards have been successfully released back into the local area, where appropriate naturally and this is an ongoing project for us in the future.

Our policy is to refrain from 'landscaping' all areas of Eagle Heights so that natural wildlife is not deterred, this has proved extremely successful for butterflies, lizards etc.

Recycling is actively encouraged at Eagle Heights for all staff and visitors.  We strive to help visitors understand that conservation of our environment is of the utmost importance. Recylcling bins are placed in our car parking area and this has proved extremely successful for return visitors and staff alike.  We started our recycling campaign in 2002 and 9 years later we are proud of our achievements in this area.  As an example, in and around Eagle Heights we recycle what we can, wood for maintenance, perching for aviaries etc., is taken from windfalls.  All cardboard is collected by Kingsnorth Recycling along with our printer cartridges, glass, cans, paper etc. 

We will not participate in any projects that we feel are trying to achieve unreasonable goals and are proud to say that every single penny donated for any cause is used for just that  and not 'expenses' etc! Rest assured that Eagle Heights is honest and true to everything we say and do.