The Ark is home to over 250 animals that may have had to be put down or left abandoned had the Ark not stepped in to help. From crocodiles in bath tubs, Raccoon dogs found wandering loose to a fox that was asked to be put down by its previous owner, as well as a Savannah cat seized by the authorities and many many more.

The Ark, like many other places has been forced to close and has lost all income needed to feed and care for these animals.

Unlike many businesses impacted we cannot simply 'switch off the lights' even if we are closed our expenses are pretty much the same and runs to many thousands of pounds a week.

The Ark gets no public funding or Grants and whilst the government are offering some assistance this is a drop in the ocean when you look at our actual running costs.

Our bills don't simply go away when our visitors do, it costs £1000 per day to look after the animals, our electric bill for this month alone is £1500, plus vet Bill's, heat, water and feed on top of this.

We have had to make the decision to furlough all our fantastic staff as we simply do not have the income to pay them, which means there are only 2 of us looking after over 250 animals. We have had to ask volunteers not to come in as we have had to isolate ourselves as cannot risk becoming ill.

The Ark is a community project and the next few months are critical to the 250 animals that are already here living happily, and will impact any future rescues.

We promise anyone reading this we will get through this, we didn't get this far and build this fantastic place up from scratch to be beaten, but we desperately need help and that is where our fantastic followers come in. We cannot contemplate having to close as these animals had nowhere else to go, that's why they came to the Ark in the first place and we will fight for them.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any assistance you can give, any amount you can spare will help the animals and go directly towards their care and keep the Ark afloat.

We have also been told we must remain closed indefinitely due to government guidance with no end in site this is a critical time for the animals at the Ark.

Please see website www.arkwildlifepark.co.uk for updates or follow us on Facebook.