#CrowdfundDartmoorZoo

It's amazing what we can do
if we all come together

On the 17th of November, Dartmoor Zoo will embark on a bold new chapter in the story that began in 2006.

We'll be launching a crowdfunding campaign which will help us convert fully to charitable status and secure the future of the zoo as a centre of excellence for education, conservation and research.

In 2006 the Mee family bought Dartmoor Zoo to prevent the majority of the animals from being destroyed.

Since then, despite the release of the Hollywood film 'We Bought a Zoo' which was based on the bestselling book by Benjamin Mee, the threat to the zoo remains. Two global recessions and five of the wettest English summers on record have shown that this zoo needs to shift its centre of gravity from dependence on seasonal tourists towards becoming a charity focusing on research and education. This process is already well underway.

Our aspirations for the future are unashamedly ambitious - and will have a global impact. As well as developing our international conservation and education programmes, we aim to establish a world class research centre in animal cognition, exploring animal consciousness to promote the rights and welfare of animals everywhere. But our project is also about regenerating people, using the platform of the zoo to encourage volunteering, training and education, from pre-school to postgraduate and beyond. People from around the world have been inspired by this story of hope. Now everyone can actively participate in keeping this hope alive.

The crowdfunding campaign kicks off on the 17th November with a launch event at Plymouth University featuring a Q&A with Benjamin Mee and a showing of the movie, We Bought a Zoo. Unfortunately, seats for the event were snapped up in record time but you can help in the meantime. Our Thunderclap campaign is already underway and you can 'pledge' your social media following to ensure we get the message out to the widest possible audience. It's really simple, takes a few clicks and it's absolutely free.

You can add your voice to the Thunderclap campaign using the widget on the right.

There will be some special events during the campaign so be sure to keep up-to-date via our Twitter and Facebook profiles and keep an eye out for the hashtag #CrowdfundDartmoorZoo. #CrowdfundDartmoorZoo Tweets