Lifeline for Lynx

Help us raise £12,000 to provide vital sanctuary to three incredible lynx

Thanks to the incredible offline generosity of the local business community and individual donors ardlldldldlde have been able to reduce our online Crowdfunder ask from £25,000 to £12,000 

Here at The Wildheart Trust, we’ve recently committed to provide vital sanctuary to a mother lynx, Daenerys (right), her four year old daughter, Nymeria (centre) and son, Tyrion (left), who found themselves in dire straits and in desperate need of a new home.

Thankfully, we have a secure, vacant area within our sanctuary where we can urgently accommodate these enigmatic medium-sized cats but we now need your help to transform that space into a true home with all the creature comforts required to meet and nurture their emotional and physical needs for years to come.

How are the costs of the project broken down?

Our updated ask of £12,000 allows for each part of their home to be exemplary. Rocks to climb on, greenery to sneak behind, pathways to slink down and high platforms to rest on and look out from.

Here’s a breakdown of how our project will be broken down:

• £115/week to feed for a year
• £1000 vet bills for a year
• £7,500 for project landscaping
• £10,000 for interior furnishings
• £3,000 for habitat security
• £1,700 for transportation to the Sanctuary

A bit about The Wildheart Trust

The Wildheart Trust (based on the east coast of Sandown on the Isle of Wight) provides forever homes for animals in need of love, care and respect. Our founder, Charlotte Corney, grew up surrounded by wild animals and has personally cared for over ninety big cats, often acting as a foster mum to abandoned cubs from zoos and safari parks. 

With the support of her partner, wildlife campaigner and broadcaster, Chris Packham, and other devoted friends and professionals, she took a leap of faith in 2017 by setting up a charity, The Wildheart Trust, to secure a future for her work giving homes to animals in need.

The COVID effect

Like other UK wildlife centres which depend on visitors to fund the day-to-day cost of looking after their animals, we’re now facing another period of Lockdown which will sever our core income streams – again. 

At the start of the last Lockdown we launched an ‘SOS- Save our Sanctuary’ crowdfunder campaign which was generously supported and became a real lifeline for us supplying us with essential funds to make sure our animals lives were secured and their welfare wasn’t compromised. 

We worked from dawn to dusk to fight for every pound and penny available via grants and government schemes; corporate support; payment holidays; reductions in expenditure; goodwill from the community and bank loans.

Once we were able to re-open we welcomed as many people as we were physically able to under social distancing rules and we ran extra events to help to replenish our depleted bank balance. Our efforts paid off but we’re now facing further losses to income due to COVID-19 on top of the worries which always come with wet winters and falling footfall.

 We put the 't' into 'tenacious team'

Our team, from cherished volunteers to on-the-ground staff to our board of Trustees are devoted to making the world a better place for animals, be them in the wild or in human care environments. We are a resilient lot and know that failure is never an option - we often have to make square pegs fit into round holes!

We have the expertise and determination to offer a meaningful, quality future to animals and with the incredible support we receive from dedicated animal lovers we’re able to continue to fulfil our mission despite the pandemic. 

We remain totally committed to making the world a better place for animals and we refuse to fail those who come knocking on our door asking for help. 

We constantly dream of a world where wild animals can be part of the ecological systems they evolved to live in. Until then we continue to believe that every captive animal deserves to have a life worth living and strive to ensure that ours do.

Housing our new lynx family 

It’s not easy making the decision to open the door to animals in dire straits while also prioritising the care of our current animal residents who entirely depend on us.  However, in this instance we’ve been able to offer the lynx immediate refuge but we must now seek support to ensure that these very special individuals live in a habitat which maximises their potential to be ‘a lynx’. Their bodies are designed to jump and flex and their mentality motivates them to try to be stealthy and secretive. Creating this envirnoment within a captive setting is a challenge. 

With your donations, we can design and create a home fit for lynx lifestyles. 

“Saving one animal won’t change the world but it will change the world for that one animal”

This well-used quote has definitely rung true for the many fortunate animals who’ve been taken in by The Wildheart Trust in recent years - from tigers and lions to raccoons and rabbits. Over the past two years alone we’ve successfully rehabilitated seven ex-circus tigers alongside other smaller mammals. 

Getting to know these individuals on their terms, encouraging their characters to blossom and them to trust us and thrive is at the heart of what we do. And, we do it because we know that every life matters. 

Living, breathing links to our wild lynx past

Once a species native to Britain, historically wild lynx were ruthlessly hunted at the same time as having their woodland homes savagely stolen and destroyed. They last lived as a part of our wild environment in Britain in early medievil times. 

It’s sobering to think that this family of lynx could be the first to leave their pawprints on our little piece of the UK for hundreds of years.  

At a time when our world faces darkness in so many ways we’re now inviting you to respond to our rally cry for help to light up the lives of these lynx; they really are beacons of brillance. We’re excited to create a positive end to this story and would love you to be a part of making it happen.

Looking forward to a brighter future...

We’re already looking forward to the time that we can open our doors once again and have the opportunity to share these exquisite animals with you, be that in person or across our digital platforms. 

An animal that is almost impossible to see in the wild now across Europe will be visible at Trust. It’ll be an immense privilege to experience these animals in the flesh and they’ll become true ambassadors here at the Sanctuary. 

We’ve no doubt that Daenerys, Nymeria and Tyrion will ignite a love for their species - moving peoples’ hearts and minds to a place where they’ll join the on-going fight to award our once native species the right to properly return ‘home’ 

Thank you so much for your support. Every penny counts for these cats.

ANY donation you make will help to bring certainty and comfort to our lynx. 

 We know that these challenging times during the pandemic have taken their toll in so many ways and we recognise the suffering and sacrifices that many of us have had to make. Our lives have been truly shaken. Any help you can give will be forever appreciated by the Wildheart team on behalf of Daenerys, Nymeria and Tyrion. 

With special thanks and love from The Wildheart Trust team ❤️