30 | August 1, 2013 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
What’s On Family
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1. Hold a skeleton COMPARE the giants of the natural world with the giants of the mechanical world on Wednesday – and touch a real skeleton! The Museum of Zoology is teaming up with the Cambridge Museum of Technology for an ‘engineering in the natural world’ workshop as part of Summer at the Museums. Investigate how different manmade and natural structures are, and make your own construction to take home. Suitable for all ages, the drop-in session runs from 2pm until 4.30pm. Usual admission applies. Visit www.museumoftechnology.com for more details.
2. Be a glass act
YOU’LL be creating stained glass masterpieces in no time after a workshop at the Stained Glass Museum in Ely on Wednesday. It’s on from 2pm until 4pm and all materials are provided – just turn up with a bit of imagination! Suitable for ages 8+, places cost £8.50. Don’t forget to book on (01353) 660347.
3. Discover a special tree
POP along to the Cambridge Botanic Garden on Saturday to hear stories about the Magic Brick Tree (it’s a strange tree, all filled up with bricks on the inside). For more magic and mischief, crafty little ones can get stuck in to a modelling workshop where you can get your hands dirty creating your own wizarding characters. Suitable for 5-12-yearolds, drop in anytime between 11am and 3pm – it only costs £3 per child! Call (01223) 331875 for details.
4. Be a warrior for a day
ARM yourself with some old clothes and a sturdy pair of shoes for a morning with Hereward the Wake’s outlaw gang on Friday. The Wicken Warriors (at Wicken Fen of course), are out roaming again, so prepare for some tough team challenges, lots of games and energy burning tracking. It starts at 10.30am and costs £4.75 per child. Perfect for wild and adventurous 6-12-yearolds, call (01353) 720274 to book your child’s place.
5. Get arty
BUDDING Picassos can pop in to Kettle’s Yard on Castle Hill for an afternoon of drawing, exploring and making this Sunday. From 1pm to 4pm the gallery will host its twicemonthly Studio Sundays sessions, where families can go along, soak up the exhibits and invent their own colourful artworks. It’s completely free and there’s no need to book. Visit www.kettlesyard.co.uk or call (01223) 748100 to find out more.
HEROES IN A HALF SHELL: Clockwise from above, a Star Tortoise baby; Dylan, 9, and William, 4, meet a Sulcata Giant Tortoise baby; Corban Wood meets an Aldabran Giant Tortoise; Caitlin Bull, 7, with a Sulcata giant tortoise baby; a Sulcata giant tortoise hatching
Tortoise tours
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LOW, shelled and pretty aweinspiring, who wouldn’t want to become best mates with a giant tortoise? Well, now you can. Linton Zoo is unleashing its community of tortoises, and you might even see a baby one hatch! The centre is running behind the scenes tortoise tours (a bit of a tongue twister), in aid of their Yupukari River Turtle Conservation Project, based in Guyana. The idea is you’ll get to meet, touch and feed the Aldabran giant tortoises in the outdoor enclosure on a 15-20 minute tour (apparently they quite like bananas and
carrots), before discovering where the zoo incubates its tortoise eggs and raises the little hatchlings. Kim Simmons, director of Linton Zoo, says: “The last few groups have been lucky enough to actually watch tortoises coming out of their eggshells! The hatchlings can be seen at all the various different stages, we explain how we bath them and what food we give them, and they sometimes get to see some of the very special babies that aren’t normally even on show.” Although it might seem a little pricey at £15 a pop, every penny from the tours goes towards the
ᔡ Tortoise Tours, Linton Zoo, Hadstock Road, Linton, daily at 2.30pm. Suitable for ages 2+ / under 14s must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets cost £15 from (01223) 891308. Booking is essential.
turtle conservation project. Kim explains: “We are encouraging and educating people out there and offering our expertise to improve the situation with their river turtles – which actually they eat.” Using traditional local hunting methods to catch fish and turtles from the river – as they have done for generations – sadly the tribe are “practically eating their turtles out of existence.” Luckily Linton Zoo – and Exmoor Zoo – have joined forces with the Yupukari community to help sustain their tortoise numbers. “The Yupukari project is an exciting programme which was initiated by local people themselves and involves the entire village,” says Kim. “For a long time turtles have been one of the main food sources for people in the region. I think they’ve realised they need to invest in their future.” The project aims to harvest tortoise eggs and construct ponds and artificial nesting areas, so hatchlings can spend their first year growing up in a safe environment before being released back into the wild. So why should people support the project and go along on
a tour? “It’s an opportunity that people can’t normally experience and it’s very exciting and educational,” Kim enthuses. “Hopefully people will have a much better understanding of these wonderful creatures, and of course, the money they pay is directly contributing to the conservation of a group of animals that in many cases are nearing extinction.” She adds: “Tortoises have been around on our planet for about 250 million years, a long time before the dinosaurs arrived, they’ve marched straight past the dinosaurs, through to today, only to be driven to extinction by the human race, so that’s why we’re on a big educational mission with them.” ella.walker@ cambridge-news.co.uk