Adopting an animal - a great Christmas gift idea

This is a collaborative post

Last year my daughter spent some of her Christmas money on a primate adoption. She chose to adopt a golden-cheeked gibbon called Kim who lives at Monkey World in Dorset, and we upgraded to a family adoption so that we could all enjoy as many visits to the sanctuary as we wanted during the year. We've been several times and have been able to see Kim and her partner Tien up close, as well as having some lovely family days out at the park seeing all the animals that live there.

As well as knowing that her adoption is been used to support Kim's care, it has also given Mia a lot of interest in the particular species as well as in all the other primates at the park. She keeps up to date with all the latest news on the website and social media and she's learned a lot about how the animals live, both in the park and in the wild. 

If you are interested in adopting an animal, it's worth having a look at any extra benefits that are included with the price of your adoption, as all zoos and animal parks are different. It's typical to receive entry to the park, a certificate and a few updates about your animal over the year, but some places also offer a few extras which are nice to have, especially if you are looking for something to wrap as a gift. For example if you choose a child Giraffe adoption at Marwell Zoo as well as an entrance ticket you'll also received a stuffed giraffe, recognition on the adopter board at the zoo and a few extras like stickers and a bookmark. 

Photo credit Annika Ashley via Unsplash

Mia only took out her adoption for one year, and she is still thinking about what she will do when it runs out in January. I know that it will be very difficult for her to give up adopting Kim, and so I suspect that she will want to renew it! Another option might be for us to sponsor a different primate at the same park, or perhaps a complete change and choose to adopt an animal that lives at a zoo closer to home - it's a bit of a trek over to Monkey World for us!

She has had so much enjoyment out of the adoption that I'd really recommend it if you are looking for a Christmas gift for a child or an adult, especially if they have an interest in a particular animal. It's something a bit more unusual and most importantly would really make a difference to the zoo that you choose.