HIS ROYAL Highness, The Earl of Wessex has announced how “terrific” his visit to a wildlife attraction in Easter Compton was earlier this week.

Prince Edward, accompanied by his wife Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and their two children Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn, visited the Wild Place Project to open a new exhibition, and gave the royal seal of approval for two upcoming projects.

The Earl started the day by opening the new Mahali Pori exhibit, which currently houses a number of cheetah.

Addressing his audience of staff, visitors, donors and dignitaries, His Royal Highness said: “Wild Place Project really is a fantastic attraction and it is a pleasure to be here.

“The conservation work taking place at Wild Place Project helps to raise awareness of where these exotic animals actually live in the wild and how we can play our part in protecting them. I think this is really wonderful.”

Bringing some humour to the occasion, he then stated he would usually get excited when opening exhibits, but with cheetah in such close proximity he felt he should keep quiet!
Following the opening, the family received a tour of the many attractions at the site from Dr Bryan Carroll, CEO of Bristol Zoological Society, which included getting the chance to feed the lemurs and meerkats.

The Earl, who has been Royal Patron of Bristol Zoological Society since 2013, and Countess also spoke to staff about plans to build a £10m state-of-the-art vet centre as well as the giraffe house appeal, which is expected to be constructed next year.

The Prince finally concluded the day by declaring his visit to have been "terrific".

Dr Bryan Carroll said: “It was an absolute honour to invite our Royal Patron for his first visit to Wild Place Project and show His Royal Highness and his family around our expanding site. We work hard to educate and engage our visitors in wildlife and conservation and this is something that didn’t go unnoticed.

“I know that they didn’t just enjoy their day, they were impressed, interested and completely captivated by the site, the animals they saw, the conservation stories they heard, and the staff they met.”