WATCH: With catwalk shows, style talks, beauty demos, pop-ups and special offers featuring some of its biggest brands, this weekend's Spring Fashion event by thecentre:mk was a big hit 👇
Disney's Aladdin comes to Milton Keynes Theatre this April - and it's gloriously colourful and wonderfully uplifting.
View the sneaky peek below, and then book your ticket for a magic carpet ride...
Do you ❤️ Kylie? Were you dead keen on Dead or Alive?
Did you swoon over Rick Astley and Jason Donovan?
If the answer is 'yes,' you need to grab a ticket for
I Should Be So Lucky, The Musical - coming to Milton Keynes Theatre in March.
Here's a little taster👇
The problem with litter...
How about a ridiculously cute video to end the day?
Here you go 😍😍
A Francois langur baby pokes his amber head out from his mum’s tender embrace, as Whipsnade zookeepers celebrate the new birth as part of a successful European breeding programme for the Endangered species.
Born at the conservation zoo to parents Lee Lee and Wang, the team have nicknamed the little one ‘Citrus’, due to his brightly-coloured fur, but they are waiting to get to know the newborn’s personality before deciding on a permanent name.
“While his distinct fur will help visitors to spot Citrus, over the next few months his bright locks will start fading to black. In the meantime, Lee Lee is being the perfect mother, supported by the other females in the troop," said keeper Hayley Jakeman.
Francois langurs are listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. Native to China and northern Vietnam, their numbers continue to fall in the wild, making the birth internationally important.
“Conservationists estimate there are only 2,000 of these incredible primates left in the wild as a result of illegal hunting for their meat and for traditional medicinal purposes," Hayley added, "Caring for a back-up population in zoos is vital to protecting their future.”
ZSL, the conservation charity behind Whipsnade Zoo, works across the world to tackle the illegal wildlife trade, including in Thailand - the largest transport point for the illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia.
We love a flypast and the wonderful sound of the Lancaster as it approached Milton Keynes Museum to wow visitors this afternoon was awesome. Always a treat.
The Stencil Pencils performed at this year's Camp Bestival and when they weren't in the spotlight themselves, MK's rising stars were busy making friends and hanging with some very familiar faces.
Here's Kale singing Sam Ryder's Fought & Lost with the man himself!
Foxes are fabulous - look at these beautiful babies turning up for their dinner at one house in Milton Keynes last week.
So precious ❤️
Butterfly heaven in Milton Keynes this morning - plastic turf and decking will never compete with the natural beauty of flora and fauna ❤️
Have you taken part in the Big Butterfly Count yet? Visit Butterfly Conservation for details on how you can get involved...
❤️❤️ The cutest Easter video you will see this weekend? Might well be!
Scroll down to see lemurs, rhinos and wolverines enjoying an Easter eggstravaganza at Whipsnade Zoo, when keepers arranged a cracking treat for the animals.
Endangered ring-tailed lemurs foraged amongst papier-mache eggs filled with their favourite sweet potato treats, wolverines Puff and Fi woke up to Easter pinatas stuffed with meaty snacks, while greater one-horned rhino Behan snuffled for snacks amongst brightly painted Easter boxes.
Whipsnade Zoo is part of ZSL, a science-driven conservation charity working to restore wildlife in the UK and around the world – a mission supported by every visitor to the conservation zoo.
www.whipsnadezoo.org
A stocktake with a difference at Whipsnade Zoo - the elephants are simple enough to count. But butterflies and perky penguins? Trickier!
EastEnders vs Milton Keynes! 🤣🤣🤣
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s troop of bouncy, ring-tailed lemurs were treated to Christmas stockings earlier this week, after an early visit from Santa Paws!
The excitable, stripy primates discovered the colourful stockings - filled with vegetable treats - in their home at the UK’s largest zoo and spared no time tucking into their festive gifts.
No time like the present for the Whipsnade rhinos!
Christmas has come early for greater one-horned rhino calf Zhiwa and her mum Behan, after zookeepers at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo gave them giant, festive, gift-boxes filled with their favourite foods.
Three-year-old Zhiwa and her mum woke up to the colourful Christmas presents, each brimming with hay, cabbage and carrots.
Team leader Mark Holden said: “Rhinos aren’t known for eating delicately, so we weren’t surprised to see them demolish their presents as they consumed the treats within!"
The conservation Zoo is open every day except Christmas Day. Find out more about the Zoo’s conservation work at
www.zsl.org/Whipsnade
Check out this Christmas cuteness from Whipsnade Zoo to brighten your day!
A baby elephant has enjoyed her first taste of Christmas after keepers created a woody winter wonderland for the youngster to explore – officially beginning the countdown to Christmas at the UK’s largest zoo.
Three-month-old endangered Asian elephant Nang Phaya was treated to a 20-foot-high forest of Christmas trees to explore, play with and snack on - with mum Donna, grandma Kaylee and the rest of her herd joining in the festive fun.
The curious infant initially approached the new trees with some caution, but soon followed her family’s lead, exploring the sensations of the prickly branches under her feet and with her trunk.
Playful young calf Nang Phaya was born in August 2022 and named the Thai word for ‘queen’ after HM Queen Elizabeth II, who famously fed her mum Donna a banana during a 2017 visit to the Zoo.
Asian elephants are classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and recent estimates suggest that as few as 7000 are left in South-East Asia.
International conservation charity ZSL works in Thailand, Nepal, Cameroon and West Africa to protect elephants and help people living alongside them thrive.
#elephants
❤️❤️ It's a dreary day, but this will put a smile on your face - the first video of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo's new leggy arrival!
The giraffe calf was born on Remembrance Day and has been named Wilfred Owen after the WWI poet.
Wilfred's arrival is a vital addition to the international conservation breeding programme (EEP) for reticulated giraffes
(Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata), a species classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List.
He made quite the entrance too - giraffe's give birth standing up, so he had a two-metre fall to the ground!
A little bit of Sam Ryder rockin' it at Station Square this evening with a great set and energy to match ❤️
More Sam stuff on Total MK tomorrow.
VIDEO: Cheer your day - watch this rather big little baby at play!
A baby Asian elephant has been named the Thai word for ‘Queen’ at the UK’s largest Zoo, in honour of ZSL Whipsnade Zoo’s patron, Queen Elizabeth II, who once met the calf’s mum.
The conservation Zoo gave the privilege of naming the not-so-tiny infant to ZSL conservationists who work in Thailand, protecting endangered, Asian elephants in the wild. The conservationists chose the name Nang Phaya (pronounced ‘nang-pie-yah'), which is an animal-related Thai word meaning ‘queen, or strong, female monarch.’
The female elephant calf was born at the zoo in August, to mum Donna, who HM Queen Elizabeth II met when she opened the Zoo’s Centre for Elephant Care in 2017.
A photograph of HM The Queen feeding Donna a banana featured on her official Christmas card that year.
Asian elephants are classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and recent estimates suggest that as few as 7000 are left in South-East Asia.
ZSL’s Thailand Elephant Project works in the southern Western Forest Complex to mitigate human-elephant conflict in the region. This work forms a key component of ZSL’s wider elephant conservation programme that spans across Africa and Asia.
Elephant Team Leader at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, Stefan Groeneveld said: “Nang Phaya is a really important addition to the endangered species breeding programme for Asian elephants, and as the boisterous, youngest female in a matriarchal family line, her new name is perfect.
“Although not on solid food yet, she has been experimenting with using her trunk to pick up twigs and is gradually getting the knack of using it! She’s currently weighing in at a healthy 152kg and putting on about a kilo a day.”
To support the Zoo’s global elephant conservation work, visit www.zsl.org/Whipsnade
