TJ, 5 from Great Dunmow is raising £10,000 walking a marathon dressed as his favourite animal in a bid to support Colchester Zoo through the pandemic.

TJ told Exotics Keeper Magazine: “Colchester Zoo is in lockdown and the animals are hungry. If they starve they will go to a bad zoo. I will make the money to save them!”

Proud parents, Kirsty and Dan Rose described TJ’s “heart of gold” and “concept of conservation” as major drivers for the impressive fundraising efforts.

The initiative to support the zoo began in November 2020. Kirsty said: “it started on Remembrance Day last year. TJ knew that the zoo was struggling, so he made his own LEGO zoo at the front of the house with the aim to rase £50 – enough to feed a rhino for a day. He stood outside for 7 hours each day, shaking his pot and talking to the dog walkers that come past our house.”

This lead Kirsty to set up a GoFundMe page for TJ’s efforts. Eventually, local attention turned to national coverage and the target of £50 grew to £10,000 – the cost to run the zoo for an entire day during lockdown.

Kirsty continued: “it went from a talking point in local groups to businesses we hadn’t even heard of supporting TJ with huge donations. Kina Group for example, doubled our first £1000, with a further £1000 donation. The teachers at TJ’s school also sacrificed their secret santa presents to donate to the fundraising too and awarded TJ ‘star of the week’.”

Eventually, the zoo needed to be dismantled as TJ gets sad when the animals are cold or wet.

To meet this new target TJ decided he would run a marathon. In keeping with national lockdown rules, TJ went out for an hour a day to walk 2 miles for 12 days dressed as his favourite animal, a lion. Kirsty added: “I know I’m kind of biased, but people in town seeing a lion waving back at them, its bound to put a smile on their face!”

TJ completed his marathon on the 29^th January and is already deciding what he can do to reach the £10,000 target before his 6^th birthday on the 20^th February. He has painted pictures of his favourite animals with information on how much it costs to feed each species for different time periods. He is also hoping to encourage his little sister, Elsie, 2, to join him in another walk dressed as her favourite animal, a giraffe.

Kirsty said: “We used to go to the zoo once a month and he would always read the information boards. He loves David Attenborough. When Colchester Zoo was in tier 2 we were invited to a VIP day there and received a lovely letter from the CEO. TJ had an absolutely lovely day.”

To support TJ’s continuing fundraising efforts please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/tj-saves-colchester-zoo

For information on how Exotics Keeper Magazine is supporting national zoos during this time, please visit https://wordpress.exoticskeeper.com/ekfund/.