A zebra fan who raised money for Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm during lockdown was invited to get up close to the animals at the attraction.

North Somerset Times: Polly meeting the animals at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm.Polly meeting the animals at Noah's Ark Zoo Farm. (Image: Archant)

Polly Robertson enjoyed a day meeting all the keepers and animals at the zoo farm in Wraxall as a thank you for her fundraising efforts.

She fed the reindeers, the bactrian camels and baby khoomii, the mob of meerkats, the tapirs, Bella, the barn owl and of course the zebras.

She also helped with the keepers’ daily tasks and got to meet animals from all over the world.

More: South West’s largest zoo reopens to public.

Polly, aged eight, visited the zoo to walk the last mile of her 64-mile sponsored walk.

While at the zoo, she was spoilt by all the animal keepers for raising such an amazing amount of money for the animals while the zoo was shut due to the pandemic.

Polly celebrated her birthday during lockdown and was disappointed she could not vist the zoo for her special day.

Polly, the zebra, who lives at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, sent Polly, the human, a birthday letter.

This prompted Polly to walk 64 miles – a mile a day – during the lockdown to represent the distance from her house to the zoo farm.

The determined youngster raised £100 for Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm’s Animal Support Fund, thanks to sponsorship from her family and friends.

Polly was then a guest on BBC Radio 2s Jeremy Vine show, where she told the host about her plight to raise money to help feed the animals at Noah’s Ark.

After her appearance on the Jeremey Vine show, her JustGiving page amount shot up to almost £11,000, meaning that Polly had helped the zoo feed the animals for a whole month all by herself. She presented a cheque to managing director of Noah’s Ark, Larry Bush, who said: “We’re bowled over by Polly’s fundraising to help care for our animals here at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm.

“We love it when people share our passion for animals and Polly is as mad about zebras as we are.

“We have enjoyed spoiling Polly today by introducing her to our meerkats, camels, giraffe and of course, our dazzle of zebra including Polly.”