Adopt an animal

Instead of simply giving more unwanted clutter to friends and family for Christmas you might want to consider giving a polar bear, a rhino, an orang-utang or even a whale!

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has set up a scheme whereby you can give a real tiger, dolphin, panda, orang-utan, rhino and even an elephant to someone for adoption.

The charity says that people love it because they really value the unique gifts they can buy for their friends and family, whilst doing something really positive.

Animal adoption is part of WWF’s mission to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

It does this by conserving the world’s biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

The organisation is perhaps best known for its animal adoption programmes to protect endangered species and their habitats, and much of their work is in areas where the most critically endangered wildlife and the least protected habitats are found.

By adopting an animal you can help to safeguard the future of their species, and help WWF to seek long-term sustainable solutions for the benefit of people and nature.

The person on whose behalf you adopt the animal will receive a certificate, a print of your animal, an information sheet and for all the adoptions except a panda receive quarterly updates throughout the year. (If you decide to adopt a panda you will only receive two updates a year. This is because apparently pandas are extremely elusive creatures and it is harder to report back on them!)

Click here to find out more about how to adopt an animal