A big-hearted seven-year-old got on her bike and found a novel way of helping the ringed-tailed lemurs in the Lake District Wildlife Park during lockdown.

Evie Rolls, who wants to be a zoo keeper when she grows up, raised £310 when staff at the park, at Bassenthwaite, put out an appeal for a new playground to help the furry creatures which are usually found only in the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar.

Head keeper Vicky Jennings and park manager Richard Robinson had set up an Amazon wish-list so the park’s supporters could help buy the necessary materials.

But despite many contributions, they were unable to get everything required.

The climbing frame that the lemurs currently use is wearing out and will shortly be in need of replacement.

But Evie came to the rescue by taking part in the Lakesman Lockdown Junior Challenge last month.

The annual Lakesman triathlon event could not run because of the coronavirus so Evie took part in a lockdown version instead.

For her challenge she completed a ‘duathlon’ which consisted of running a lap, totalling 1km, of Fitz Park, Cockermouth, and three laps of it by cycling, 4km in total.

It took her just longer than 17 minutes to complete the course which she found a “real challenge”.

She said: “I really like lemurs, they are one of my favourite animals along with elephants, giraffes and zebras.

“In fact, I like all animals and one day I want to have my own zoo.”

Evie’s contribution means staff can now buy the remaining items and will start to construct it soon.

Last week she visited the Lake District Wildlife Park to see the lemurs and hand over her donation.

She was met by Lucy Dunn, education and marketing coordinator and spoke to Vicky who is also the primate keeper at the park.

Vicky said the playground is important because, like many of the animals at the park, ring-tailed lemurs like to play and it is an important part of their health and well-being.

They can be seen at the park after it reopened last month following the coronavirus lockdown.

There are now a number of measures to ensure safety and social distancing on place for both staff and visitors.

These include sneeze guards up in reception, hand sanitisers and hand washing facilities.

The park is open daily from 10am to 5am – last week it announced that its cafe reopened.

For more information on what the park has to offer, or to make a donation, go online to its website: www.lakedistrictwildlifepark.co.uk