Don't miss all the Easter activities at Colchester Zoo this year which will be fun for all the family! Every day from 12.00pm until 5.00pm you can enjoy the beautiful and even bigger Easter Wonderland, in Fantasyland at Colchester Zoo. See Easter displays, cute Easter characters and more! Plus if you are lucky enough to pick a winning golden ticket from the Magic Easter Box - you will win a real chocolate Easter egg! (*terms apply)

Children can enjoy Easter themed crafts and learn more about eggs in the animal kingdom by visiting the Easter Crafts and Activity stall from 11.00am - 4.00pm every day in the Kingdom of the Wild building.

KD Theatre at 11.45am - Easter Eggs are a fun tradition, but what role do eggs play in the animal kingdom? You can find out by going along to the fun show 'Eggtastic'. At 2.00pm head along to the bandstand in Familiar Friends where you can meet some Colchester Zoo farm keepers and new Spring babies!

At 1.15pm on the Falconry Lawn don't miss Eggstravaganza Gold every day. Here you might just get the chance to help Rosie Rabbit and her friends in a fun golden egg and spoon race!

Plus at 3.00pm get your dancing shoes on and head to the Kalahari Centre for some fun music and party games.

So come to Colchester Zoo this Easter for an eggcellent time!

*The Magic Easter box is only available for children aged 14 years and under. Each child can have one attempt to pick a winning golden ticket. Not every child will be successful. Winning golden tickets must be surrendered in order for them to be exchanged for an egg. No monetary value applies to winning golden tickets and they cannot be exchanged, redeemed or re-used anywhere in Colchester Zoo. Colchester Zoo reserves the right to refuse visitors multiple visits to the Magic Easter Box. Winning Golden Tickets remain the property of Colchester Zoo and cannot be removed from the Easter Wonderland.

(Please note that the Magic Easter box at the Easter Wonderland replaces the Golden Egg Hunt that has taken place in previous years to give every child the same chance of winning a chocolate egg.)

Colchester Zoo has seen two very rare arrivals recently with both an Amur Leopard and an Amur Tiger joining the collection. A female Amur Leopard arrived at Colchester Zoo on Thursday 19th October and a male Amur Tiger arrived at the zoo on Saturday 25th November. Both cats have come to Colchester Zoo as part of a recommended European Breeding Programme.

The female Amur Leopard, "Milena", came to Colchester Zoo from Marwell Zoo in Hampshire, and she was born in 2005. It is hoped that in the future Milena will breed with resident male Dende as part of a recommended European Breeding Programme. Both cats are genetically very important and rate highly in the breeding programme that they are a part of. Any future cubs would subsequently rate very highly in the genetic diversity of this species.

The male Amur Tiger, Igor, has joined Colchester Zoo's resident female Anoushka. Igor came from Vienna Zoo and he was born in 2005. Igor has also been placed with Anoushka as part of a European Breeding Programme, and has a medium to high ranking in the programme, making any future cubs very important genetically.

The new penguin pool at Colchester Zoo has now opened giving some of the penguins an early Christmas present. Eleven of the zoo's nineteen penguins have moved into a brand new enclosure in the Aquatic Zone of the zoo.

The new enclosure forms part of a completely re-developed area of Colchester Zoo, which used to house the sea lions before Playa Patagonia opened 3 years ago. The new enclosure provides visitors with a view of the whole penguin pool from above, providing a contrast with the older enclosure where the penguins are mainly viewed underwater.

The pool also has a variety of new planting as well as nesting boxes for the penguins and will be the new location for birthday party children to help with the penguin feed. The existing Penguin Shores will remain a home for the eight other penguins in the zoos group and it is hoped that more Humboldt Penguins will join the zoo in the future. This means that we may breed the birds as part of the European Breeding Programme (EEP) they are a part of.

The new pool forms part of the 'Inca Trail', which is also home to a group of Spider Monkeys. The Inca Trail is now part of the zoo's Easier Route and it can be accessed from a walkway just past the coatis in the Aquatic Zone. Do come and have a look next time you visit!