Hi everyone, my name is Lawrence and I am really excited to have been given the opportunity to let all the readers know about the goings on at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary each month in this new column.

To start off I thought it would be good to introduce myself.

Scroll down for video from the sanctuary

My passion for wildlife was kindled at an early age when I saw a rhino at Chester Zoo.

Back in those days barriers were a little less robust and we were so close it filled me with awe, I literally could have reached out and touched it.

To me this was a dinosaur, a fantastic beast that filled the room, I still remember the sound of it chewing its hay and snorting and the way it moved about – a true tank of the animal world.

From that point my passion to dedicate my life to care for and conserve the natural world was fixed.

Through this career I have been fortunate to care for so many amazing animals, but always gravitated to the larger species like elephants and my favourite, the big cats!

I have learnt some important life lessons too – if you have to get close to an animal that can kick get really close as it hurts less, ears back usually means something bad is about to happen, the most important tool for assessing an animals health (and maybe ours too) is their poo!

Isle of Wight County Press: Wildheart Animal Sanctuary chief operating officer Lawrence Bates.

But amongst these lessons that many animals taught me is an overriding one that our natural world is such an awesome and precious space.

The balance within our ecosystems that have evolved over thousands of years is so intricate that we can never truly know how upsetting one piece of the system will create huge ripples in every other part of the web.

The way each animal within this web lives in harmony can perhaps teach us all a life lesson that we must preserve what is around us for our own sakes!

And now to the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on the beautiful Isle of Wight.

I am so lucky to be able to help rescue animals from horrendous circumstances around the world, giving these abused animals a new chance at life.

To them that single act has changed their world and it is such a rewarding challenge.

So, I look forward to updating everyone on the animal toings and froings at our sanctuary by the sea, I really hope you enjoy them.

Isle of Wight County Press: Wildheart Animal Sanctuary's lion brothers, Kumba and Vigo.

Lawrence's bio

I was born in Kendal in the Lake District and started work at a small animal park up there. From there I went and trained as a field guide in Africa for a short period of time.  Upon returning I went to Twycross Zoo and then back up north to Blackpool Zoo. After Blackpool I came back down to West Midlands Safari Park, where I worked for ten years with the elephants and big cats.  I then came to the Isle of Wight.

Video from the sanctuary