Isle of Wight: Old life rings donated to animal sanctuary

The ferry company says it is pleased the rings avoided going to landfill

Old life-saving rings from a ferry have been donated to animals in a rescue centre rather than going to landfill.

Lions and lemurs at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary on the Isle of Wight have been playing with them, after they were given by ferry company Wightlink.

The fluorescent orange rings used to be on-board the Lymington to Yarmouth ferry, Wight Sun, but have since been replaced with new ones.

Lemurs used them as swings, while the African lions chose to chew on them.

Ring-tailed lemur Mangoky has been enjoying the new toys

The sanctuary takes care of five species of lemurs - a mixture of Ring-tailed, Black, Mongoose, Black and White Ruffed and Red-ruffed.

Four African lions, three males and one female, also live at the site.

Animal Manager Marc Fox said the sanctuary was always looking for ways to enrich its animals' lives.

"The life rings are a novel object which provide the perfect swings for the lemurs and ideal scratching and chewing toys for the lions," he added.

Wightlink has previously gifted animals at the Sandown attraction old mooring lines to play with.

Phil Delaney, the company's commercial director, said he was pleased the life rings had been put to good use, rather than going to landfill.

"It looks like the animals are really enjoying the latest additions to their habitats, we hope the rings provide them with many hours of fun."