A pair of Gentoo penguins at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham have been treated to a private Valentine’s Day serenade by a violinist from Birmingham City University’s Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Parents to the aquarium’s baby penguin chicks born last year, Arabel and Pablo have been working hard to raise their young, but like many new parents, they can sometimes struggle to find time for romance amidst the demands of parenthood.

As the attraction now begins to prepare for breeding season, animal care experts at the National Sea Life Centre, with the help of nearby friends at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, have rewarded Arabel and Pablo with a well-earned extra special date experience for Valentine’s Day. However, the rest of the colony soon followed behind to see what all the fuss was about.

“Every parent knows it’s hard to get time alone once a little one comes along,” said Jonny Rudd, Curator at the National Sea Life Centre.

“With Valentine’s Day being so close to the start of breeding season it was the perfect opportunity to treat our dedicated penguin parents, in the hope we can encourage another successful period of breeding.”

Last year, two of the aquarium’s resident penguins Arabel and Pablo became parents to two chicks, nicknamed Hulk and Dumpling due to their sizes. The rare pair are the first to hatch at the centre as part of a global breeding programme after Gentoo penguin numbers declined rapidly. Their parents crossed continents to conceive, coming all the way to Birmingham from as far as New Zealand, Canada and Denmark.

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire student and violinist Markéta Nádvorníková said: “Students at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire get to play in some of the world’s greatest venues, but this is certainly the most unique place I’ve performed in!

“I am delighted to have played my part in creating such a special Valentine’s Day for the National Sea Life Centre’s infamous penguins and hope that my performance has helped reignite a spark ahead of breeding season.”

Originally from Police nad Metují in the Czech Republic, Markéta is currently in her final year of study on the Birmingham music and acting college’s BMus Music undergraduate course.

Visitors can meet the Gentoo penguin family for themselves at the Penguin Ice Adventure exhibit at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham.

Twycross Zoo is inviting loved-up couples to experience a Valentine’s Day with a difference.

From first dates to anniversaries, and even proposals, couples can take a stroll in the award-winning zoo and get up close and personal during a feeding experience with some of the popular residents - a far cry from a night of Netflix and Chill!

After feeding penguins or meerkats, lovebirds can feed themselves in Himalaya whilst being mesmerised by the beautiful family of snow leopards.

And for a memory to cherish forever, Twycross Zoo also offers the unique Snow Leopard Experience, a truly magical 30-minute encounter with these fascinating creatures that includes feeding and meeting the keeper, followed by a delicious three-course Champagne Lunch.

The Snow Leopard Experience costs £300 for two adults* and as Twycross Zoo relies upon the generosity of its visitors to support its conservation work, you’ll be helping to save animals from extinction as well as having a wonderfully wild and romantic time.

Speaking of wildly romantic experiences, Twycross Zoo also offers couples a wedding venue like no other, with a recent report showing that a quarter of those looking to get married now seek more exotic venues!

While love is in the air for more than half of Brits this Valentine’s Day (53 percent), a new study by price comparison site finder.com shows that some are postponing romance until after February 14.

In fact, almost one in five Brits (19 percent) are planning to celebrate Valentine’s Day after the 14th February to get better value. The younger you are, the more likely you celebrate a belated Valentine’s Day to save some money, with over a quarter of millennials (25.6 percent) admitting to this, followed by 22 percent of Gen X and just 11.5 percent of baby boomers. Higher income couples are most likely to delay and save

Interestingly, the more you earn, the more likely you’ll celebrate Valentine’s Day late to save money. 17.2 percent of those earning between £0-£35,000 celebrate late, compared to 22.2 percent of those earning over £35,001, on average. Londoners are the thriftiest on the most romantic day of the year, with 23.1 percent admitting to celebrating late, followed by the East Midlands (22.5 percent) and those in the South West (20 percent). In contrast, those residing in Wales are more likely to stick to tradition, as only 13 percent claim to profess their love late in order to stretch their pound further, followed by those in Northern Ireland (14.3 percent) and in the North West (16.5 percent). Puppy love

Valentine’s Day isn’t only for couples as over one in twenty Brits will be treating their pets this year (7.5 percent). Dogs are favoured over cats for a Valentine’s gift as 4.5 percent of dog lovers will be spoiling their pooches while 3 percent will dote on their cat. Other interesting stats include:

• Almost half (46.8 percent) of those who celebrate Valentine’s Day admit to receiving a gift they didn’t like – that’s an estimated 9.7 million Brits
• Of those who receive gifts on Valentine’s, men are more likely to not like them (52.6 percent) than women (41.4 percent)
• Of those who receive gifts, millennials are most likely to not like their Valentine’s Day present (52.5 percent) compared with a close 52.3 percent of Gen Xers and 34.4 percent of baby boomers
• 53 percent of Brits plan to spend money on their loved ones for February 14 – an estimated 22 million Brits
• Those in Yorkshire and the Hunter are the loneliest, with 37.3 percent planning on not celebrating Valentine’s Day this year. This is followed by the West Midlands (35.5 percent) and East Midlands (33.3 percent). On the other hand, Londoner’s are the most likely to be celebrating Valentine’s Day this year (73.5 percent), followed by Northern Ireland (73.2 percent)
• Most people are planning to treat their wife or husband this Valentine’s Day (59.6 percent), followed by their boyfriend or girlfriend (28.2 percent) and interestingly their children (4.7 percent).
• 3.78 percent will be buying a gift for their secret admirer, while 2.1 percent will be buying themselves a Valentine’s Day gift.

Have you got the most marvellous moggy in the UK? The search is on to find the country’s top cat and owners have just a few weeks left to enter the National Cat Awards 2018.

Run by Cats Protection, the competition is open to all living cats in the UK and celebrates the difference cats make to owners' lives by highlighting heart-warming stories of devotion, companionship and courage.

Cats need to be nominated before the closing date of Friday 9 March in one of the following categories:

Hero Cat – Cats that save the day Most Caring Cat – Cats that positively impact a person’s health or wellbeing Furr-ever Friends – Tales of friendship between children and cats Outstanding Rescue Cat – Fabulous felines adopted from animal charities Purina® Better Together – Celebrating the special bond that has transformed and enriched the lives of both a feline and human

Category winners will then be in with a chance of inheriting the title National Cat of the Year from last year’s winner Genie, a black-and-white cat from Lincoln who was honoured for the incredible support and inspiration she gave to 12-year-old Evie Henderson, who was battling bone cancer.

Evie, who is now on the road to recovery, said: “I missed her every day I was in hospital and my family could tell she missed me. She’s my best friend and is always there when I need her. I was so happy to win our category but to win the overall title as well was really amazing, incredible.”

A panel of celebrity cat-lovers has the hard job of selecting the category winners as well as honouring this year’s National Cat of the Year. The awards are sponsored by PURINA® and winners will be presented with prizes at a glamorous ceremony at the Savoy Hotel in London on Thursday 2 August 2018.

Spring has sprung early at Twycross Zoo with the arrival of three new babies, meaning there has never been a better time to visit Leicestershire’s award-winning conservation charity.

The Zoo’s internationally renowned Endangered Species Breeding Programme is off to a great start for 2018, with three different species born during January and February. Babies such as Pogo Junior, the baby Dik Dik, and two adorable little monkeys are the new arrivals set to delight visitors of all ages.

Home to over 500 animals of 150 different species from all around the world, it’s the only place in the UK where you can see all four great apes – chimpanzees, orang utans, gorillas and bonobos.

From 10^th to 25^th February, the Zoo will host its popular Keeper Talks, where visitors are invited to meet the Twycross conservation experts and learn all about the animals in their care. The jam-packed calendar of daily talks will cover all sorts of species, great and small, and include everything from elephants, to lemars and Spider monkeys.

Open from 10am to 5pm, 364 days a year, whatever the weather, there is something for everyone at Twycross Zoo. Visitors to the impressive 80-acre site can get up close and learn all about the animals in their indoor and outdoor enclosures including the state of the art Gibbon Forest, Giraffe Savanna, and Elephant Creek. There is so much to see on a family day out, walk the Wetlands area, marvel at the winged wonders of the Butterfly Farm, meet the meerkats, pop and see the penguins, say hi to the cheetahs and let your little ones go wild on the outdoor adventure play areas.