100th Birthday at Drusillas!

Drusillas Park in East Sussex held a special birthday celebration for their longest standing visitor, Betty Morris, who turned 100 years old over the weekend.  

Drusillas Directors wanted to give Betty and her family to a memorable day as a thank you for being such a longtime supporter of Drusillas. Betty was treated to a variety of animal encounters, a beautiful bunch of flowers and a special lunch at Drusillas restaurant, Explorer’s Cafe.  

Betty Morris, said: “I’m one hundred! I had the most wonderful day! I love all the animals, but the servals are my favourite. It has been my lifetime’s ambition to be able to feed the servals, I’ve been sponsoring them for years. Head Keeper, Gemma, tells me she is going to work hard to make this happen for me before I reach 101. Which would be a dream come true.” 

“My lovely granddaughter, Kirsty, gave me a year’s annual membership to Drusillas as part of my birthday present. I will be coming back as much as I can this year to see all the lovely zoo keepers and animals.”  

Seeming much younger than her 100 years of age, Betty was spritely, lively and eager to meet all the animals. The first stop was to Lemurland to feed the ring-tailed lemurs, then on to see Gretel the Armadillo, followed by feeding the cheeky meerkats and rounding up with an exclusive chat with Drusillas Head Keeper, Gemma Romanis, at the servals.  

After an adventurous morning meeting all the animals, Betty and her family enjoyed a special birthday spread, put on by Drusillas catering department.  

Deputy Managing Director, Cassie Poland, said: “It was a pleasure to organise a day of 100th birthday celebrations for Betty. She has been coming to Drusillas for as long as most of us can remember! She really is a very special lady and we were thrilled to be able to host her for her century landmark!”  

“Betty was our oldest ever Zoo Keeper For a Day, she took part in the experience ten years ago for her 90th birthday. She was as fantastic then as she is now, and her knowledge of animals is amazing. We look forward to seeing more of Betty now she has an annual pass!” 

Despite the rain everyone remained in high spirits, and there were beaming smiles all round. Betty thoroughly enjoyed her visit and Drusillas hopes to welcome her back at 101 to feed the servals!