A Sandbach woman who has adored animals all her life is currently appearing in Channel 4's Secret Life of the Safari Park.

Charlotte Haigh features in four of the episodes (one, two, three and six) of the new prime time Channel 4 docuseries, Secret Life of the Safari Park, which airs every Thursday at 8pm.

The 28-year-old moved to the town 18 months ago with partner, Jack, to live in Sandbach Heath, giving easy access to transport links for her work at Knowsley Safari Park and for her partner who works in the Stoke area.   

Although Charlotte lives in Sandbach she was brought up in Emley Village where she stayed until she left to study zoology at Lincoln University at the age of 18.

"I'd always loved animals. When I was at school, I knew this is what I wanted to do. Originally, I wanted to be a vet but then decided I wanted to take this route," said Charlotte.

"I love my work at Knowsley Safari Park working across various areas."

Charlotte and the rest of the cast. (Photo: Channel 4)

Charlotte studied a masters in Global Wildlife Health & Conservation at Bristol University before landing her first job as an animal keeper in 2017.

She has been at Knowsley Safari in the carnivore team since January 2021 and is Senior Carnivore Keeper - a role which sees her assisting management in supervising a team of keepers in the day-to-day running of all three sections.

She helps to train other keepers across all sections to uphold the highest levels of husbandry attainable while also facilitating a warm and memorable experience to park guests.

Charlotte contributes to research projects involving species under her care where possible and helps educate the public on conservation issues.

She has also helped devise training plans and enrichment devices for the animals we look after to provide them with the highest level of welfare we can.

A baboon at the Merseyside attraction. (Image - CC 2.0 Unchanged https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1395174633_8f298b814c_o_Babboon.jpg Ciamabue Verne Equinox)

Produced by Blast! Films, makers of The Supervet and The Secret Life of the Zoo, the hour-long weekly shows focus on the Safari's extraordinary animals.

Lancashire actress, Maxine Peake, takes viewers on a fascinating journey into the incredible lives of some of the rarest and most endangered creatures on earth.

In episode one, Charlotte can be seen assisting with management of lion pride dynamics and helping customers escape car damage from the baboons and in episode two she is feeding and managing wolf pack dynamics, the moving of Maya to Paris Zoo and getting involved in the breeding management of the tigers.

A mischievous still from the new show. (Image - Channel 4 Press Office)

Charlotte added: "I've had so many lovely comments about our portrayal of the park and its inhabitants and how obvious it is that we really care about and are devoted to the animals in our charge.

"Loads of my friends keep asking when the next episodes are coming - they're so excited to watch more."

And even though filming for the TV series is well and truly over, Charlotte is ready to meet her next challenge – a trip to Romania in May to track European brown bears.

"I love taking part in research and this will be a chance to see the bears and watch them."

Watch this space for more news about Sandbach's very own zoo keeper!   

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