Carol Vorderman shows her support

My Mum lives next door to Bristol Zoo, and listening to the dawn chorus at 5am really is fantastic. Lying in bed trying to guess who's making which sound is very funny. There are monkeys chattering and exotic birds calling, as well as all sorts of other animal sounds we don't recognise - but it doesn't stop us guessing. Then quite abruptly it all goes quiet ­ aha, they're being fed, so time to get up and have a nice cup of tea myself. Marvellous.

My ancestors were fascinated with wildlife. My great grandfather in Holland, Dr Adolphe Vorderman, discovered over 2,000 species of animals native to Indonesia, including birds, worms and butterflies, and is considered to be one of the finest natural scientists of the turn of the 20th century by the Dutch Natural History Museum in Leiden.

My contribution was just a little more modest ­ I worked in the gift shop in Windsor Safari Park in my school holidays! My brother-in-law was the Zoo Director and he and my sister lived inside the grounds. It was an unusual time, particularly when he brought home babies that had been rejected by their mothers. I used to sleep with a lion cub called Mumphy until she was about eight weeks old and big enough to do some serious damage, and out of the kitchen window you could see giraffes and zebras cantering around their field. We even came to Bristol with a cheetah once which was appearing on Animal Magic - in fact that was the first time I'd ever been inside a television studio.

Strange how life turns around and I'm back in Bristol living a blissful life.

I love Bristol Zoo. There's always something going on, whether it's just wandering round the different animal houses, or singing Christmas carols, or ice skating or picnicking on the lawns.

So I am delighted to be able to support the Zoo, which is taking part in the global Year of the Frog campaign. This is a massive worldwide effort to help prevent, and raise awareness about, the threat of extinction facing one third of the world's amphibian species.

This campaign isn't just about exotic species in far-flung corners of the world, it affects species natives to the UK, including newts, frogs and toads. The rare natterjack toad is also endangered.

Regular visitors to the Zoo will know and have come across newts, frogs and toads that have made their home in the ponds and lakes in the Zoo's grounds.
Bristol's Reptile House is home to ten species of amphibians, five of which are endangered or critically endangered, for example, the golden mantella and the lemur leaf frog.

There are currently around 6,000 known species of amphibians, including frogs, toads, newts, salamanders and caecilians. They are all delicate creatures severely affected by many different factors including habitat loss, pollution, climate change, competition from introduced species, pesticides and a deadly fungal skin disease which is sweeping through areas of tropical South America and other parts of the world causing a wave of extinctions. Some amphibian species may have already become extinct without us knowing.

Zoos all over the world have been called upon to provide a safe haven for amphibians while the problems they face in the wild are addressed. It isn't possible to eradicate the fungus from the wild populations so the only immediate hope of survival for many amphibian species is through establishing populations in special breeding facilities ­ frog sanctuaries if you like.

Bristol Zoo hopes to get its own frog sanctuary in the next year or so, to provide a safe haven for two critically endangered species of frog, and to increase their numbers in captivity. Sanctuaries like this will buy experts a little more time while the problems in the wild are worked on. The hope is that these rescued amphibians will be released back into the wild one day when these problems have been solved.

Bristol Zoo Gardens need to raise £55,000 to set up and maintain our sanctuary and it needs your help. If you are able to make a donation, please contact Lizy Jones on 0117 974 7329.

The Zoo is also dedicating the profits from its annual summer festival Boogie for Brizzle towards this cause.