Five zoo-themed walking trails installed by Cherwell District Council are one of the many ways in which district councils encourage physical activity among children.

Zoo Trails is one of the pioneering projects showcased in DCN’s series of videos celebrating district councils’ 50th anniversary. You can see Cherwell’s video here.

The routes in Kidlington, which vary in length from 1.7km to 5km, are marked by paw prints on the ground and have features along the way such as picnic areas, child-friendly games, bug houses, scramble boulders and balancing logs.

Zoo Trails commemorates the area’s heritage as the former home of Oxford Zoo and has been funded by Sport England and the National Lottery, as well as Cherwell itself. They were created by the council’s healthy place shaping team.

Cherwell has produced a map showing the routes of Monkey Trail, Lion Trail, Elephant Trail, Big Bear Trail and Bear Cub Trail.

Kelly White, Cherwell’s Healthy Place Shaping Partner, said: “During the design phase, we attended community events where we spoke to residents about their opinion on the theme. We wanted to create ownership over the routes.”

Children were also heavily involved in the design and were balloted to choose the route mascot names: Rosie the elephant, Hannah the lion, Molly the monkey, and Barney and Baloo the bears.

Kidlington Primary School headteacher Emilie Fidler said: “We like the Monkey Trail. It goes past our front gate and back gates and we feel it encourages active travel.”

One of her pupils said: “Sometimes you think that walking is boring but with Zoo Trails, it’s actually fun.”