A BIRDKEEPER at a wildlife park had half of his beard shaved off to raise funds for a charity which supports children with life-threatening conditions.

A barber shaved off 50 per cent of Chris Green’s beard, which he had been fanatically growing over the past three years, in the name of charity.

Mr Green works as a birdkeeper Cotswold Wildlife Park.

Money raised through sponsorship will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity which strives to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting life-threatening conditions by granting their wishes.

The shave took place by the penguin pool on Monday (14), where Mr Green looks after the park’s colony of penguins.

Mr Green described the Make-A-Wish Foundation as a ‘fantastic charity’.

He said: “I decided after more than three years of growing it to shave off half my beard for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

"They are a fantastic charity who we have helped provide special animal experiences for terminally ill children in the past.”

He has so far raised £951 for the charity and is aiming for a target of £1,000.

In 2014, Mr Green was named the Oxfordshire Cotswolds Tourism Superstar, a competition organised by West Oxfordshire District Council’s tourism team and supported by VisitEngland and the Witney Gazette.

Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford, exhibits more than 260 different species of animals and is the largest privately owned zoological collection in the UK.