Join our zoo community

Woodside Wildlife and Falconry Park 18th November 2017 - Trip To Woodside - Review

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by Zooreviewsuk, 20 Nov 2017.

  1. Zooreviewsuk

    Zooreviewsuk Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 May 2017
    Posts:
    785
    Location:
    Somerset
    Well on Saturday morning I was traveling south to Sheffield to watch my team play away at Hillsborough and I was planning to go for a morning at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park (A great park for photos) when I stopped at a service station on the M62 and the leaflet for Woodside Wildlife Park caught my eye. It was a park I had never even heard of and saw it was only another 45 minutes from Sheffield and as I was very early I decided I would venture there pre football rather than YWP.

    I arrived at the park at 9.45 am, 15 minutes before it was due to open and was greeted by an open door to the shop and cafe, so without being able to go in the park yet, it was nice to be able to stand in the warm rather than wait outside in the freezing cold.

    The shop had it's usual collection of stuffed animals representing those the park holds as well as postcards, books and plastic tat I'm sure kids will beg their parents for, the stuffed toys were priced a lot fairer than those of other parks I've been to, meaning any families wanting to buy mementos for their kids wouldn't be too out of pocket.

    With it 10 minutes before the park was due to open, I was able to see what delights the cafe had to offer and whilst most parks would not be judged on the contents of it's cafe, I can't deny that I was left a shade disappointed. £5.50 for a Jacket Potato with one filling (choice of Beans, Cheese, Tuna or Ham, although they had no Beans) or a Toastie for £4.50 with the same choices. I decided that a Soup of the day would be the order to warm up, charged at £4 with a bread roll. Now this may seem fair enough but I was disappointed to see the girl in the cafe just pour a can of Heinz Tomato Soup into a bowl and place in the microwave. The Children's options included a lunch box for £4.20 which included a sandwich, carton of juice and a packet of crisps. There was also hot drinks available priced from £2 and a choice of pre packed cakes and biscuits priced from £2-3. For me the cafe was very bland and very little choice and certainly not really enough options for someone to actually have lunch and without a picnic area for families, I feel this is an area the park could improve on. The prices were also high for what they offered. But whilst not many people will care for food on offer when they visit a park, for a family it is something which has to be considered when factoring in costs for a day out.

    Having finished my soup it was now time to enter the park.

    As you enter the park, you are greeted by a Macaw on his perch and he is labelled as a pet of the owners. He has nowhere to fly to, but seems relatively happy enough.

    To your left are the Short Asian Clawed Otters who were all huddled up in their beds, which whilst just past the Macaw their are a group of Meerkats who were tucking into Breakfast. For £1 on entry you can buy a small pot of Mealworms to feed either the otters or Meerkats. Non expensive and something I feel kids would enjoy. The only downside to this I found was later on when a few kids had fed some to the Otters. After they left the Otters were showing signs of begging and squeaking for more food and for me it would suggest that when the Otters see humans especially children they think they will be getting fed which I'm not convinced is good for the animals.

    As you walk round the park anti clockwise there is a Sulcata Tortoise (another who was in his house inside keeping warm) and a young Gosforth Hawk was also on display.

    Next you come to a tropical house which has a number of birds (Java Sparrow, Crimson Rosella, Pekin Robin, Red Lored Amazon, Turaco) & common ducks, as well as Red and Ring Tailed Lemurs. There is also a free roaming Sloth and apparently some Terrapins but I couldn't see any. There is also two rooms with Bats in, but again I could not see any, whilst the Butterfly room whilst accessible only has Butterflies between March and September. On the upper section of the house is a Cockatoo called Woody. An entertaining chap, he likes to sing to you and also speak.
    There was a young family viewing him at the same time as me and he didn't disappoint the kids chatting away to them and telling them he loved them and telling them his name was Woody.
    The main gripe I had with the so called Tropical House, was it was absolutely freezing in there. There were two big generator type heaters at either end but neither appeared to be on. As you leave the tropical house, it is back through the cafe and I asked the attendant if she knew the house was cold. I was surprised by her reply which I hoped was tongue in cheek but she suggested that they only have the house kept at 5 degrees as it's too expensive to have it hotter!
    This disappointed me as it was meant to be a tropical house and it was anything but. I also felt that the Sloth and Lemur were probably cold, but given other parks have them in outside exhibits even this time of year, they clearly don't mind colder conditions. Interestingly the empty Butterfly room was how a Tropical House normally is, so I didn't understand why that was so well heated unless it was for the plantation in there.
    As you exit the Tropical House, there is a pair of Rats in a room made to assemble a waste area of a house, and a few reptiles. Your regular King Snake, Python and Rattlesnake, as well as a couple of lizards and a Chilean Rose Tarantula. At 1pm daily you can go in the seated area of the not so Tropical House and hold a spider, lizard and snake and learn about each species. I had to depart before this, but imagine it's something kids would enjoy.

    Listed on the brochure was that the park had a Kinkajou in the Tropical House, but apart from Marmosets and Tamarins I was unable to see the Kinkajou or find an exhibit where it could be displayed, so I suspect this species has moved on which is a shame.

    As you work your way away from the Tropical House, there are a couple of Aviaries holding, Snowy Owl, Caracal, Barn Owl, a Buzzard and an Eagle of some description which sadly wasn't sign posted.

    I do like parks with a large display of Falconry and there is a good selection here, but it doesn't compete with the likes of Beale Park, or The Cotswold Wildlife Park whose collections of Birds Of Prey are brilliant. All the exhibits were a fair size for the birds which was pleasing.

    Past the Aviaries you come to an enclosure containing Raccoon's and Raccoon Dogs. At 11am the keeper gave a talk as she put food out for them and it was really informative. I for one never knew that the Dog and Raccoon were no relation at all, and it's only their appearance that is similar, but they seem happy living together.

    Opposite this enclosure is a brand new huge Green House, and inside is newly built exhibits. Each species has an inside and outside section and as you walk in you seen a collection of Hornbill's although the visibility of the cage makes them hard to view when flying around and near impossible to get a picture of. Unlike the other Tropical House, this one was really warm and their is signage up for Golden Tamarin's which I was told would be arriving in the next 3/4 weeks. These have access to inside and outside exhibits. There is also a built enclosure inside and outside for Red Panda and the park are expecting 2 Red Panda's soon. They were hoping for their arrival this year but this has now been delayed until next year.
    In the centre of the room is a large glassed exhibit which houses 2 Siamese Crocodiles. These are a former breeding pair which has joined the park recently from Crocodiles Of The World in Oxfordshire. The park plan to breed from them and they have access to a den type quarter as well as sandy/rocky banks and their own pool. There is a walkway which goes over the exhibit, which in time they hope members of the public will be able to use for overhead viewing but this is yet to pass safety inspection so is currently only used by staff to feed the crocs. They did tell us that they clean the exhibit with the crocs in there which was surprising for me as they have no way of separating themselves from the crocs when they enter the enclosure but said that they are relatively placid crocodiles. They hope that they will produce eggs in December and have babies next year.

    This is clearly the current building project for the park and whilst there is work to be done to finish some exhibits in there (talk of a frog wall and obviously the Red Panda) it looks promising and each exhibit is of a good size.

    Upon leaving the Tropical House, you come into the carnivore section of the park, where next to the Raccoon's there is a Geoffrey's Cat. He looked very playful and I love the small cats and he was only a youngster but was easily one of my favourite species at the park. The keeper I was chatting to said, he was one of only 2 animals at the park they don't go in with, because he is very aggressive and has attacked and bit them in the past. Surprising, as he looked like a domestic kitten from the outside!

    Next there was a pair of Siberian Lynx who had a nice sized exhibit which was opposite the parks main attraction, a hybrid Tiger called Julia. Julia had a partner called Tango but he sadly died in 2016 and since then she has been alone. She is around 15 years old and was a rescue from the Circus trade. She is described as an Indian Tiger but she is a hybrid who was bred to get a strong colourfuk pattern. She was happy walking around her very large enclosure and had lots of structures she could climb, and had use of a pool. The viewing was also great and it was a really impressive enclosure. Sadly Julia probably only has a few years left given Tigers generally don't live past 20 and the Park is already planning to replace her with Sumatran Tigers when she eventually passes away. The indoor enclosure has pens for up to 4 tigers and they hope in time to have a breeding pair of Sumatran Tigers.

    Around the side of the Tigers is a grass paddock, which has one Fallow Deer in. He/She is very friendly and was popping her head over the fence wanting attention. Do not touch the animal signs clearly were needed as a number of children were stroking and taking selfies with this friendly fallow!

    Around the back of the Tigers is a large pond/wetland area which is home to around 6 White stork and next to these is a raised enclosure which contains four Hudson Bay White Wolves. There is a daily talk at 12 o'clock where you can see them be fed and they are beautiful animals. The park also does a VIP experience where you can hand feed the Wolves and actually go in the enclosure with them and walk with them. The experience costs £129 but includes, a hand feed with Julia the Tiger, and the Siberian Lynx and you get to fly a bird of prey. As far as value for money on Experiences go, this would be right up there.

    Before you get back to the otters and Children's playground, there is another paddock which had Capybara (they have recently had two babies as well) and a Brazilian Tapir in. The Tapir has access to a pool which he likes to splash people in! I absolutely adore Tapirs and they are my favourite animals.

    The park has 3 daily experiences that anyone can partake in for £30. These are hand feeding the Tiger. Tickling a Tapir and meeting the Meerkats. These are 30 minute experiences which take place at 3.30pm daily.

    For those looking for a bit better value for money, a Meerkat & Lemur 1 hour combined experience is available for £39.

    All experiences excluding the 3.30 daily ones include admission for the park.

    I spent a total of 2 and a half hours at the park and got a number of pleasing photos. On the whole the exhibits were well maintained (bar the cold tropical house) and the range of species was good for a park of it's size. Whilst expansion is limited, what they have is well built and of a good size. The VIP experiences on offer are good value for money and it is a day or morning/afternoon out a family or zoo enthusiast would enjoy.

    The keeper talks I attended (Raccoon's, Crocodiles, & Wolves) were interesting and well presented and the keeper staff seemed very friendly and knowledgeable and were great at interacting with people.

    I didn't see the Reptile talk, nor the Tiger talk, but if performed to the same standard, they would help make a day of it.

    I would imagine more of the species are viewable when it's warmer but apart from the cold tropical house, and the expensive cafe, I find it hard to find faults with a well designed and well managed small park.

    I definitely plan to attend again and partake in the Tiger & Predator £129 VIP experience as I feel it represents excellent value for money compared to similar options on the market.

    I would definitely recommend a visit if you haven't been before and at only £10.50 entry for adults & £9.45 a child (£39 family of four ticket, or £48 family of five) it is good value or money and relatively easy to find.

    A enjoyable day and photos to follow.

    Definitely worth a visit.
     
    14027 likes this.
  2. Zooreviewsuk

    Zooreviewsuk Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    14 May 2017
    Posts:
    785
    Location:
    Somerset
  3. migdog

    migdog Well-Known Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    3 May 2015
    Posts:
    678
    Location:
    Norfolk
    The kinkajou is off show but comes out in the animal display in the barn just past the geoffroy's cat (along with a red fox).

    We took part in the Tiger and predator experience in 2015. We didn't get to feed the wolves but walked in with them (they stayed well away though), so I don't know if this has changed. I would definitely recommend it though. The video below shows the experience. Having never fed lynxes it was well worth the money:

     
    14027 and BeakerUK like this.
  4. Ned

    Ned Well-Known Member 10+ year member

    Joined:
    20 May 2009
    Posts:
    1,340
    Location:
    .
    Thanks for the write up, I've never visited this park so it was good to get an insight into what it is like.
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

    Joined:
    13 Jun 2007
    Posts:
    23,395
    Location:
    New Zealand
    That sounds very strange. I don't fancy the chances of the sloth having a long life keeping it at that temperature, given the way their metabolism works.
     
  6. OwenR

    OwenR New Member 5+ year member

    Joined:
    22 Nov 2017
    Posts:
    3
    Location:
    Nottinghamshire
    We went on the Sunday as it was on the way home from seeing the seals at Donna Nook and we spent a couple of hours there..
    The otters had 2 very small babies (eyes didn't seem to be open yet) out with them when they were out begging for food (do otters normally eat dried meal worms ?).
    I'd agree that the talks were very good and whilst we were waiting for the wolf talk one of them pounced into some long grass and ate a small rodent it caught !
    We had a good look for the sloth but couldn't see it anywhere so hopefully it was somewhere warmer.
    The greenhouse has been moved from Lincoln as it was going to be demolished and seems to a good addition but they are waiting for animals to arrive It all smelt very new due to all the pine but should weather nicely.
    The Geoffroys cat was very active which was nice having spent some time looking into the enclosure at Dudley zoo and not seeing anything !
    It was a nice small zoo which obviously has plans for the future but not a whole days trip.