As I have wanted my own zoo for literally as long as I can remember and I innately believe that I will achieve this huge goal one day. The older I get now 48 the more I respect and appreciate the reality that it involves some serious $$. I now realise two very important things; 1/ My zoo cannot be financed by debt. 2/ There has to be a external source of income that equals the costs of running the zoo on a day to day basis. Awhile back I read on here something that I have never forgotten. "Want to own your own little zoo? Buy a large zoo...." So I will continue working towards my dream
Okay without boring you senseless I can remember going to PWP when it was Broxbourne Zoo and it wasn't a nice place for animals or visitors alike and was on the verge of closing several times.Since the Sampson's have taken it on it shows how a run down Zoo can be improved so it is a nice place for both and I know they have spent alot of money along the way. . I'm not saying it's perfect but I also like the fact each year they are always trying to improve the facilities and zoo . I think now because it does represent good value for money that it's location does help and particulary at weekends is extremely busy.It certainly is a Zoo where you would take children so they can see some super animals and also there is plenty of play areas for the kids to let off steam. They have a good mix of animals although I would like to see a few more species of primates and the reptile house could be improved. For me if I was to own a Zoo I would have similar style of animals to PWP plus more primates and a species of bear and then I would specialise on some smaller mammals or birds .
Is Borth Animalarium still for sale? Something like that would probably be your best bet if you seriously wanted your own zoo.
Indeed but it would probably be easier than starting a zoo from nothing and I think with 3 million pounds ish you might get the zoo running well and profitably. I don't think Borth Animalarium needs that much work though.
I first visited PWP 7 years ago, and whilst I thought it was ok, I have not returned. I thought it was very poor value for money compared to other zoos. I live less than an hour's drive away, but it is the only zoo within that range that I don't visit at least annually. It's peak season entrance fees are £19 & £16 for kids, which makes it more expensive than Colchester & twice as much as Hamerton. PWP has a good cat collection and there's nothing wrong with it particularly,but it can't get close to Colchester!! I'm not knocking the zoo, but I'm interested why you think it's such good value ? I think the price is its main problem.
For starters I wouldn't put it in the same league as Colchester , London , Whipsnade etc nor would i expect purists or those that visit zoo's as a hobby to rate it too highly but as I said as a family with young children and as a first visit to a zoo i think it holds up extremely well. If it has been 7 years since you visited I would suggest take another look I have visited it a number of times over the years and remember it quite well 30 years ago as full of old steel structures that were very unpleasant. What I'm not saying is its the be all and end all of a modern zoo just if you were start from scratch not a bad example to base your design on for both humans and animals alike
If you ever do it, let me know and I will fly over from the USA to see it at opening! TeaLovingDave will meet me there.
Thanks for the extra info. It is always interesting to see why a place ticks the boxes for one person.
It's quite nice to see who actually lives quite close to me! Pwp is only about 15mins away from me and I was there on Thursday, I would love to see any old photos you have of the place Gary.
Sorry Stu all from memory now _ I'm afraid I don't do photos but would love to see older photos of the place. I'm about 15 minutes away too
