Hemsley Conservation Centre Hemsley Conservation Centre

A new zoo in Kent (between Dartford and Maidstone), called Hemsley Conservation Centre, is due to open on the 15th August 2015.

It does appear to have a rather nice collection, including (amongst other species):
- Woma and black-headed pythons, eyelash vipers and false water cobras
- Bushveld rain frogs and golden mantellas
- Emerald tree monitors and Reunion Island ornate day geckos
- Matamata
- Ocellate river stingrays
- Egyptian fruit bats (with a second African fruit bat due to arrive soon)
- Brazilian prehensile-tailed porcupines
- Owl monkeys, at least two lemur species and tamarins

The website is here:
http://www.hemsleyconservationcentre.co.uk/

The information on some of the species listed above came from the Centre's Facebook page.

 

Or mine (even a place called Helmsley nearby (and another two with it in their name)).

 

...and another one. Not a million miles away...

Landlord Andy Cowell opens zoo at Fenn Bell Inn, St Mary Hoo

The call of the mild ? Kent pub opens zoo in beer garden - BT

 

Is this a new era of zoo building? It appears zoos are popping up a lot more frequently now, even if they are small ventures!

 

The "South American raccoon" sounds interesting, but it's probably just a description of the coati.

 

Lets hope it means crab-eating raccoon... (I know, I know...)

 

The Brazilian Porcupines (2.0) arrived last night along with a pair of Kinkajous (the latter from a collection in Switzerland)

 

0.1 Morelets Croc has arrived from Knowsley

 

Are these the only brazilian porcupines in the UK?

 

I visited this place this afternoon.

It is rather nicely done, and quite smart - but tiny. I'd say the entire footprint of the zoo, at the moment, is about the same as, say, the giraffe paddock at London Zoo (which is, of course, a pretty small giraffe paddock).

The place essentially consists of six garden sheds, surrounding a small lawn. Two sheds are for off-show things, and keeper areas; the other four are for animals. One is for amphibians, one for reptiles, one for ring-tailed lemurs (who also have an outdoor area) and one for a trio of South American species (coendu, kinkajou, morelet's crocodile).

A number of species listed above, or implied on the website, are not yet on show (only the three mammal species above are to be seen, for example). Signs promise that Egyptian fruit bats, slow loris, rusty spotted cats and giant flying squirrels (the latter three from the RSCC) are all coming soon, although there is no evidence of enclosure construction yet, and the space is not enormous.

A cheerful sort of a place, but you'd be hard pressed to spend more than an hour there (and that would be really pushing it!).

 

Thanks for visiting! Just to let you know, the Giant Squirrels are not coming from RSCC. Work on enclosures for other species has already begun, our 30 bats are elsewhere on our site but off show. The buildings currently in this particular area had to be of wooden construction to fit in line with our planning permission.
The intention was originally to keep the space that is currently open for schools and groups, before the main area was begun. We had lots of interest from local people and parents wanting us to already be open for general visits which is what we have done! We look forward to people being able to watch us grow!

 

What species of giant squirrel will you be receiving and where from!? I love giant squirrels!

 

May I also ask what amount of rusty-spotted cats you will receive from the RSCC?

 

I've uploaded a few photos in the Zoochat gallery:

A general view of the zoo - which is as tiny as it looks here:

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Following on from the 'small' theme, the proposed location for a cage for rusty spotted cats, which will make even their RSCC accommodation look positively capacious:

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The rather nice amphibian house:

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...and one of its residents....

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Any guesses.

We have a new species arriving this week! 1)Here are some clues: It's a mammal. 2) Their native home is North America. 3)They live near water. 3) Their diet consists of rabbits, ducks, fish, mice, rats, birds and eggs to name a few!
Any guesses?
4 Likes5 Comments

 

Sounds like American Mink to me.

 

I would think Raccoon over Mink too, mainly because it is a more appealing animal visitor-wise. The only thing against might be the mention of 'rabbits, ducks' in the diet- surely Raccoon aren't equipped to catch these? As you say, they might not have them too long whichever it is....