Made my first visit here yesterday and just thought I’d do a little mini-review. A few little moans first of all. Firstly, I found it a bit awkward to find the place as if you don’t approach from Broxbourne itself there is scarcely a single signpost. Not really the zoo’s fault, but a definite annoyance! Then, the arrangement with the main entry road running between the two halves of the zoo is a big problem if (like me) you have to use the overflow car park. This is because you then have to walk the whole length of this narrow road of two-way traffic which has no pavement at all. Why isn’t there a gate for access from the overflow car park near that end of the park? There was a bit too high a percentage of non-animal attractions for somewhere billing itself simply as ‘Wildlife Park’ – maybe Wildlife and Fun Park would be more accurate. I don’t particularly object as it clearly pulls in the punters. The other things that just let the place down a bit were the shows. I went to two of these (and freely admit it was just because, however unlikely, there was just a chance they’d bring out an opossum!). The first was the Animal Olympics show (to tie in with Broxbourne (the town) hosting the Olympic canoeing in 2012). This was heavily reliant on a DVD show as well as the live animals, and opened with a painfully long video montage of all the modern summer Olympic logos/posters going back to 1896. This was not capturing the attention of the roomful of small children! The video then continued with a tour of Greek antiquities with a member of zoo staff, before the focus was somewhat tenuously shifted to the animals. This show used an albino python (Strength), Green-winged Macaw (Agility) and a miniature pig (High Jump!). The animal bits were fairly standard. The show was brought to a close with a long drawn out voting process based on predicting the outcome of a race (on DVD) between scale-equalised cheetahs, roadrunners, tiger beetles etc lifted wholesale from the BBC’s Animal Olympics programme. In all, the ‘live animals’ part of the show was very brief. The second show was the Weird and Wonderful show. Now, I don’t pretend that my opinion of what is a weird animal is likely to be the same as the general public’s, but this show was entirely based on pet shop animals – Hissing Cockroach, Bearded Dragon and some hybrid Lovebirds (none of which could really do anything except be brandished at the audience – so not particularly suitable for a show!). In particular, when the presenter asked if anyone knew what the Bearded Dragon was, several young children shouted back 'Bearded Dragon'. Just dull. On a more positive note, the place overall was probably nicer than I expected, given the almost theme park style. There were some very nice species, including Chinese Alligator, Zorilla, Corsac Fox and Black-throated Magpie Jay (though all of these just as singles as far as I could tell). Finally managed to break my Pallas Cat duck for the year, as well! Good to see Monocled Cobra, Hog Deer and Lesser Hedgehog Tenrecs too – though I failed to see the Three-banded Armadillo or European Beaver (unsurprisingly!). The general feel of the main animal area was a little bit ‘toy zoo’ – exhibits on the small size due to the restrictions of the site but never too small and generally very well planted and shaded for the cats. Interesting to note that both groups of lions, the tigers, jaguars and cheetahs all had similar public houses with effectively the entire indoor area on show. Can’t say I’m a fan of white lions and tigers, but the wolves put on a good show and there was a pair (I think) of tiny Snow Leopard cubs (and white lion cubs). I think ‘good but not outstanding’ would sum up the exhibits – I’m hard pressed to think of a bad enclosure (though the Emu yard is probably the contender for this). The Zorilla enclosure is interestingly designed, but ugly. There are new enclosures for lemurs and gibbons which are pretty standard but quite nicely done (the gibbon ones are very new – hopefully they will become a bit more leafy with time!). There are good numbers of marmosets and tamarins too. I liked the large number of raised platforms, allowing a variety of views without ever becoming as intrusive as those at South Lakes. The Reptile Temple is not really to my tastes. There is also a woodland walk area with Red Fox, owls, and the Red and Hog Deer and beavers – very pleasantly cool in yesterday’s hot weather. Definitely a place I’m glad to visit, but probably not one I’ll hurry back to until there are new things to see!
Very good review I agree with alot of what you say following our visit last year! We to found alot of negatives but still had a very good day out, it seems an 'easy' zoo to go round and a lot to see! I was disappointed not to see a beaver I wonder if anyone ever has? The raised viewing platforms were very good but I wish they were more like South Lakes (unlike you ) as in when your up there you can walk all around and not just at every enclosure! I have a problem with steps and found it quite scary as they were very steep in places and no ramped access! It is more geared up to family visiting with all the rides etc but I thought their park with all the trains etc was brilliant !! just wish I could have a go (no kids to use as an excuse)
That's a fair point in fact, but I find the South Lakes platforms mean that if you're walking at ground level you're in perpetual half-darkness! Guess we need a happy medium!
Nice review Maguari, and judging from photos and your comments there isn't a lot to see at Paradise Wildlife Park. Lots of basic, standard enclosures that are not exactly trend-setting, but the zorilla and corsac fox are definitely intriguing.
i agree that the enclosures there are simply & standard but they don't really have the space or money to do anything massive. What I like about this collection is their big cats, im going to try & make a visit soon to see the cubs
It is a small site but I didn't get the impression they were that tight on cash - the place was packed out and adults were paying £14 a head just to get in.
this is my local zoo and a agree with you on most things but the place is improving bit by bit and over the last 5 years its improved alot. within the next few years there will be a few different projects going on at the zoo mainly for the public and the parking is top of the list so that people dont have to cross a road when the onsite carparks full. i personaly HATE the olympic show but its a show to get kids to shout out really (even if the beggining drags a little lol) the opposum has been taken off shows for now as her mate recently died and they want to use her less, all the show animals are kept out back and due to space restrictions their isnt really much they can keep that would be unusual in the shows although they do you skunk, zorrila, tenrec, monitor lizards and macaws but all of them are on a rotor unfortunatly they decided to use the "pet shop" animals that day lol i think the reason they have alot of play areas for children and rides is because the main people that visit the zoo during off peak times are mothers with children and it gives the children something to play on when their not going around the zoo. i personaly think for a small zoo its got a lot going for it and if they were able to buy more land then im sure the enclosures would be that bit bigger but most of the enclosures are quite good for a small zoo and as you said they do have some unusual species .... the magpie jay is actualy a rescue and was found wild in the uk btw im happy to answer any questions about the zoo as its my local and i know a few keepers there
Hello, I just thought i'd post a little reply to the above,I am stubeanz girlfriend and ive hogged his account for this post. I work at paradise wildlife park as show co-ordinator and part of the education team. Unfortunately being a small zoo the shows are carried out entirely by the keepers something which is in the minority in other zoos. The shows at Paradise have been a bit of bug bear of ours for a while, with a lot of our animals we use for shows being rescues. However this has all changed recently. With managment starting to invest some more resources in the shows. Recent additions include a bosc monitor. We also use tenrecs, skunks,zorillas, black headed caiques etc. We are aware we need more exotic animals for shows and it is something we are working on. As for the Beardies and cockroaches they are justanimals that we have had for ages and are usually used as back up animals,as children tend to love them we dont use lovebirds in the shows anymore. We also used to use Meerkats however we found that the shows scared them. The Olympic show is brand new and has changed slightly since you last visited with the dvd being drastically shortened, however it is something that is a work in progress and we are looking into changing it over the winter season and trying to make something more interesting. Penelope our Oppossom is retired from shows now and leaves off show in our show cabin, she is very old, Stu actually has a pair of Virginia Oppossoms though and we are hopefully going to be getting some youngsters and then they will once again return to the shows. As for the play areas we are aimed at very young families and weve actually had a few complaints recently saying there were too few playareas, so i guess it just depends on what your needs are. We do have a few projects in the not to distant future one of the main ones being the car parking. As someone who had worked at paradise for nearly eight years i have seen a lot of things change for the better in particular our brand new discovery centre allows us to teach three different classes at once in three fully equipped modern classrooms.Our animals experiences are also very popular. The gibbons are definately more leafy now you will be glad to hear, we only had one snow leopard cub shes called Hara and is the second successful offspring produced by Aron and Kush. Our white lions are the only ones on display in the UK apart from West midlands safari park. Our white tiger is a rescue from a circus in france and we do not breed from her for obveious reasons. We also own another park in Kent called the Wildlife Heritage Foundation, it is not open to the public but we do have several open days a year, contact Stu if you are interested. Its basically a rare big cat breeding sanctuary, it isnt public orientated at all so bring wellies and a packed lunch, the enclosures are massive.WHF is entirely funded by us and was formally owned by the born free foundation. Thank you for your comments as we really do value peoples opinions, i share most of your views and hopefully this is something we can work on.
Is this the one that does the photography days? Im looking to visit. I have been to Paradise Park and I did enjoy my visit, not least when I recognised this chap: The Red Panda that used to be at Dudley, how HAPPY he looks!! Made my day. I do agree with some of the comments, but Im afraid I dont like any "acts" of any description and would avoid them anyway, but I liked the overall "feel" of the place and didnt witness any stressed behaviour from any of the animals. I also noted the cleanliness of the place and I would just of loved to of seen and photographed the Pallas Cat, sadly he/she stayed in bed!!! I must go back!
