A zoo that is worth a visit it WILD Zoological Park, for such a small place they have a lot to offer.
It is nice to see a recent video - I visited there not so long after they opened, and then again after the jaguarundi cub was born, but have not been back since. It looks like it has developed nicely since then.
I don't think I've been for nearly 2 years, I saw a very young Jaguarundi when I went. Must go back soon, the owner & staff were amongst the friendliest I've ever met.
One last video for this week, a trip to Cheshunt to Cedars Natures Centre. A cracking little zoo, with zorilla and opossum. Met the owners too, Nick and Stu, great, passionate people.
I visited Heythrop Zoological Gardens during one of their open days last September. It was better than I had imagined, although still not sure how I felt about the studio show.
The show is an animal display involving lions, a tiger and a leopard. The trainers are in the cage with them cracking sticks to make them perform.
I didn't include footage of the studio show in the video as the zoo requested footage not to be shared publically at the time.
I had similar thoughts when I visited a couple of years ago. The enclosures were all fine, though not especially spacious in all cases (and we visited on a hot day so the indoor area for the Pygmy hippo stank to high heaven!) The lady letting us all in for the show was very snotty when we asked to be on the end of a row - partly because I physically would not have fitted further along and also because I would have had a major panic attack if I had been sitting somewhere I couldn't get out from, so I am sure they would not have wanted that. The man with the stick in with the lions used a large feather instead of the stick at one point to prove it wasn't fear of the stick making the lions do things. I understand that due to the nature of the media work they do, this sort of training with the animals is inevitable (and hey, no one forced me in to watch it), but it did make me feel somewhat uncomfortable. The animals certainly didn't appear uncared for or distressed, but I guess I am just not a fan of that kind of show.
Bioparc Doué la Fontaine has some of my favourite mixed species exhibits. The south American aviary and Okapi Sanctuary are outstanding.
Uploading my latest video, I realised that Refuge de l'Arche in France doesn't even have it's own page The park houses lots of rescued large mammals (bears, tigers, lions), birds and primates, including Tonkean macaques. Well worth a visit if you're ever that way.
We had a quick visit to Jersey last October. We landed on the island on Friday early evening, spent the Saturday at the zoo, then flew home on the Sunday. Gutted we didn't see the black lion tamarins, and in hindsight, should have spent more time there to explore the island a bit more.
For info, I have 3 more videos to complete to close out 2017: Drayton Manor Crocodiles of the World Wild Place (including Okapi Feeding Experience - Was amazing, would highly recommend!)
A lot of the enclosures at Drayton Manor are old and dated, but we enjoyed the reptile collection. Entry on our visit in late November was £18 a ticket, slightly cheaper than in the high season.
I went in February when it was £10. The only other people there were families with young children going to Thomasland!
£10 is a fair price I would say (I can't believe we paid £18!). It looks like it the zoo might have some good redevelopment in the next few years.
