Hemsley is a new conservation zoo that has just started up in Kent so at present there is not many…read moreanimals and the whole area is very small. However don't let this put you off as I highly recommend to anyone to visit as the way they have laid out their small zoo is so unique and quaint. I love the way it looks like you are in some sort of African village with its huts. Each hut contains a different animal and some animals you can't even see at other zoos in England due to it being so unique for example they have two male tree porcupines and two kinkajous (and one which loves going out in the day which they don't usually). They also have many experiences feeding meercats, feeding the tree porcupine, feeding the kinkajou, feeding lemurs and interacting with reptiles with many others to be added. You can either buy before your visit or you can buy on day (at a cheaper rate if they have a time slot available for the animal you wish to do a experience with). I done the tree porcupine and I highly recommend to anyone to do it they are so unique and different to any other porcupine / hedgehog. Also these are the only tree porcupines in the whole of England. You can also do on day feed the Lorikeets for £1 a pot ask at front desk. However if feeding animals is not your thing you can adopt a animal instead. All money raised helps the young team of people that run the conservation in being a big part in the ongoing battle to protect and save threatened animals and their habitats. They are looking to expand in the next couple of years with many new endangered animals / species to join them. Some future animals on the list to joint hem is the wolf, wild cats and bear cat. The staff are very knowledgeable and a pleasure to speak to especially James who was so interesting and knew everything about the animals on site. I highly recommend anyone that loves animals to go along and see the animals and Hemsley.

Adorable zoo about an hour to hour and a half from Central London. If you have the time and a car I…read moredefinitely recommend this zoo over the ZSL zoo. Every exhibit has multiple viewpoints here. There were plenty of opportunities to easily see all the animals here. The enclosures were extremely well kept and I think all had an indoor and outdoor area for the animals. There are multiple play areas throughout for kids here too. My kids also enjoyed the animatronic dinosaurs here (very cute). Food here was reasonably priced but we ate outside the park. Parking was free. They offer a lot of different animal interactions here. The prices for all were pretty high but for a special gift I'm sure they are totally worth it. You can also buy carrots to feed the animals in the petting zoo.

Overall great day out for the family ! I would say 50% animals 50% outdoor play for the kids (with…read moresome indoor) I did find some of the cages quite small for the animals but one of my only criticisms! There were a few extras while you were there so take additional money but to be expected at these places! ( it's set up for packed lunches which is great for families ) There is a good choice of animals to see and you can buy food which a good selection of animals to feed! They also had a lots of showing through out the day and I got to stroke a snake :). The park had a good layout where you can easily walk around and find where you are going plus you get a handy map! There have an indoor soft play at the entrance which is good and bad! Means the kids want to go these straight away instead of seeing the animals and you don't pass on the way out! The soft play was great for all ages and served your average drinks and food - one thing I will say which was disappointing was they charged me for a bit of milk for my baby! I always pay my way but this is the first place that have ever charged me for milk! Worth a visit and tickets are not expensive - look out for groupon deals!

Lion Cubs experience…read more This my third experience now with Heythrop Zoological Gardens and yet again was a magical one. Me and my husband firstly meets Hannah who is such a lovely lady that explains all about the lion cubs and she then takes us around the forest whilst we walk the cubs along with another trainer. So we walked their new bundle of joy Nero and Lydia the lion cubs. It was a once in a life time opportunity and so unique. We walked the cubs in Heythrops private woods. The little cubs just loved to play with each other all the time whilst walking along and when they came across their favourite tree stumps they just loved leaping and playing on them as well as trying to climb up a tree or two. We could also stroke them when they were more relaxed in places and they felt so soft like rabbit fur. The markings on there fur was also so amazing Lydia the female cub had spot type markings and Nero you could see his mane coming about with his punk rocker type hair style going on. Its a tad expensive doing this experience but I highly recommend as it is so worth it and you won't be able to do this experience at any other zoo in the UK. Only reason this experience is allowed at Heythrop Zoological Gardens is because its a private zoo (not open to public however does have special open days to public 2 days in September only) and train animals are bred for TV and film. This experience only has two Saturdays left in June 2016 with a few places left so if you are interested then book asap. They do other animal experiences throughout the year that you can do from penguins to a sloth so check out there website. If you however want to do the more unique one off experiences like the lion cubs that is not available all year round then I advice you email them and ask them to keep you informed of any new additions like lion cubs, tiger cubs, other baby animals etc. The other animal experiences that I have done at Heythrop is the tiger cubs and a monkey (who starred in My Zoo a TV series). I highly recommend to anyone that loves animals.

Ethical and beautiful. The hike trail is amazing but if you take the bus tour a giraffe can come…read moreright up to the bus! The bus has no windows so it could probably reach its head through! If you're not up for that the hike is better. The only thing is there are a couple animals where you can't get your hopes up about seeing them... the tapirs are always hiding and so are most of the smaller cats. But that doesn't take off a star! It can actually be more fun for kids to stop for a minute and look for them! You can make it a game!!! It's a wonderful place to visit!

Port Lympne reserve is a amazing place to see animals in vast open spaces and I do highly recommend…read moreto anyone that particularly wants to see a rhino in a large open area or deer type animals but if you are expecting to see penguins, elephants, lemurs etc then this is the zoo for you. Also the zoo is so vast you cant really walk it as some areas are just for the safari truck tours. However you can easily walk to the gorilla viewing area and pass the rhino area by foot and some wild cats. You can also get to the dinosaur park easily on foot and the dinosaur park is a must to do. Ok you say its just plastic dinosaurs but they are so well done and gives you a real scale of how big a dinosaur was and there are so many dinosaurs even some I have never heard of so I highly recommend anyone to go and see these amazing plastic dinosaurs so interesting. The best I have ever seen however it might be a good idea if they could add some dinosaur noise throughout the woods via speakers. So if you want to go on a mini safari, see rhinos or deer type animals or even have a stay with a difference in a tent or tree house then I highly recommend to go along to Port Lympne.

Two years after the last visit the COVID-related struggles are gone. The zoo is in a much better…read moreshape and all enclosures are in good condition again. Mar well has always had nice big enclosures for the big animals. This time, we very much enjoyed the tropical house and the aviaries and red panda at the back. The tree dwellers near the house (monkeys and lemurs) are always a joy and it is great to see the snow leopards getting an upgrade. A lovely visit.

It was very cool day! Many different animals, and beautiful arena! One minus-…read more some animals were sleeping.

Took my 15 yo nephew here today and we both enjoyed it very much. Lots to see and lots of space for…read morethe animals. We were both concerned for some of the animals that are not in their natural habitat just wondering if they were too hot. The train ride was a plus because we got to see animals on the other side of the park that would have been otherwise difficult to reach on foot. My favorite were the penguins, the the brown bear ( it was chasing a bird) the butterflies and the kangaroos.

Whipsnade Zoo has been a tradition in our family since I was a child. My own children now love it…read moretoo. It makes a brilliant day out in the Fresh Air on top of the Chilterns, with views for miles. We are members of the ZSL so can return as often as we like which makes the membership fee much better value. You can pay to enter and if you like the1 vibe, you can offset the cost of the visit against your first year's membership fee which also includes entry to London Zoo. There are elephants, lions, tigers, giraffes, and a large herd of White Rhino. The Chimpanzees have a very large enclosure. You can take the car in, which makes a picnic much easier. Go!

don't rely on the map for directions- look them up on the farms website…read more I have to state now, that i am a volunteer for the woodlands farm trust and have been for the last 5 years, so my apologies if this contravenes qypes t's and c's! the woodlands farm trust is a charity run by volunteers, and open to the public. they have quite a lot of animals, mainly sheep and cows. i find this farm extremely well run, and there is always something to do. if you fancy volunteering and getting a little dirty, then go down and give it a try. it's an ideal place for the family, as well as school visits. the woodlands farm trust also has open days, but check the website for further info. its free to get in, but the farm actually relies on donations, so please give genorously!

Had a nice trip here, it was easy to find, had plenty of parking and the signage was clearread more

One of the best zoo experiences I've had. This place is massive it takes about three hours to cover…read morethe entire park. I simply loved all the inclusions areas from the monkeys, birds, butterflies, and the penguin arena. The park around the zoo is a great warm up to the rest of the day.

Lovely day trip out at the zoo in London This is a very nice…read morezoo with beautiful grounds /Regents Park and a wide variety of animals Entrance ticket is a little spendy but you can literally spend the whole day here Lots of exhibits and Timelapse for special events like "feeding the animals" Their is a restaurant on site that has a rooftop patio when weather permits

the rare species conservation centre is home to several types of animal that need protection from…read moreextinction. birds bali starling cuban flamingo king vulture madagascar teal rhinoceros hornbill scarlet ibis toco toucan victoria crowned pigeon western crowned pigeon mammals asian short clawed otter binturong brazilian ocelot clouded leopard cotton top tamarin crowned lemur fat tailed dwarf lemur fossa goeldi's monkey jaguarundi lesser anteater malayan tapir owston's civet potto pygmy slow loris red ruffed lemur ring tailed lemur sun bear western grey bamboo lemur white cheeked gibbon new for 2008 fishing cat great hornbill pileated gibbon wrinkled hornbill reptiles & amphibians chinese alligator golden mantella radiated tortoise tomato frog

The Rare Species Conservation Centre at Sandwich may not be very big but it contains many animals I…read morehad never heard of let alone seen. Having wandered around once we had a drink in the cafe and then wandered around again and different animals had come out because they were being fed. The 12 year old with me loved the bears and the snow leopards and I was amazed to see binturongs for the first time.