Colchester Zoo Animal feeding/experiences

[karenZOO]

Is Colchester Zoo the only place where the general public can feed animals for free?

This week we did 3 zoos in 3 days Banham, Whipsnade and Colchester and were watching some people take part in a giraffe feed at Banham at a cost of £7.50 each Banham Zoo - General Information - Giraffe or Meerkat Feeding Experience and I see Chester is now doing an giraffe experience too.

Don't get me wrong, these paid animal experiences are fantastic value and opportunities for people and offer a lot more. In fact my partner did the wings of wonder experience at Banham zoo on Sunday and had an amazing 3 hours with the birds and the brilliant bird team there. (Who put on a fantastic time even with the very high wind) He has also done the tiger training experience at Colchester and never thought he would get that close to a tiger!!

But with the price of visiting a zoo becoming a luxury for families, I think the opportunity to feed an elephant and giraffe at Colchester for free is an unforgettable experience for some and wondered if there was any other zoos that offer opportunities like this for free??

Also what animal experiences have people done and where? Were they good value for money? (Looking for ideas for the next one!!)

 

[OrangePerson]

We also did the tiger experience at Colchester, it was very emotional being that close to the tigers as I've had a thing about tigers since I was a very small child. Igor had no interest in the target training but his grumbling about being roused from his sleep was something to behold! Anoushka was on top form.

We did the aardvark experience at Africa Alive, quite reasonable cost and whilst I did enjoy meeting them, lumbering clumsy things, I was a bit worried about repeatedly disturbing them when they should be asleep.

Primate keeper for the day at Chester was brilliant but is in a whole different league cost-wise.

 

[Gigit]

Here's a list of the animal experiences at Paignton:

http://www.paigntonzoo.org.uk/supporting-us/gifts-experiences.php

Examples - feed the elephant or giraffes for £69. I don't know anyone who has done this so can't say if you get your money's worth in the allotted time of 20 minutes.

I too have fond memories of feeding the giraffes and elephants at Colchester and have wondered why this free experience is not on offer at other zoos. It must be enriching for the animals as well as the visitors.

 

[Shorts]

Examples - feed the elephant or giraffes for £69. I don't know anyone who has done this so can't say if you get your money's worth in the allotted time of 20 minutes.

That statement's self-explanatory in at least two ways

 

[Red Panda]

I think South Lakes Animal park is a good place to feed the animals, though you pay about £1 for bird/wallaby food and £1 for fish for the penguins, but they are great low cost meetings. I think you can feed the giraffe for free?

I loved feeding the elephant at Colchester, what a fantastic opportunity!

 

[igol66]

I fed meerkats at banham for £25 i think? It is soooooo much cheaper than other meerkat feeding experiences in other zoo's which are about £50 on average (30 minutes in enclosure).