Information on collections

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
Hi all due to an illness within the close family I will be relocating shortly and would like information on the following collections (googled attractions for the Somerset area)

Exmoor Falconry Centre TA24 5JP
Animal Farm Adventure Park TA9 2RW
Tropiquaria TA23 0JX
Home Farm TA24 6JS
Brean Down Bird Garden TA8 2RS
Alstone Wildlife Park TA9 3DT
National Animal Welfare Trust TA10 9BE

Then there are the more famous collections

What to look for and what not to miss what is unique to that collection

Bristol Zoo
Paington Zoo
Living Coast
Newquay Zoo
Exmoor Zoo

Are there any good RSPB Reserves around this area too

Any information would be gratefully received and hope to be visiting Dudley Zoo again one day. Will still be on here everyday though a great website for all zoo lovers
 
Paignton:
Has 3 Sumatran Tigers(2 to leave and a new female to arrive)2 Asiatic Lions,3 Eastern Black Rhinos i think(?)4 Rothschild Giraffes aswell as Red Pandas,Mandrills,Lowland Anoas,the only Short beaked Echidna in the UK,A large troop of Hamadrays Baboon,quite a number of Crocodile species,Cheetah,Mismi Takin,One African Elephant Duchess,quite a number of Ape species(Western Lowland Gorilla,Bornean Orangutan,White Handed Gibbon etc.)quite a few species of Primates(Lemurs,Macaques,King Colobuses and Diana Monkeys etc.)quite a few species of birds,reptiles and amphibians too.
Bristol:A family of 4 Asiatic Lions(Kamal,Chiva and cubs)Okapi,Pygmy Hippo,Western Lowland Gorillas,Cassowaries,Gibbons and more!
I dont know about the others as i have not visited them yet.
 
I believe Alston Wildlife Park and Brean Down Bird Park have bothe closed to the public now,Wouldn`t recommend a visit to Animal Farm Adventure Park to anyone!!Tropiquaria on the other hand is very much worth a visit!

As for other collections near by that you could visit I would recommend Shaldon Zoo,National Marine Aquarium Plymouth and Paradise Park Hayle.If you visit Newquay you could also do the Bluereef Aquarium and visit Barry!!!
 
adrian1963 said:
Hi all due to an illness within the close family I will be relocating shortly and would like information on the following collections (googled attractions for the Somerset area)

Exmoor Falconry Centre TA24 5JP
Animal Farm Adventure Park TA9 2RW
Tropiquaria TA23 0JX
Home Farm TA24 6JS
Brean Down Bird Garden TA8 2RS
Alstone Wildlife Park TA9 3DT
National Animal Welfare Trust TA10 9BE

Then there are the more famous collections

What to look for and what not to miss what is unique to that collection

Bristol Zoo
Paington Zoo
Living Coast
Newquay Zoo
Exmoor Zoo

Are there any good RSPB Reserves around this area too

Any information would be gratefully received and hope to be visiting Dudley Zoo again one day. Will still be on here everyday though a great website for all zoo lovers
Click to expand...

Bristol in my opinion for it's size is the best Zoo in the UK. A great Aquarium, Bug collection, Reptile collection, Noturnal collection, and the seal and penguin exhibit is the best i've seen in this country, in my opinion even better than living Coasts.

Paignton, is a great collection, a real good day out Echidna, Baboon Rock, a great bird collection.

Newquay is also nice but i haven't been for a few years and have read they have expanded.

Exmoor is now one of my favourites, Great staff, really friendly, and also a fantastic collection of rareties, Singing Dogs, Tayra, Binturong and sitatunga.

Living coasts, i wasn't that fussed on but they were in the middle of development work when i visited, so maybe that influenced my feel for the place. I was impressed by the waders estuary exhibit.

If you are prepared to travel all the way to Newquay, then a trip to Plymouth should also be on the cards, to the National marine aquarium. A truly fantastic place and not to be missed. You also have Dartmoor and Shaldon, down that way.

As for RSPB reserves, although not a birdwatcher myself, i do visit my local reserve just over the Severn Bridge from Somerset, The Wetlands in Newport. The RSPB: Newport Wetlands: About Newport Wetlands
 
I visited RSPB West Sedgemoor a couple of weeks ago - it's a heronry with nesting little egrets as a bonus :). Unfortunately it wasn't too easy to get decent photos, but I had pretty good views of some nice woodland birds including nuthatch, tits, treecreeper and blackcap.
I picked up a leaflet listing other Somerset reserves, which I would like to explore one day.
  • Bridgwater Bay NNR
  • Shapwick Heath NNR
  • Greylake RSPB
  • Westhay Moor SWT
  • Catcott Lows SWT
  • Ham Wall RSPB
Alan
 
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