Northumberland College Zoo Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens - A new zoo for the North-east

I hope it succeeds. Collections in the North East of England have not been too successful before - Stanley, Lambton. As it is based at a college I suppose its situation is different.
 
I hope it succeeds too - though I fear it will not.
 
What's this? a new respectable zoological establishment here in the North East, hope it takes off, looking forward to visiting haven't been to Kirkley Hall since we went to see the farm animals on an infants school trip in the sixties
 
The lack of zoos in the northeast in recent years has always been a little odd - there's only one general collection in the region between Edinburgh and the emergent Yorkshire WP (Flamingoland, and that's as much a theme park as a zoo). Considering that in the northwest in the same north-south range you can find (among others) Chester, Blackpool, South Lakes, Trotters, historically another large zoo at Belle Vue, and a far larger number of smaller places as well, it's rather odd.
 
New NE Zoo

It's a start....., I suppose? Good on them for giving it a go. I work in Secondary and Primary Education in the NE and when my interest in Wildlife Conservation and Zoo's comes up in conversation I often receive a far more negative and tentative response from adults and kids than I seem to in other parts of the country. Most colleagues I speak to have been to Flamingoland in years gone by on school trips and a few have made it to Edinburgh. I fear that a small collection in College grounds might just cement some old-fashioned opinions of modern anaimal collections in the UK? I hope I'm wrong and I understand it's just starting out.
 
The Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens, Northumberland was officially opened on Saturday May 28th. It is open at weekends but only weekdays during school holidays.The initial collection includes alpaca, cameroon sheep, pygmy marmoset, capybara, chameleon, eagle owl, donkey, wallaby, rhea, emu and of coarse, the compulsory and obligatory, best of luck to them , hope it is successful as we certainly need a good zoological collection in this neck of the woods.
 
I have made a visit to the new Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens, Northumberland, breaking my rule of not visiting zoos during school holidays and weekends as currently these are the only times this zoo is open at present. Set in the impressive grounds of the Kirkley Hall Agricultural College, this new zoo although small and consists of a modest initial collection is a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours and I would say is being professionally run, the enclosures are built of quality materials and thought has been given to their construction. I have listed most of the animals housed here previously, however a leaflet given to me at the pay box states that cockatoos,kookaburra, coatis, mara, porcupine and more reptiles and other birds are to added in the near future, a good aviary for the pair of eagle owls and an impressive flock(13)of camaroon sheep were my favourites. Given time I sincerely hope that this small zoo expands into a notable collection, they certainly have the space being housed in the large grounds of the agricultural college, certainly worth a visit, not only to zoo enthusiasts living in the North East but also a good stopping off point for anyone making their way to Scotland to visit the attractions there. For the record, no smoking in the zoo grounds, dogs allowed on leads and I must say very well behaved children on the day of my visit. If this new zoo continues to grow, which I am sure it will, it will be a most welcome and much needed zoological attraction here in the North East, best of luck to them, looking forward to visiting in the future and watching its development.
 
hi
An update from the zoo- having visited
there are 5 species of primate; 3 pygmi marmosets 1 geoffroys marmoset (more to hopefully arrive) 3 common marmosets 5 ringtaled lemurs and 2 ruffnecked lemurs although the latter two are not on public display yet. things are going very well so far. the list is large including 13 cameroons 7 pygmi goats including two kirkley bred kids. as well as 3 alpacas 2 rhea 3 emu 3 wallabies 2 capybara 1 northern helmeted currasow 5 priery dogs and lots more in the reptile section. all in all well worth a visit!
 
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Sounds like a pleasant little collection they've got going. It's also nice to hear they have realistic ambitions to add to it.

I wish them all the best for the future.
 
2.0 Goeldi's Monkey have arrived along with a trio of Cotton Top Tamarins (the latter from Reaseheath)
 
Popped into Kirkley Hall yesterday, had a very pleasant afternoon there. An interesting small collection, with a good mix of species. The exhibits were well laid out and the animals all looked well cared for.

What struck me most were the staff - all were enthusiastic and happy to chat about their animals and their care - at one point we found our 9 year old discussing the finer points of rabbit and guinea pig husbandry with one of the keepers!

Recommended - well worth a visit and we will be back next time we are down there!
 
1.0 Azara's Agouti arrived from Sparsholt. Currently mixed with the resident Cotton Top Tamarins
 
It would appear a Common Palm Civet has now arrived at the collection; something which pleases me as this is a species I have somehow managed to never see :p this may warrant a return visit sometime soon!

Incidentally, I note that Kirkley Hall now has it's own forum and gallery, the former of which is currently empty - perhaps this thread should be moved into there?
 
Have merged the old thread into this new thread in the Kirkley forums, as have had trouble working out how to move the thread independently.
 
A group of Swinhoe's Squirrels arrived from Folly Farm during December and are now on show
 
On their Facebook page they report the arrival of three Raccoon dogs from YWP

Check out our latest arrival here at Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens, 3 adorable raccoon dogs named Edith, Edna and Ethal.

Our photo isn't too clear so we have also included a professional photo of a raccoon dog so you can see them up close!

They join us from Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster and we are sure they will be very happy in their new home!
Click to expand...
 
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