Along with family, I took a visit to Askham Bryan College's Wildlife and Conservation Park today, so I wanted to just give my overall opinion on the experience
Overall, I very much enjoyed the place - it is on the small side (we spent 2 hours max there) and many of the on-show species are very 'typical' zoo species (Meerkat, Ringtail Lemur, etc.)
All the enclosures were of good quality, none stuck out as bad - some had a 'makeshift' feel, but I think that adds to the feel of the place!
After paying, you can either enter the outdoors section or walk into an indoor area displaying various types of fish/invert/reptiles - including Yellow-bellied Terrapins, Vietnamese Mossy Frogs, and Australian Water Monitors. At the end of the corridor is a small nocturnal area - showing Mona Island Boa, Big Hairy Armadillo.
Immediately outside is an area for Meerkats (might I add, one of the largest I've seen, larger than the enclosures at places like Chester or YWP!) and (unseen) Asian Short-Clawed Otters. Nearby also, is an enclosure displaying 3 species of tortoise (including Marginated) and a farmyard area (Goats, Alpacas)
From then on, you go into the more wooded area, where there's a 'mesh box' displaying Black and Ringtail Lemurs - no standout, but decent, maybe could be bigger, as well as an enclosure for the (unseen) Skunk
A bit further down, you can see Bennet's wallabies (only two, but they have two huge paddocks) and enclosures for Common Marmosets and Red-bellied Tamarins. (both are quite heavily planted so finding those little monkeys can be a little tricky!) The Marmosets were putting on a show too!
Then, you come to a set of aviaries, some of which were empty, displaying Crested Pigeons, Golden Pheasants and Cockatiels (and I presume more species that were no-shows)
The final area was a set of displays with Northern Raccoon (unseen, but heard taking a nap!), Red-legged Seriema, Swinhoe's squirrel, European Collared Doves, Laughing Kookaburra and Mottled Owls. Nearby are (more) Goats with a few sheep and an enclosure for at least four African Spurred Tortoises and at least one Leopard tortoise.
Whew. Now that's over!
I enjoyed the place (despite a few disappointing no-shows!). According to Zootierliste, there are quite a few others (held presumably off-show, as the place is first a place of education and a zoo second). It's definitely not a full day's visit, but if you could find somewhere else to do same-day, you could probably make a full day of it!
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