A Combe is a valley and this park is set in a deep valley with steep paths , not a place to visit for the un-fit . The path down from the car-parks is particularly steep . It is heavily planted with an exotic air to it .
I would describe the place as a Theme Park featuring animals amongst other attractions . It calls itself a Wildlife and Dinosaur Park and I admit to being impressed by the animatronic dinosaurs in a Jurassic Park type setting . Some small children were very scared , others getting wet from the spitting dinosaur .
There is a full programme of talks and displays - falconry displays , sea lion shows , meercat , penguin and wolf talks , red ruffed and ring-tailed lemur encounters . I admit to enjoying a very close encounter with some tame red ruffed lemurs , sitting on my knee eating raisins , not certain how healthy for them that is !
The meercat enclosure is very big , surrounded by a wall and featuring a large sanded area , grassed areas , trees and large shrubs . There is no house , just some heat lamps , they have a series of natural burrows and dens . The main food item given is insects . The dominant female had gone to earth and was thought to have given birth .
I was very impressed by the show given by 2 male californian sea-lions , the 6 year old 'Morgan' was particularly good . The show is based around the natural history and behaviour of the animals e.g. one animal moved along the ground as a seal would , doing shark impersonations . Shaking a frisbee is akin to breaking up a food item - I was particularly impressed by Morgan throwing the frisbee to the other sea-lion who caught it . For a fee you can swim with Morgan with wet-suit hire available .
The main wolf enclosure is not particularly big but well furnished , attached is another enclosure for 3 animals evicted from the pack . What I assume is the 'Wolf-Man's' caravan is on the hill with more wolf enclosures near it . The 3 young male lions have a sand-floored cage at present but a large open-topped enclosure was being built .
Apart from the large open-topped red ruffed and ring-tailed lemur enclosures the primate housing is fairly basic . As well as 3 lar gibbons there is an old hybrid white-cheeked gibbon male , bred at Twycross I believe . Other primates included sakis , capuchins , B and W ruffed lemurs , Goeldi's monkeys and cotton-top tamarins .
There is a large naturalistic otter enclosure , raccoons , a few owls and parrots , penguins and pelicans , a Butterfly House with a few reptiles and invertebrates . The snow leoprads are no longer there , a snowy owl lives in the enclosure now .
Worth a visit if you are in the area but for serious Zoo Enthusiasts I would say near-by Exmoor Zoo is by far the better of the two .
I would describe the place as a Theme Park featuring animals amongst other attractions . It calls itself a Wildlife and Dinosaur Park and I admit to being impressed by the animatronic dinosaurs in a Jurassic Park type setting . Some small children were very scared , others getting wet from the spitting dinosaur .
There is a full programme of talks and displays - falconry displays , sea lion shows , meercat , penguin and wolf talks , red ruffed and ring-tailed lemur encounters . I admit to enjoying a very close encounter with some tame red ruffed lemurs , sitting on my knee eating raisins , not certain how healthy for them that is !
The meercat enclosure is very big , surrounded by a wall and featuring a large sanded area , grassed areas , trees and large shrubs . There is no house , just some heat lamps , they have a series of natural burrows and dens . The main food item given is insects . The dominant female had gone to earth and was thought to have given birth .
I was very impressed by the show given by 2 male californian sea-lions , the 6 year old 'Morgan' was particularly good . The show is based around the natural history and behaviour of the animals e.g. one animal moved along the ground as a seal would , doing shark impersonations . Shaking a frisbee is akin to breaking up a food item - I was particularly impressed by Morgan throwing the frisbee to the other sea-lion who caught it . For a fee you can swim with Morgan with wet-suit hire available .
The main wolf enclosure is not particularly big but well furnished , attached is another enclosure for 3 animals evicted from the pack . What I assume is the 'Wolf-Man's' caravan is on the hill with more wolf enclosures near it . The 3 young male lions have a sand-floored cage at present but a large open-topped enclosure was being built .
Apart from the large open-topped red ruffed and ring-tailed lemur enclosures the primate housing is fairly basic . As well as 3 lar gibbons there is an old hybrid white-cheeked gibbon male , bred at Twycross I believe . Other primates included sakis , capuchins , B and W ruffed lemurs , Goeldi's monkeys and cotton-top tamarins .
There is a large naturalistic otter enclosure , raccoons , a few owls and parrots , penguins and pelicans , a Butterfly House with a few reptiles and invertebrates . The snow leoprads are no longer there , a snowy owl lives in the enclosure now .
Worth a visit if you are in the area but for serious Zoo Enthusiasts I would say near-by Exmoor Zoo is by far the better of the two .
