Yesterday I visited Sewerby Zoo for the first time (except for a visit when I wasn't even 1!), I didn't really know what to expect from here. What I did know it was quite small. By quite small I mean you could do it in 20 minutes, I spent a lot longer than this and I'm sure most ZooChatters would spend longer, in total I spent about one and a half hours in the zoo and two hours at the estate. The admission cost was £10 in total for me and my Dad (£4 for me and £6 for my dad). I did this zoo after a visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs (I will upload photos to the UK Wildlife gallery), and I did both comfortably with plenty of time at both. The zoo is part of a much larger estate with House, Gardens, Putting Green, Play Area etc. The admission cost covers all of this, so is fairly reasonable. I would definitely recommend a visit to the cafe, because I had a very nice (if a little dry) piece of Victoria Sandwich (sponge) Cake.
The Zoo
The zoo is quite a nice little collection, but is all very functional and not designed to be aesthetically pleasing (such as concrete ponds, simple wooden aviary's). You enter through a short corridor into a court yard type area. One of the first things you see is a reasonably sized aviary for several species of passerines, Diamond Doves, Quail and an unidentified species of tortoise. Near this is a rather nice glass fronted enclosure for Degu, I at first didn't notice this as it was on the wall you entered through. It had large piles of logs and the bottom was sand (I think
). Their is a building (not sure whats inside) with an are for pigeons in the roof space. You come across a good sized aviary for Eclectus Parrots, I couldn't see it very well as it was in its inside area, so I could see it through its door in. This is part of the stable area. Further down in the stables are two enclosures for Kunekune Pigs, one boar in one and two sows in the other. The sows were in a separate paddock when we arrived. These were just fairly basic sty's. On the end of the stable block is an aviary for Blue and Yellow Macaws and a species of pheasant (forgotten the species). Down from here you can go down a row of aviary's or towards the penguin pool. In the aviary's to the left are, Golden Pheasant, Ring-tailed Lemurs, Reeve's Pheasant, Himalayan Monal and Temminck's Tragopan, all have nice aviary's for the species inside them. The lemur enclosure contains a very large, dead tree trunk and other climbing apparatus. On the Right are, two aviary's for Princess of Wales Parakeet and Red-masked Conure. Carrying on there is a decent sized enclosure for three Alpaca (two adults and one young one). There is also a paddock with plentiful climbing opportunities for Goats and Somali Sheep. In between the paddocks is a converted building to an aviary for a very large group of Cockatiels. Further down is an interesting paddock for two Llama. The is a large walkthrough aviary, connected to this is another aviary for an unidentified pheasant species. The walkthrough aviary has a couple of large ponds and a few bushes, and overall is quite basic. I personally found it quite muddy! With in the aviary are Blue Peafowl (2 seen), a lot of duck species (please ask if you want a list), Red-breasted Geese and an unidentified Pheasant species. Now I will rewind back to the turn off for the penguins! The Humboldt Penguin pool was a very nice pool I thought and you could get in touching distance of the penguins. It only has a very low wall. When we got there they were all very close up so I got some quite close up photos. The pool has a beach area, a large (and surprisingly clean) pool, a grassy area, bushes, rocks and a few large sleeping boxes. We went to the feeding, which wasn't really a talk, but the keeper did tell us a lot about their penguins. Sadly, they are all terrified of Herring Gulls, so had to be hand fed instead of in their pool. Once you've finished at the penguins, you come across a goo sized aviary for Budgerigars. Annoyingly all were inside, so I could only see them through the small opening to their house. Next you see a decent sized, and heavily planted enclosure for White-fronted Capuchin. Next you see the basic paddock for Kunekune Pigs. Next to the paddock, their is an aviary (yes aviary!) for two Raccoon Dogs, it was a spacious and nice enclosure for this species. You soon come across a large, grassy enclosure for Guinea Pigs. It is one of the best I've seen!
Paddocks
Else where there are paddocks for Shetland Pony's, Llamas, Shetland Sheep and Sika Deer, although I could't find them!
That sums up the zoo, I would recommend a visit, but I wouldn't go a long way for it. You could pair it up with a visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, like I did, or probably Filey Bird Garden (never visited myself). I personally quite enjoyed my visit. I will upload photos soon.
Feel free to ask any questions!
The Zoo
The zoo is quite a nice little collection, but is all very functional and not designed to be aesthetically pleasing (such as concrete ponds, simple wooden aviary's). You enter through a short corridor into a court yard type area. One of the first things you see is a reasonably sized aviary for several species of passerines, Diamond Doves, Quail and an unidentified species of tortoise. Near this is a rather nice glass fronted enclosure for Degu, I at first didn't notice this as it was on the wall you entered through. It had large piles of logs and the bottom was sand (I think
). Their is a building (not sure whats inside) with an are for pigeons in the roof space. You come across a good sized aviary for Eclectus Parrots, I couldn't see it very well as it was in its inside area, so I could see it through its door in. This is part of the stable area. Further down in the stables are two enclosures for Kunekune Pigs, one boar in one and two sows in the other. The sows were in a separate paddock when we arrived. These were just fairly basic sty's. On the end of the stable block is an aviary for Blue and Yellow Macaws and a species of pheasant (forgotten the species). Down from here you can go down a row of aviary's or towards the penguin pool. In the aviary's to the left are, Golden Pheasant, Ring-tailed Lemurs, Reeve's Pheasant, Himalayan Monal and Temminck's Tragopan, all have nice aviary's for the species inside them. The lemur enclosure contains a very large, dead tree trunk and other climbing apparatus. On the Right are, two aviary's for Princess of Wales Parakeet and Red-masked Conure. Carrying on there is a decent sized enclosure for three Alpaca (two adults and one young one). There is also a paddock with plentiful climbing opportunities for Goats and Somali Sheep. In between the paddocks is a converted building to an aviary for a very large group of Cockatiels. Further down is an interesting paddock for two Llama. The is a large walkthrough aviary, connected to this is another aviary for an unidentified pheasant species. The walkthrough aviary has a couple of large ponds and a few bushes, and overall is quite basic. I personally found it quite muddy! With in the aviary are Blue Peafowl (2 seen), a lot of duck species (please ask if you want a list), Red-breasted Geese and an unidentified Pheasant species. Now I will rewind back to the turn off for the penguins! The Humboldt Penguin pool was a very nice pool I thought and you could get in touching distance of the penguins. It only has a very low wall. When we got there they were all very close up so I got some quite close up photos. The pool has a beach area, a large (and surprisingly clean) pool, a grassy area, bushes, rocks and a few large sleeping boxes. We went to the feeding, which wasn't really a talk, but the keeper did tell us a lot about their penguins. Sadly, they are all terrified of Herring Gulls, so had to be hand fed instead of in their pool. Once you've finished at the penguins, you come across a goo sized aviary for Budgerigars. Annoyingly all were inside, so I could only see them through the small opening to their house. Next you see a decent sized, and heavily planted enclosure for White-fronted Capuchin. Next you see the basic paddock for Kunekune Pigs. Next to the paddock, their is an aviary (yes aviary!) for two Raccoon Dogs, it was a spacious and nice enclosure for this species. You soon come across a large, grassy enclosure for Guinea Pigs. It is one of the best I've seen!Paddocks
Else where there are paddocks for Shetland Pony's, Llamas, Shetland Sheep and Sika Deer, although I could't find them!
That sums up the zoo, I would recommend a visit, but I wouldn't go a long way for it. You could pair it up with a visit to RSPB Bempton Cliffs, like I did, or probably Filey Bird Garden (never visited myself). I personally quite enjoyed my visit. I will upload photos soon.
Feel free to ask any questions!
