It's not suprising this collection in North Petherwin, Cornwall has little to no ZooChat coverage: It's quite low-key and doesn't have such a wide animal rage that ZooChatters seem to crave. However, an hour or two's visit to this quiet park is rewarding for it's beautiful setting, heart and of course the animals, particuarly the centrepiece otters. It's got a personal link to my family too; it is built on land which was once my Great Great Uncle's farm, and relatives of ours used to live a couple of minutes down the road. Maybe one day I'll be buying back ancestral land and taking charge... who knows. 
Anyway, a quick introduction. The Park opened as the Tamar Otter Sanctuary in 1986 by Ken Hill, and was operated as a branch of the Otter Trust, which also ran the sanctuaries in Suffolk and the Pennines (the book Stormforce: An Otter's Tale gives good accounts of the trust including the Tamar Park). The Otter Trust bred and released otters back into the wild at a time when they were in severe decline in Britain, and played a large part in the success of the otter's return. However, by the mid 00's this success meant that the project was completed with otters flourishing once more, and the the Suffolk and Pennines sites only opened to former members of the trust by invitation, and otters were no longer kept there. Luckilly, the Tamar Park was sold off from the trust and bought by new owners in 2006, meaning the Park could remain open as it was to the public. The new owners renamed it the Tamar Otter & Wildlife Centre, with the vision of adding more native species of these isles in the hope of showing how can we live alongside nature in both the town and country. Rescue and rehabilitation is still carried out, and, like the Chestnut Centre and New Forest Wildlife Park, they often recieve orphaned otter cubs.
The Park is centred within a bowled valley, with an open green near the entrance but with the majority of the park being decidous woodland around a stream, with a maginificent quarry waterfall at the Northern end. I haven't visited since 2007, so my memory may not be entirely accuarate, though I plan to go again this year.
Upon entering from the small car park, there is a building to your left that is the Visitor Centre where you pay, containing a tearoom, shop and toilets. Descend into the green where free ranging peacocks, golden pheasants, guinea fowl and chickens roam. There are five otter pens in this area: Two shaded pens for Asian Short Clawed Otters in the left corner, a pen for European Otters at the back near the car park and two much larger pens for European Otters featuring large natural-looking pools. There is even an indoor holt that can be looked into depending on the situation of the otters. At the far right of the green are two lakes for waterfowl both wild and ornamental.
When you enter the wooded part of the park, you go through double gates. This is due to the Fallow Deer, Muntjac Deer and Wallabies that have free-range of the area. With bags of feed, you are somtimes permitted to feed the fallow, which will eat from your hand. In the near half of the woods there are several aviaries, which currently house Bengal Eagle Owls, Snowy Owls, European Eagle Owls, Barn Owls, Little Owls, Tawny Owls and Kestrels.
The second half of the woodland is generally a walk that appreciates the wood itself, especially in Spring when the bluebells are blooming. There are also several man-made habitats for wildlife such as hedgehog shelters and bug homes, and boards explaining the project that is preserving wild Hazel Dormice on the site and the wide Badger sett occupied by wild animals there. But the very tip of this woodland is where the best site lies, and that is the amazing quarry which has a waterfall falling down into a deep plung pool. And new for 2010, just beside this, is a new enclosure for Scottish Wildcats that have now arrived by news of their blog. These will hopefully be the first of many new and interesting species of British Wildlife.
Hope this has been an interesting read, and has triggered a few intrepid ZooChatters into a first or repeat visit.
Official Site
Blog
Anyway, a quick introduction. The Park opened as the Tamar Otter Sanctuary in 1986 by Ken Hill, and was operated as a branch of the Otter Trust, which also ran the sanctuaries in Suffolk and the Pennines (the book Stormforce: An Otter's Tale gives good accounts of the trust including the Tamar Park). The Otter Trust bred and released otters back into the wild at a time when they were in severe decline in Britain, and played a large part in the success of the otter's return. However, by the mid 00's this success meant that the project was completed with otters flourishing once more, and the the Suffolk and Pennines sites only opened to former members of the trust by invitation, and otters were no longer kept there. Luckilly, the Tamar Park was sold off from the trust and bought by new owners in 2006, meaning the Park could remain open as it was to the public. The new owners renamed it the Tamar Otter & Wildlife Centre, with the vision of adding more native species of these isles in the hope of showing how can we live alongside nature in both the town and country. Rescue and rehabilitation is still carried out, and, like the Chestnut Centre and New Forest Wildlife Park, they often recieve orphaned otter cubs.
The Park is centred within a bowled valley, with an open green near the entrance but with the majority of the park being decidous woodland around a stream, with a maginificent quarry waterfall at the Northern end. I haven't visited since 2007, so my memory may not be entirely accuarate, though I plan to go again this year.
Upon entering from the small car park, there is a building to your left that is the Visitor Centre where you pay, containing a tearoom, shop and toilets. Descend into the green where free ranging peacocks, golden pheasants, guinea fowl and chickens roam. There are five otter pens in this area: Two shaded pens for Asian Short Clawed Otters in the left corner, a pen for European Otters at the back near the car park and two much larger pens for European Otters featuring large natural-looking pools. There is even an indoor holt that can be looked into depending on the situation of the otters. At the far right of the green are two lakes for waterfowl both wild and ornamental.
When you enter the wooded part of the park, you go through double gates. This is due to the Fallow Deer, Muntjac Deer and Wallabies that have free-range of the area. With bags of feed, you are somtimes permitted to feed the fallow, which will eat from your hand. In the near half of the woods there are several aviaries, which currently house Bengal Eagle Owls, Snowy Owls, European Eagle Owls, Barn Owls, Little Owls, Tawny Owls and Kestrels.
The second half of the woodland is generally a walk that appreciates the wood itself, especially in Spring when the bluebells are blooming. There are also several man-made habitats for wildlife such as hedgehog shelters and bug homes, and boards explaining the project that is preserving wild Hazel Dormice on the site and the wide Badger sett occupied by wild animals there. But the very tip of this woodland is where the best site lies, and that is the amazing quarry which has a waterfall falling down into a deep plung pool. And new for 2010, just beside this, is a new enclosure for Scottish Wildcats that have now arrived by news of their blog. These will hopefully be the first of many new and interesting species of British Wildlife.
Hope this has been an interesting read, and has triggered a few intrepid ZooChatters into a first or repeat visit.
Official Site
Blog
