Pre-booking my ticket and time slot, via the Hemsley website was easy.
The actual place is an old garden centre on a tiny industrial estate, and there's very little in the way of signposts or banners for you to find it. Consequently I drove past the entrance a couple of times before I noticed a lemur on the estate board. The road is single track, but its only a short distance until you get to the gate.
Once there, the car park was virtually empty, but large enough for about 20-25 cars.
Entrance is up the path, where a hand sanitiser is to your left, before entering the door to the main area and tea room.
Nice friendly chap (in fact all the keepers were very friendly and polite) explained the one way system and said I could go round as many times as I liked.
Once inside, it is very compact, the paths are about 2ft wide, and enclosures are quaintly ramshackle. The small cat enclosures were very overgrown, but I personally like to see that, a natural habitat, to encourage breeding.,
The Aardwolf enclosure was being renovated so nothing in there, although the animal sign was still up.
The nocturnal house, is tiny, you can get about 4 people in at a push as is the same with the few other houses, they are a bit bigger but not much.
A few animals are housed together. The Armadillos with the Brazilian Porcupine. Lorikeet with wallaby etc.
No sign of any reptiles, amphibians or inverts, other than 1 Tarantula in one of the houses. So not sure what has happened to them, maybe the reptile house is off show? Slightly disappointed at that as I'm quite into my herps.
A bonus though, when I caught the Tayras being fed. Pretty impressive watching them dangle upside down, crunching and tearing at their meat (rabbit I think).
All in all, even though there were lots of no shows, I really enjoyed this little place. It's so refreshing to find a place that centres on the small, more unusual animals, and I'll definitely be back.
The zoo was really quiet, with staff out numbering the public, so made it safe re social distancing. Handwashing and sanitisers had been catered for especially around the toilet areas. You could go round it in an hour, but I got there at 12.30 and lingered around the enclosures, eventually leaving around 14.30, and that was only to avoid the Dartford traffic, otherwise I would have stayed longer.
For the photographers amongst us, it's a bit of a nightmare for good shots. Wire mesh everywhere, coupled with small-ish enclosures, make it hard to get subjects without mesh shadows creeping in. (See my media) TBH it didn't really bother me, as photography comes 2nd to the welfare of the animals.
Exhibits seen:
Tayra
Geoffroy's Cat
Brazilian Porcupine
Parma Wallaby
Rainbow Lorikeet
Bali Myna
Tarantula??
Channel- Billed Toucan
Slender Tailed Meekat
Ground Cuscus (Nocturnal house, not sure what species, there was a sign, but too dark to read it)
6 Banded Armadillo
3 Banded Armadillo (I think, no signs apparent)
Blue-fronted Amazon Parrot
Common Marmoset
Ring -tailed Lemur
Red Fronted Lemur
White Lipped Tamarin.
The actual place is an old garden centre on a tiny industrial estate, and there's very little in the way of signposts or banners for you to find it. Consequently I drove past the entrance a couple of times before I noticed a lemur on the estate board. The road is single track, but its only a short distance until you get to the gate.
Once there, the car park was virtually empty, but large enough for about 20-25 cars.
Entrance is up the path, where a hand sanitiser is to your left, before entering the door to the main area and tea room.
Nice friendly chap (in fact all the keepers were very friendly and polite) explained the one way system and said I could go round as many times as I liked.
Once inside, it is very compact, the paths are about 2ft wide, and enclosures are quaintly ramshackle. The small cat enclosures were very overgrown, but I personally like to see that, a natural habitat, to encourage breeding.,
The Aardwolf enclosure was being renovated so nothing in there, although the animal sign was still up.
The nocturnal house, is tiny, you can get about 4 people in at a push as is the same with the few other houses, they are a bit bigger but not much.
A few animals are housed together. The Armadillos with the Brazilian Porcupine. Lorikeet with wallaby etc.
No sign of any reptiles, amphibians or inverts, other than 1 Tarantula in one of the houses. So not sure what has happened to them, maybe the reptile house is off show? Slightly disappointed at that as I'm quite into my herps.
A bonus though, when I caught the Tayras being fed. Pretty impressive watching them dangle upside down, crunching and tearing at their meat (rabbit I think).
All in all, even though there were lots of no shows, I really enjoyed this little place. It's so refreshing to find a place that centres on the small, more unusual animals, and I'll definitely be back.
The zoo was really quiet, with staff out numbering the public, so made it safe re social distancing. Handwashing and sanitisers had been catered for especially around the toilet areas. You could go round it in an hour, but I got there at 12.30 and lingered around the enclosures, eventually leaving around 14.30, and that was only to avoid the Dartford traffic, otherwise I would have stayed longer.
For the photographers amongst us, it's a bit of a nightmare for good shots. Wire mesh everywhere, coupled with small-ish enclosures, make it hard to get subjects without mesh shadows creeping in. (See my media) TBH it didn't really bother me, as photography comes 2nd to the welfare of the animals.
Exhibits seen:
Tayra
Geoffroy's Cat
Brazilian Porcupine
Parma Wallaby
Rainbow Lorikeet
Bali Myna
Tarantula??
Channel- Billed Toucan
Slender Tailed Meekat
Ground Cuscus (Nocturnal house, not sure what species, there was a sign, but too dark to read it)
6 Banded Armadillo
3 Banded Armadillo (I think, no signs apparent)
Blue-fronted Amazon Parrot
Common Marmoset
Ring -tailed Lemur
Red Fronted Lemur
White Lipped Tamarin.
