As part of a recent holiday to the Cotswolds, Discover Animals’ Editorial Director Abbe Bates paid a visit to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens in Burford with her family. The 160-acre site is a mix of beautiful landscaped gardens and parkland, animal enclosures, aviaries, insect and reptile houses, farmyard, and adventure playgrounds. Its beginnings […]
Val Baynton from the Discover Animals team was invited to the official launch of Chimpanzee Eden at Twycross Zoo last month, and tells us more about her visit here. The first five years of a 25-year plan, which will see £55million invested in improving the infrastructure at Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire, has been completed with […]
Marwell Zoo in Hampshire unveiled its spectacular new ‘Energy for Life’ Tropical House this week and I attended a preview to experience this sustainable, ground breaking project for myself. Costing £8m to build and constructed using the same state-of-the-art technology as the Eden Project, the new exhibit is housed under a huge curved roof spanning two levels, […]
We visited Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex on a beautiful, sunny half-term day, which made for a perfect family outing. My eight-year-old daughter had been very excited at the idea of seeing lots of animals, especially the cotton-top tamarins and their new babies, who were easy to spot clinging to their mothers’ back. A handy animal spotter […]
Raystede is an animal charity and welfare centre based in Ringmer, East Sussex. Relying entirely on donations, the sanctuary rescue, shelter and re-home unwanted and abandoned animals. I recently visited Raystede to see how the centre operates its 43 acre site. Open to the public, the centre houses many animals, including goats, rabbits, dogs, cats […]
Discover Animals were proud sponsors of the Best Animal or Sea Life Attraction at the Group Travel Awards which took place on Friday 2nd June at the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel, London. The annual award ceremony celebrates the very best in the group travel industry and this event was particularly special as it marked 21 years […]
Sarah Jeffery from the Discover Animals team recently spent a day exploring Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire with her daughter Caitlin. It had been a few years since the pair last visited, so they were excited to see what was new. ‘Marvellous Monsters’ is a new outdoor exhibition for 2017 and features 20 larger-than-life animatronic […]
Sarah Jeffery of the Discover Animals team was recently invited to attend a special VIP Experience Tour with her family at West Midland Safari & Leisure Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire. The park’s VIP Tours are a unique treat for animal lovers that want to see what goes on behind the scenes. Accompanied by Dave Higgin, […]
I was able to make a return visit to Drusillas Park in Alfriston, East Sussex, recently with my family. There is so much to do there for a full day out, I am always very impressed. With my son Herbie always interested in the animals on show, we were able to use the Animal Spotter Books that can […]
In early March, Kent-based animal attraction Port Lympne Reserve revealed its new Pinewood Camping Pods – the park’s latest accommodation option – and I was there at the official opening. Situated in a prime position opposite the leopard enclosures, the 10 cosy pods are each equipped with two single beds, a double futon, and power and […]
The world’s oldest operating aquarium – Sea Life Brighton – recently opened a new feature, Jurassic Seas, looking at the underwater age of the dinosaurs, and I was pleased to be invited to the press launch with my husband, Rich, and son, Herbie. The new section is part of the ongoing £10 million refurbishment project […]
Discover Animals wants to help you get the really best animal experiences. One of the trips of a lifetime for many people is an African safari, to see unique, unusual and often endangered species in their natural environment. Peter Stonham has recently returned from a fantastic trip to East Africa and has come back with […]
I was lucky enough to meet Pringle the Tawny Owl from Leeds Castle’s falconry on my visit to this year’s Excursions, the annual group travel exhibition held at London’s Alexandra Palace. Found in England, Scotland and Wales, Tawny Owls are responsible for the characteristic courtship ‘twit-twooo’, which is actually a duet between male and females. […]
I visited the French National Sealife Centre, Nausicaa, in Boulogne and was introduced on a back stage tour with keeper Simon Becue to a ‘walker’ shark. Actually called epaulette sharks, they get their nickname from the way they ‘walk’ along the sea bed by wriggling their bodies and pushing with their fins rather than swimming. The […]
On my summer holidays, I travelled to South East Asia to conquer Malaysian Borneo’s mighty Mount Kinabalu and explore the unique and beautiful wildlife of the island. After flying into the city of Kota Kinabalu, I headed to Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home to Mount Kinabalu, which at 4,095 metres is the highest […]
Got to taste some of ZSL London Zoo’s Butter Fudge recently. It’s palm oil free, which is good news as there’s been a lot of controversy recently over palm oil use. It is the most popular vegetable oil used in one in 10 supermarket products but comes from large plantations that grow in the same areas where […]