Blackpool Zoo

Lancashire, UK

FULL TITLE: Blackpool Zoo

This is a great, if fairly small, zoo, with a remarkably diverse and interesting collection. It's compact layout makes it easy to see, and the animals are presented with great imagination. Well worth a visit, it has a good solid collection that also boasts some real surprises.

MAJOR ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS:

GORILLA MOUNTAIN AND ORANG UTANS - The original Ape House at Blackpool has recently been extended to give a large island area to the Western Lowland Gorillas, named Gorilla Mountain. This spectacular exhibit area is linked to the original gorilla pen and house by a peninsular, allowing the animals access to a large moated island with waterfalls and dramatic rock formations. On the other side of the house are the zoo's Bornean Orang Utans.

LEMUR WOOD - This is a walk-through exhibit on the banks of the central waterfowl lake. It is home to Ring Tailed, Black and White Ruffed, and Black Lemurs, and allows some close contact between lemurs and visitors, if the lemurs so choose!

ELEPHANT, REPTILE AND INSECT HOUSE - Yes, that is right. This huge animal house is shared by reptiles and insects on one side, and elephants on the other, with no physical divisin between the two areas. The zoo has a small group of Asian Elephants, and the reptile collection is (in the zoo's style) small but varied, including the Yacare Caiman and the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. A wide variety of invertebrate life is also displayed, from spiders to cockroaches and snails

SOUTH AMERICAN PADDOCK - This large pen is home to three SOuth AMerican species - the bizarre looking Brazilian Tapir, the world's largest rodent, the Capybara, and the Vicuna, a somewhat delicate relative of the Llama. Mixed exhibits are always more interesting than single-species displays, and this is a good case in point.

SMALL PRIMATE HOUSE - A rather unattractive building, but home to an interesting selection of small primates, inluding DeBrazza's Guenons, Squirrel Monkeys and the Ursine Colobus. Be careful not to miss the Grey Mouse Lemurs, housed inside the building in a small but effective nocturnal exhibit.

OTHER ANIMAL ATTRACTIONS:

The ungulate (hoofed mammal) collection at Blackpool holds some surprises, notably the wonderful Markhor - worth a visit by themselves. Other species on view include Reindeer, Bactrian Camel, Llama, Sitatunga , Arabian Oryx, Hog Deer and soon Hartmann's Mountain Zebra.

A good collection (one of Britain's best) of macropod marsupials includes Parma Wallaby, Brush Tailed Rock Wallaby, Wallaroo and Red Kangaroo.

Wallaroo

Giant Tortoises are displayed, one of which was recently identified as the believed-extinct Seychelles Giant Tortoise.

There is an imaginative tree exhibit for the beautiful Prevost's Squirrel, while carnivores include African Lions, Siberian Tigers, Californian Sealions, European Otters, Red Pandas and Meerkats.

Pileated Gibbons and Black Spider Monkeys are displayed on small islands linked to a large house, providing a very attractive display. Nearby, American Tree Porcupines have a large pen, although they are most likely to be found semiasleep in their barrels!

A small bird collection includes the unusual White Woodpeckers, and a Free Flight Aviary displays large waders abnd the like.

SPECIES TO WATCH FOR:

Markhor (Capra falconeri)

Vicuna (Lama vicugna)

Hartmann's Mountain Zebra(Equus zebra hartmannae)

Brushtailed Rock Wallaby (Petrogale perspicillata)

Wallaroo (Macropus robustus)

Red Kangaroo (Macropus rufus)

Prevost's Squirrel (Callosciurus prevosti)

North American Tree Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

Grey Mouse Lemur (Microcebus murinus)

White Woodpecker (Melanerpes candidus)

Yacare Caiman (Caiman crocodylus yacare)

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

FACILITIES:

The zoo has several shops, cafes, and kiosks, as well as a children's play area, a Miniature Railway, and a Flight Simulator