New Forest Wildlife Park

New Forest Wildlife Park
Date opened	1998
Location	Deerleap Lane, Longdown, Near Ashurst, Hampshire, England
Coordinates	50°53′10″N 1°29′54″W / 50.8860°N 1.4983°W / 50.8860; -1.4983Coordinates: 50°53′10″N 1°29′54″W / 50.8860°N 1.4983°W / 50.8860; -1.4983
Land area	25 acres (100,000 m²)
Number of species	49 (2011)
Website	http://www.newforestwildlifepark.co.uk

The New Forest Wildlife Park (formerly The New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Conservation Park) is located on the edge of The New Forest close to the towns of Ashurst and Lyndhurst. The Park specialises in native and past-native wildlife of Britain and otters and owls from around the globe, housing three species of the former and 16 of the latter. The Park is recognized as the UK's leading institution in the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured and orphaned wild otters, along with the rehabilitation of other wildlife such as owls, deer and foxes in similar situations, and it is involved in several conservation projects, including breeding programmes for endangered native species such as Scottish wildcats, water voles and harvest mice.

History

The site was opened as The New Forest Butterfly Farm in 1981, and the main glasshouse complex that formed the farm still stands today. That venture was closed in the early 1990s, and it was taken over by entertainment company Vardon Plc. (which also owned the UK's numerous Sea Life Centres), who turned the site into New Forest Nature Quest, a collection specialising in native wildlife. However, when Vardon was taken over by Merlin Entertainments in 1998, the park was put up for sale. Some of the animal collection was taken over by a company called 'Nature Quest' owned by Kenneth West, that eventually was housed at the newly created Wildwood Discovery Park in Kent. The remainder of the collection was taken over by Roger Heap who had already been running the Chestnut Centre, an otter and owl specialised collection in Derbyshire, since 1984 when he took over ownership of the park. Along with the many native animals that Nature Quest had fixed into the park, the Heap family added a large collection of otters and owls on par with the Derbyshire Park and The New Forest Otter, Owl and Wildlife Conservation Park was born. Twelve years later, the park was re-branded as The New Forest Wildlife Park to emphasise the large and expanding collection of native and past-native wildlife in addition to the many otters and owls.

Animals at the park

The main bulk of the collection consists of animals that are or were at one time native to Britain, along with various species of otters and owls from around the globe and tropical butterflies in a walk-through exhibit that calls back to the park's early days as a butterfly farm. These include:

The Park's 15 Owl species include:

Facilities

The Woodland Bakehouse serves as the Park's restaurant and tearoom, serving hot meals, snacks, drinks and Hampshire Cream Teas, and is open both to visitors and non-visitors to the Park. The next-door Wildlife Gift Shop sells a wide range of souvenirs and local produce, and during the Winter months the shop is relocated to the Bakehouse on a smaller scale.

External links

Official Website

Zoological gardens in the United Kingdom

Those listed in italics contain more than 5000 animals

Zoos	Africa Alive! Amazon World Zoo Banham Zoo Beale Park Belfast Zoo Birdland Park and Gardens Birdworld Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park Blackpool Zoo Borth Animalarium Bristol Zoo British Wildlife Centre Calderglen Country Park Chessington Zoo Chester Zoo Colchester Zoo Cotswold Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas Curraghs Wildlife Park Dartmoor Zoological Park Drayton Manor Zoo Drusillas Zoo Park Dudley Zoo Durrell Wildlife Park Edinburgh Zoo Exmoor Zoo Flamingo Land Resort Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo Hamerton Zoo Hawk Conservancy Trust Howletts Wild Animal Park International Centre for Birds of Prey Isle of Wight Zoo Lakeland Wildlife Oasis London Zoo Marwell Wildlife Monkey Sanctuary Monkey World New Forest Wildlife Park Newquay Zoo Noah's Ark Zoo Farm Paignton Zoo Paradise Park, Cornwall Paradise Wildlife Park Peak Wildlife Park Plantasia Royal Surrey Gardens Screech Owl Sanctuary Seaview Wildlife Encounter South Lakes Safari Zoo Tropical World at Roundhay Park The Living Rainforest Tropical Birdland, Leicestershire Tropiquaria Twycross Zoo Welsh Mountain Zoo Wetheriggs Zoo and Animal Sanctuary Whipsnade Zoo Wildwood Discovery Park Wingham Wildlife Park Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Safari parks	Blair Drummond Safari Park Highland Wildlife Park Knowsley Safari Park Longleat Safari Park Port Lympne Wild Animal Park West Midland Safari Park Woburn Safari Park

Permanently closed	Belle Vue Zoo Glasgow Zoo Coventry Zoo Manchester Zoological Gardens Southport Zoo Windsor Safari Park Rare Species Conservation Centre Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park

Category List Commons

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.