Blackpool Zoo
The zoo boasts a wide range of naturalistic habitats for its different animals. The elephants enjoy taking walks in the local woodland, the gorillas play hide-and-seek around their own island, and the lions hang out in their newly refurbished enclosure, which includes a multi-surface paddock, a pool, and even heated outdoor rocks so that they can enjoy the fresh air in winter!
The zoo also recently redeveloped their water gardens to create Amazonia, a walk-through enclosure where guests can sample life in the rainforest with toucans and parrots flying overhead, and monkeys swinging past their ears.
And as well as showcasing everyone’s favourites, Blackpool Zoo is doing its bit for conservation, playing host to animals like Hartmann’s zebra, a subspecies whose habitat in southern Africa is currently endangered, and the Bornean orang-utan, under threat from deforestation and hunting.
Visitors to the zoo are encouraged to think about how they can help these animals by taking care of the environment – for example, saving energy to help prevent the climate change that is damaging the natural habitat of the zoo’s reindeer. The zoo also raises money for the conservation of animals in the wild, offering ‘adopt-an-animal’ schemes, and even selling off paintings produced by artist Marcella the elephant!