Check out the Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens – Zoos are one of our best places to spend the day, and we’ve been to a lot of them with the boys. It made me happy to think about whether or not the Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens would live up to my hopes. It looks like fall is a great time to visit the park, especially since we were there just a few weeks ago. It was amazing to see so many kinds of animals up close. To sum up, the Cotswold zoo lives up to all of our hopes, and here’s why it’s one of the best zoos we’ve been to.
Read about the Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens.
The park was just opening, so there was plenty of parking room and people to help us find our way. There is also a sign that tells you everything that is going on. It was really cool that there were so many chances to watch the animals being fed. As luck would have it, they were feeding the otters when we got there. This is one of my husband’s favourite animals. Kids could see well because the walls were not very high. Then we followed the guards to the lemur enclosure to feed the lemurs. What struck me most was how nice everyone was as they led us into the special walkthrough area.
Giving the animals food
I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to a lemur before. It was hard not to reach out and try to hug them because they look so cute. The little grey fluffy things interested both boys a lot. While they were being fed, the keepers talked about the plan to protect them. I had no idea they were so in danger. It makes me sad to think that they won’t be able to live in the wild for much longer. I thought the breeding schemes at Cotswold Zoo were great.
The guards led us from the lemurs to the penguins, where we watched as they were fed. They feed the penguins every day and have a penguin talk every day. I think it was one of the cleanest penguin pools I’ve seen. One little guy decided he didn’t want to swim anymore, so he walked and showed off by getting five in his beak on the bounce.
Finding out about all the animals
After seeing the penguins, we left the walled garden area and went to the snake house and the invertebrate house. The grounds are also different from many other parks we’ve been to; the beautiful gardens make a lovely background. Taking care of the grounds takes just as much work as taking care of the animals. It looks lovely in the spring because it has themed borders, exotic plants, acres of grass, and lovely gardens. Because you could enjoy the flower beds and ornamental planting even on a rainy autumn day. We walked by a small narrow-gauge railway and train that goes around the grounds and past some of the cages. For a small extra fee, it runs from April to October. The boys were a little let down that it wasn’t running, but now we have a reason to go back.
Inside the displays
The typical yellow sandstone buildings are where many of the things inside are kept. It looks and feels very old because of the small green and white metal signs. It’s no surprise that the big snake house and the bug house were also big hits, especially with the green anacondas. Even though I didn’t like the poisonous snakes. Partly because, once more, you can get close to the displays and see many of the creepy things that live there.
Things to eat…
We didn’t realize how long you could really spend at the wildlife park. We knew we didn’t have much time left, so we went to see some of the bigger animals. Take a side trip to see Stella, the baby rhino who is new to the White Rhinos and one of the park’s newest animals. They were inside, which made it easy for us to find her. It was really cool to tell the boys how important Stella is and how common it is to get so close to a baby Southern White Rhino.
We had a late lunch in the Canteen, which is also a licensed cafe. Even though it was late in the day, there was still a lot of hot food available at a fair price. Plus a lot of places to have lunch if you bring your own. After getting some food, we went down to see the Asian lions and the giraffe path. The boys were excited to see the lions because they had heard them all day.
Bigger animals
Once more, we were very lucky because the lions were awake and moving around. I think they were waiting for their dinner. They were easy to spot because there were big glass windows all around the cage. As in many of the other animal places and cages, you can see the animals without any obstructions. Last on our list was seeing the giraffes. When we went inside the giraffe house, we watched as the keepers taught one of the giraffes. I was amazed at how well he did what I told him to do. Outside on the path, the other one got close to look at the people walking by.
There are so many kinds of animals at the Cotswold zoo that it would be impossible to list them all. I’m not even sure that we saw all of them when we were there. The Egyptian fruit bats, on the other hand, have their own house. When Charlie came out, his nose was messed up! Harry really liked the big tortoises. A big anteater and a farmyard for kids are also there. You should also take some time to look at the park’s main attraction, a protected Victorian manor house.
Review of the Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens
Before leaving the gift shop, we had the best day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. We saw a lot of different animals, and the boys were able to get pretty close to a lot of them. The zoo is great for kids of all ages. The area is lovely, and we haven’t even talked about the adventure playground yet. The prices are very cheap and it’s a great day out. Online, it costs £14.00 for an adult and £9.50 for a child aged 3 to 16. The last visit is at 4 pm in the summer and 3 pm in the winter. They can also be bought at the animal park on the day of the trip for a little more. We will go back the next time we are in the area.
