New Forest Wildlife Park

Last updated

New Forest Wildlife Park
The New Forest Wildlife Park and The Woodland Bake House cafe (geograph 3700598).jpg
New Forest Wildlife Park
50°53′10″N1°29′54″W / 50.8860°N 1.4983°W / 50.8860; -1.4983
Date opened1998
LocationDeerleap Lane, Longdown, Near Ashurst, Hampshire, England
Land area25 acres (100,000 m2)
No. of species49 (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 four species of the former and ten of the latter.

Contents

The park is recognised[ by whom? ] 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 owl species include:

Facilities

The Woodland Bakehouse serves as the Park's restaurant and tearoom, and is open both to visitors and non-visitors to the park. The next-door Wildlife Gift Shop sells souvenirs and local produce, and during winter months is relocated to the Bakehouse on a smaller scale.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo</span> Zoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States

Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the only Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)–accredited zoo in the state of Connecticut. The zoo includes one of the few carousels in the state. The zoo has around 500 animals, from over 100 species, and welcomes about 280,000 visitors a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retezat National Park</span> National park in Romania

The Retezat National Park is a protected area located in the Retezat Mountains in Hunedoara county, Romania. Founded in 1935, it is the oldest national park in the country and categorized as a category II IUCN national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park</span>

Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park is an Italian national park established in 1923. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region, with smaller parts in Lazio and Molise. It is sometimes called by its former name Abruzzo National Park. The park headquarters are in Pescasseroli in the Province of L'Aquila. The park's area is 496.80 km2 (191.82 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Wildlife Park</span> Zoo in Kingussie, Scotland

The Highland Wildlife Park is a 105-hectare (260-acre) safari park and zoo near Kingussie, Highland, Scotland. The park is located within the Cairngorms National Park. The park is run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elmwood Park Zoo</span> Zoo in Pennsylvania, U.S.

Elmwood Park Zoo is a zoo located in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of Armenia</span> Native animals of Armenia

Fauna in Armenia is diverse given the country's relatively small geographic size, owing to the varied habitats created by the area's mountainous terrain. Armenia is an important area for migratory animals; about 350 different bird species were recorded in the country. Many of the world's domesticated animals originated in the area Armenia is located in, and the mouflon, the ancestor of domesticated sheep, is present there. Research suggests that about a quarter of the animal species in Armenia are internationally endangered. The mouflons are suffering a great population decline due to poaching and habitat loss, and the Sevan trout, which made up thirty percent of the fish in Lake Sevan, have virtually disappeared.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namdapha National Park</span> National park in Arunachal Pradesh, India

Namdapha National Park is a 1,985 km2 (766 sq mi) large national park in Arunachal Pradesh of Northeast India. The park was established in 1983. With more than 1,000 floral and about 1,400 faunal species, it is a biodiversity hotspot in the Eastern Himalayas. It harbours the northernmost lowland evergreen rainforests in the world at 27°N latitude. It also harbours extensive dipterocarp forests, comprising the northwestern parts of the Mizoram-Manipur-Kachin rain forests ecoregion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of Scotland</span> Animals living in Scotland

The fauna of Scotland is generally typical of the northwest European part of the Palearctic realm, although several of the country's larger mammals were hunted to extinction in historic times and human activity has also led to various species of wildlife being introduced. Scotland's diverse temperate environments support 62 species of wild mammals, including a population of wild cats, important numbers of grey and harbour seals and the most northerly colony of bottlenose dolphins in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Armenia</span>

The wildlife of Armenia includes the wild boar, crested porcupine, various lizards, snakes and numerous species of birds and plants. Endangered species in Armenia are the bear, wild goat, Armenian mouflon and the leopard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Jordan</span>

The wildlife of Jordan includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Although much of the country is desert, it has several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. Fossil finds show that in Palaeolithic times, the region had Syrian brown bears, Asiatic lions and Syrian elephants, but these species are all now extinct in this region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of Europe</span> Native animals of Europe

The fauna of Europe is all the animals living in Europe and its surrounding seas and islands. Europe is the western part of the Palearctic realm. Lying within the temperate region, the wildlife is not as rich as in the hottest regions, but is nevertheless diverse due to the variety of habitats and the faunal richness of Eurasia as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZooAmerica</span> Zoo in Hershey, Pennsylvania

ZooAmerica is a zoo located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1910 by Milton S. Hershey with a few animals, including bears, birds, and deer. Today, it covers 11 acres and is home to more than 75 species and 200 individual animals, including some that are rare and endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fauna of Pakistan</span> Overview of fauna in Pakistan

Pakistan's native fauna reflect its varied climatic zones. The northern Pakistan, which includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit Baltistan, has portions of two biodiversity hotspots, Mountains of Central Asia and Himalayas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Virginia State Wildlife Center</span> Zoological park in the United States

The West Virginia State Wildlife Center is a zoological park in French Creek, West Virginia. Operated by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, the Wildlife Center displays many of West Virginia's wildlife, including both native and introduced species. A few of the animals at the Wildlife Center were once found naturally in West Virginia, but were extirpated by the early 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wingham Wildlife Park</span> Zoo in Kent, England

Wingham Wildlife Park is a medium-sized wildlife park situated near Wingham, Kent, United Kingdom where it covers an area of 26 acres. In 2011, the species count at the park reached 180 species, growing to over 200 in 2013 covering fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and birds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sassnitz Wildlife Park</span> Zoo in Sassnitz, RĂ¼gen

Sassnitz Wildlife Park is a wildlife park in the borough of Sassnitz on the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic mixed forests</span> Ecoregion in Europe

The Atlantic mixed forests is a terrestrial ecoregion in western Europe. It extends along the western edge of continental Europe, from southwestern France through northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands, northwestern Germany, and western Denmark. Most of the region's forests and dunes have been converted to fields, pastures, and forest plantations, and its once-extensive wetlands have mostly been drained and filled.

The Chestnut Centre was a wildlife park near Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK. It opened in 1984, and closed in 2017.

The Northumberland Zoo is a zoo in Felton, Northumberland, England.