I haven't actually been at Paradise Park for the past two Sundays (and may yet be going up to Manchester this weekend) as I was up in the lovely Lake District, so I thought I'd do something a little different.
Last week, I visited the South Lakes Wild Animal Park in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria. It's a really great little zoo with a large variety of animals. What's really nice about it is the openness of it. A number of the animals are simply roaming around, so you really are with the animals as you enter each section of the zoo. For example, one large open area found emus on the walkways, kangaroos and wallabies sitting in the nearby shade and lemurs absolutely everywhere!
Here is mum with the penguins
It's also a very interactive zoo. During the giraffe and lemur feeding time talks you actually get to help feed the animals. I didn't actually do this myself, there were too many people around that I decided I'd give it a miss, but it's pretty amazing if you haven't got to do it before.
I took loads and loads of photographs, some of which are here:
White rhinos - They have about 5 or so in total including a youngster.
They've also had lots of breeding success with their lemurs and primates. Here are just a couple of the babies:
In one of the South America enclosures, you found squirrel monkeys, tapirs and Andean bears all in together.
And of course they also had their share of cats, including this cute little tiger cub and jaguars.
I had a thoroughly good day and I certainly would recommend it for a visit if you're ever in the area. My parents went in the winter, when admission is free (they just ask for a donation).
I'll leave you with a couple of final pictures, the first of a cotton topped tamarin (there is no zoom on this photo which shows just how close you can get to the animals) and finally one of a black and white ruffed lemur, who for me stole the show after a couple of close encounters. I even adopted one (only £10!) for the year.
