Howletts Wild Animal Park

Howletts Wild Animal Park

Date opened	1975
Location	Bekesbourne/Canterbury, Kent, England
Land area	90 acres (36 ha)
No. of animals	450+
No. of species	44^[1]

Howletts Wild Animal Park (formerly known as Howletts Zoo) was set up as a private zoo in 1957 by John Aspinall near Canterbury, Kent.^[1] The animal collection was opened to the public in 1975.^[1] To give more room for the animals another estate at Port Lympne near Hythe, Kent was purchased in 1973, and opened to the public as Port Lympne Zoo in 1976.

The collection is known for being unorthodox, for the encouragement of close personal relationships between staff and animals,^[1] and for their breeding of rare and endangered species. Steve Irwin visited the park in 2004 and described the park's gorillas as "the finest in the world".^[2]

Since 1984 both parks have been owned by The John Aspinall Foundation, a charity. Following Aspinall's death of he was buried in front of the mansion house and a memorial was built next to the grave near the bison. A later extension to Howletts was an open-topped enclosure for black and white colobus, just behind the entrance.

Animal collection

The park has the largest breeding herd of African elephants in the United Kingdom

The park is most famous for having some of the largest family groups of western lowland gorillas in the world. It is also home to the largest breeding herd of African elephants in the United Kingdom and has one of the largest breeding groups of lion-tailed macaques in the world.

Charity events

The charity that runs Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, the John Aspinall Foundation, also runs animal conservation programmes. It has recent success in releasing a black rhino into the wild and has previously released other black rhinos and gorillas.

Television

Howletts and Port Lympne have featured on the CBBC television programme Roar. This shows the two parks, the life of the animals and how the keepers look after them. The first series was filmed in 2006 and, as of March 2009, there have been four series in total.

References

1 2 3 4 Sehlinger, Bob (2011). The Unofficial Guide to Britain's Best Days Out, Theme Parks and Attractions. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119971139.
↑ Crocodile Hunter News - http://www.crocodilehunter.com.au/crocodile_hunter/news_articles/2004/flyingvisit.html

External links

Zoo website
Aspinall Foundation
"Captive-bred kitten" (Video). BBC. 2008-09-10. Retrieved 2010-01-05. of Pallas' cat
Roar (UK TV series) on IMDb

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 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

Coordinates: 51°16′N 1°9′E / 51.267°N 1.150°E / 51.267; 1.150

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