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Last Christmas Dave bought me a fantastic present - the chance to feed tigers by hand! I am a full time carer to my mom who has Vascular Dementia and so he always tries to get something really special for me (bless him!) as I don't get chance to go out much. I have always loved the big cats so this was definitely a winner!!
The experience would take place at Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire which was our first problem as we live in North Wales. When our nephew invited us to his wedding in Dorset we decided to make a week of it while mom was in respite and visit the Park, a couple of theme parks (reviews coming soon!) and then go on to the wedding.
Getting There
We were based in Basingstoke, as you already know because you've all read my last review (LOL), so we headed towards London and travelled clockwise on the M25. We got off at junction 25 and followed the brown tourist signs. It couldn't have been easier to find. At the moment there are long term road works at junction 25 if you are travelling anti clockwise so you would have to get off at junction 26 and travel along the A121 and A10. ParadiseWildlife Park is in White Stubbs Lane, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire.
First Impressions
Before I go any further I must just tell you that we booked our tiger feeding in advance and so had to go on the planned day even though it was pouring down and was due to do so all day! This does mean that some of my observations are limited by the weather. As we drove into the park at about 11.00am we passed a small children's play area which was still covered up due to the rain. We got to a small building where I showed my letter about the tigers to get my free entrance and Dave paid the standard adult fee of £12 and received a little map so that we could find our way around. Children and Senior Citizens are charged at £9 each and disabled guests and their carers at £6 each. There are also two family tickets available - one adult and one child for £20 and two adults and two children for £40. OK it isn't much saving but every little helps and I was impressed at the fact that there was the ticket available for one adult and child. I haven't seen that before. If you are organising a group of 20 or more contact the park for a special rate currently £7 per person. The park is open from 9.30 until 18.00 from March to October and from10.00 until 17.00 from November to February.
Added Attractions
As I have said there was a play area as we entered the park which consisted of a few small fairground rides. There is also an adventure playground for the youngsters. In the
centre of the park is the Great Ormond Street Garden with access to the bouncy castle, helter skelter, roundabout and amusements. There is even a play area called The Special Place for disabled children to enjoy. For a small extra charge there is also On Safari Adventure Golf, Panning for Gold and the Woodland Railway. During the summer Paradise Lagoon is open for the children to take a dip free of charge. There is also the inevitable gift shop selling all sorts of things from stuffed animals to t shirts and pencils to mugs.
Facilities
The park isn't particularly large, although there are plenty of animals there, but there are numerous drinks and snacks outlets and a restaurant if you want to sit down and eat. There are toilets and hand washing facilities available throughout the park so there's no problem with hygiene if you get licked by any of the animals!!
The Animals
I bet you thought I'd never get round to the important bit did you?
The entrance road runs down the middle of the park. To your left are mainly children's attractions - The Woodland Trail, Woodland Railway, Adventureland, The Special Place, Paradise Lagoon etc. - set in an area of parkland. Due to the weather and the fact that we were more interested in the animals we didn't go over to this side of the park at all. We did notice on the map that there were foxes, owls and deer over here though.
To the right hand side are the main animal enclosures. Along the first path we encountered the Meercats which always fascinate me; I love the way they stand on their hind legs to look round. Next were the Wolves, then the Zebra and then the Capybara. These just tickled me! They sat there in the family group, hardly moving just watching the guests walking past with a sort of haughty look on their faces. I must admit at this point I wondered who was watching whom! The Tapirs were next to these at the end of the first path.
We then turned and saw a new enclosure with a big sign saying the Penguins are coming, but they hadn't arrived when we were there.
Next along this path were Wallabies, Emus, Reindeer, Camel and Alpaca.
Round the bottom of this path was the Farmyard with Sheep, Pygmy Goats, and Rabbits, etc. all of which were quite happy to be stroked and petted. Inside the Farmyard building there are sinks with soap and driers so that you can wash your hands as soon as you have finished handling the animals.
Out of the Farmyard, past the Lemurs was the Reptile Temple. We didn't bother going in here as neither of us are particularly interested in the reptiles and by now I was dying to see the cats!
Behind this were the Asian Short Clawed Otters just like the ones I had been watching on Animal Park on TV! They were great fun to watch as they played.
The next exhibit was a rainforest walk through which was interesting but extremely hot and humid as you would expect, but the smell of stale sweat in there made us hurry up and get out I'm afraid!
But then around the next turn we were in Big Cat Territory!
We headed for the Cheetah first - I just love the markings on their faces - he was walking round and round his enclosure. We viewed first through a large window at ground level and then climbed up onto a viewing platform above the enclosure. All the big cat enclosures had these platforms and they gave a superb view of the animals. While we were up on the platform two children walked down the side of the enclosure and saw the Cheetah through the bushes, they ran to the window to see him walk past. The Cheetah must have seen the children start to run and he began to run as well getting to the window as they did and barring his teeth at them! It made them jump! I know he wasn't running at full speed but it was lovely to see him run.
We did see the Lion in the next enclosure but he was being a typical Lion. He lay on a platform in his enclosure and remained fast asleep for the duration of our visit! The keepers told us that he does that most of the time only waking up to be fed - what a life eh? Maybe I'll come back as a lion then!
We looked briefly at the Tigers who were in a tiny enclosure, which surprised me. What I didn't realise at the time was that they had been put in that area so that the keepers could briefly do some work in their main enclosure - silly me! We left the Tigers as we knew we would be seeing them in close up later.
Next it was on to the Snow Leopards. There were three of these who were all dozing on a platform in their enclosure. From the viewing platform we got an excellent view of them as they were only about 2 - 3 feet away, behind two lots of bars I hasten to add! The keeper arrived whilst we were there with a lady who was obviously going to hand feed them so we watched that for a while. The feeding area for the Snow Leopards was rather cramped for the keeper and guest so I hoped my Tiger experience would be a bit roomier.
Opposite the Snow Leopards was the Jaguar. Now this is a cat you don't often see in a zoo and he was beautiful. Again he was up on his platform just feet away from us so we could see all his markings and get some good photographs too.
The other cat that they had here at Paradise Wildlife Park was one called Geoffrey's Cat which, although he is one of the smaller cats, it is one of my favourites.
The Tigers
By now it was 1 o'clock and time to go and meet the keepers ready for my Tiger feeding experience. We reported to the reception, where we had initially arrived earlier that morning, as instructed, where we were met by Brian and Chris who were two of the four big cat keepers.
They took us back to the Tiger enclosure where they were both out and roaming around. We went through
Pictures of Paradise Wildlife Park
Feeding Rocky
a gate in the first fence so that we were in a small area between the two fences. The area was about the size of half a tennis court so we had plenty of room. Dave came in with me so that he could take lots of photographs and the one keeper had a Polaroid camera to get some shots too - together with a tiger t shirt these formed part of my 'experience'.
As soon as went through the gate the two Tigers came to the fence to greet us. There was a fully grown Bengal Tiger called Rocky and a smaller, but still quite large, White Tiger called Narnia. The keepers told us that Narnia had been rescued from a circus in China (I think) where she had been ill treated and they had expected it to take her a long while to settle. In fact she and Rocky had formed an immediate bond and she settled within weeks.
It was quite obvious that there was a mutual respect between the keepers and the Tigers and Rocky was soon rubbing against the fence waiting to be stroked and tickled just like a domestic cat! The keepers were both putting their hands through the fence to stroke the Rocky and I was soon given the all clear to have a go. Obviously it is a bit restricting because the gaps in the fence wire are only about 3 inches or so square, but I could get my fingers through and stroked Rocky. I was surprised to find his fur soft like a domestic cat - I expected it to be much coarser.
Before we started the keepers asked me if I would like them to get the Tigers inside for feeding as we were getting wet out in the rain. Kind as this was my response was to ask what was best for the Tigers and the keepers told me that they would rather be outside whatever the weather. I said that I was just the visitor and that the Tigers were the first priority so I fed them outside in the rain.
The keepers went through safety procedure with me. I was told that Rocky would be pretty safe as, being fully grown, his muzzle wouldn't come through the bars at all, but I was told be careful of Narnia as her muzzle did come through just a bit and so I needed to be aware of that. I was told that if the keepers spotted any danger I would be told to 'Step back!' and must do so straight away. No problem with that then!
The pieces of meat were about the size and shape of a large mobile phone and I was told to hold each piece with my thumb and forefinger touching so that no stray fingers entered the cage. The general rule was that anything that went through the bars the Tigers could have and anything that stayed our side of the bars we could keep! The keepers told us that they had lost hats and jackets to the Tigers when they had got too close and they had got hold of them through the bars!
Then it was on to the feeding. I had to hold the meat as I had described and place it through the bars so that the ring made by my thumb and finger were against the bars and the Tigers would just take it from me. I had to do that at ground level first and then hold the meat higher up the cage so that each Tiger would reach up for the meat. That way the keepers can check their feet and underside to make sure there are no problems.
Sadly it was all over too quickly. There was only one hair-raising moment when I was reaching to feed Rocky and Narnia came up behind me without me noticing her and she was just about to try and grab my hand with the meat in it when the keeper just knocked my hand away! He apologised for not having time to tell me to step back but I said that was OK, keeping all my fingers is quite important to me!
After the feeding Rocky was licking the hand of one of the keepers, though the bars of course, and I tried to get him to lick my hand as well but he wouldn't.
The keepers gave me 7 photographs (haven't the quality of Polaroid photos improved over the years) and my Paradise Park t shirt with Bengal Tiger on the front.
It took about 45 minutes in all and it was amazing being so close to such glorious animals! When we had finished I had to ask Dave if it had been raining whilst I was feeding them as I hadn't a clue and it had been pouring down!
It was fantastic and the keepers were very kind and funny and gave us loads of information about the Tigers. Add to this the fact that safety was absolutely paramount and you have an unforgettable experience.
Experiences at the ParkAs I said Dave had bought my 'experience' through a third party as a Christmas present but, when we got to the park, we realised that you can buy a variety of experiences directly from the park itself.
Face Your Phobia - minimum age 10 years - about 30 minutes £90 Face your fear and handle a snake, lizard or tarantula - under supervision of course!
Feed the Lemurs - minimum age 10 years - about 30 minutes £90 for two people
Shadow a Big Cat Keeper - minimum age 18 years - 5 hours £200 weekdays £250 weekends.
Shadow a Reptile Keeper - minimum age 10 years - 1 hour £90
Shadow a Keeper - minimum age 14 years - 10 hours £150 This is a more general day meeting lots of the animals.
Meet the Meercats - minimum age 10 years old - 30 minutes £90
Feed the Big Cats - minimum age 16 years - 30 minutes £160 weekdays £180 weekends
In Conclusion
Paradise Wildlife Park is a privately owned establishment with the conservation of animals being the main objective of the place. It isn't a huge park but I think that you could spend a full day there without getting at all bored whatever your age and I would certainly love to go back sometime.
By the way - yes I do still have all my fingers!
Paradise Wildlife Park White Stubbs Lane Broxbourne Hertfordshire EN10 7QA
01992 470490
www.pwpark.com
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Advantages: Fantastic day out, Family Friendly, Good value for money and enjoyable for everyone! Disadvantages: Near a very fast road with no proper crossing facilities when parked in the overflow carpark
Advantages: Not many but good for say £8 per head, not £13 Disadvantages: outdated facilities, poor layout, small and limited access to animal enclosures
scottscottscott 05.05.2008 (05.05.2008)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Paradise Wildlife Park
Advantages: Not many but good for say £8 per head, not £13 Disadvantages: outdated facilities, poor layout, small and limited access to animal enclosures
scottscottscott 05.05.2008 (05.05.2008)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful
Review of Paradise Wildlife Park
Sep 3rd, 2007
(Sep 17th, 2007)
exceptional by (39%):
very helpful by (61%):
