South Lakes Wild Animal Park (Dalton)

...by a friend that the South lakes wild animal park in Cumbria was different and well worth a visit. As my son's 5th birthday was approaching I decided a family day out to the park would be a fun birthday treat.

How to get to the park
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South Lakes wild Animal Park is situated in Dalton-in Furness and the southern most tip of the Lake District in Cumbria. It is a bit of a pain to get to, as you will need ...
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The south lakes wild animal park was the brainchild of David Gill. David Gill was an animal nutritionist who wanted to make the public aware of animal conservation and create a unique experience where the public could get close to the animals in a naturalistic environment. The park was built on farmland and opened its gates to the public in 1994.Today the park has over 100 species in its care. The park has raised over ... more

I am not a fan of zoos, as I don't like to see animals in captivity. However I was persuaded by a friend that the South lakes wild animal park in Cumbria was different and well worth a visit. As my son's 5th birthday was approaching I decided a family day out to the park would be a fun birthday treat.

How to get to the park
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South Lakes wild Animal Park is situated in Dalton-in Furness and the southern most tip of the Lake District in Cumbria. It is a bit of a pain to get to, as you will need to drive the length of the Furness peninsula. If you are driving then you will need to take the A590 and simply follow the brown tourist elephant signs to the park.

It is possible to visit the park using public transport. There is a train station in Dalton- in -Furness and from there it is about a 1 mile walk to the park. However the road is mostly uphill, so you might want to consider taking a taxi from the station.

There is a stagecoach bus service again only as far as Dalton.

Once at the park there is free parking although the car park is very small. There are disabled parking spaces available near to the entrance.

A bit about the park.
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The south lakes wild animal park was the brainchild of David Gill. David Gill was an animal nutritionist who wanted to make the public aware of animal conservation and create a unique experience where the public could get close to the animals in a naturalistic environment. The park was built on farmland and opened its gates to the public in 1994.Today the park has over 100 species in its care. The park has raised over £250,000 for the Sumatran tiger conservation project making it the largest fundraiser for this project in the world. I could go on telling you about the work the park does, but want to move on to give you my own experience of this great park. If you would like to know more then visit the parks web site at www.wildanimalpark.co.uk

Inside the park.
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It is a short walk from the car park into the park. Payment is by cash, credit or debit card. The park does not accept cheques. I would advise you to buy a guidebook; at £2 they are excellent value with lots of useful information about the animals you will see. We were also given a timetable telling us when the various animals would be fed.

We first headed to the giraffe area. There is a wooden walkway that allows you to be at head height with the giraffes. I strongly advise you to arrive in time for the hand feeding of these beautiful creatures. The keepers were really friendly and very knowledgeable. My children were each given a branch to hold out for the giraffes to eat. This is certainly the place to get up close and personal with these animals!

Looking at the programme of animal feeding times and talks we noticed that there was time between each activity. If we were going to have lunch then we would have to miss something! I suggest you take a few minutes to plan your day ensuring you don't miss any of your own must do's! We were all keen to listen to the monkey talk so headed over to the monkey area next. On route we spent some time watching the cutest baby rhino I have ever seen. There was an information sheet pinned up in the Rhino house with information about the new arrivals progress.

Luckily the park is not huge and is split into areas so finding your way shouldn't pose a problem. There is the African area, the Australian area and the South American area. These are all clearly marked on the, map you will be given when you arrive.

The monkey talk was very informative and both my children listened to every word. There was lots of information about how these creatures are struggling in the wild and what the park are doing to help. My children both loved the white headed gibbons.

As you walk from the monkey area you will pass the penguin enclosure. At feeding time members of the public are given fish and allowed to hand feed these endearing creatures. We spent some time just watching their antics and loving the fact we were able to get so close to them.

One of the highlights for many visitors has to be watching the tigers being fed. There is an Arial walkway about the tiger enclosure so everyone should get a good view. It is best to stand near to the top of the poles you will see at the end of the enclosure, as this is where the meat is placed. We waited in anticipation as the keeper told us all about these beautiful animals. When the tigers were let out of their house it was amazing to see how quickly they climbed the poles to get to the meat (a dead chicken). I believe this experience is unique in Europe. The tiger feeding is very popular so does get crowded. I suggest you make your way to the walkway early so you get a good view.

My son was very happy to be allowed to hold a snake; something his mother was not so keen on doing! The talk given was informative, if a little short.

However for me, the best part of the park was the Lemur area. The Lemurs are allowed to foam free and we were all fascinated to watch their antics. There were several tiny babies clinging onto their mothers. You are advised not to touch these animals as they bite! There are also signs telling you not to feed them, as some food could be harmful. However you do get the opportunity to hand feed them at the appointed time. I had told the park that it was my son's birthday so he had a special birthday mention and was given extra grapes to feed to the lemurs. One of the Lemurs climbed up a man's walking stick much to everyone's amusement! I loved the fact that these animals have so much freedom and seem to be able to coexist with their human visitors without any distress.

Next to the Lemur area is the Australian part of the park. Before you enter this area I suggest you buy a few bags of food from the shop as you can hand feed the wallabies and birds. This was another highlight and my children made friends with a very friendly wallaby. The only downside here was that as I stood and watched my children interacting with the animals I noticed several large rats running around! I have a real fear of rats so wasn't too keen! There were lots of birds in this area and all can be hand fed.

If you are interested in birds you will enjoy seeing the magnificent Condors and vultures in the cages next to the Australian area. There are lots of other birds to see and all looked well cared for.
Back into the African area are the lions. They tend to be fed at the end of the day. Like the tigers they are fed by placing the food, dead chickens, at the top of poles. The keeper gave us lots of interesting information about the lions before releasing them. They quickly climbed to the top of the poles and we were able to get an excellent view. They were fed several times so if you miss that important picture the first time you will get another attempt!

Refreshments.
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We usually take a picnic when we go for a day out as I object to the high cost of food in most restaurants and cafes. However as it was my son's birthday he wanted to eat in the restaurant. The Maki restaurant is conveniently situated near the entrance of the park. There is a large seating area with plenty of highchairs. There was a reasonable selection of food on offer and the prices were not to bad either. My children choose from the children's menu. Both had fish fingers and chips with baked beans. The potions were very small but at £2.99 I thought it was ok. I do wish restaurants would offer more in the way of healthy choices for children however! My husband and I both had a baked potato at a cost of £3.50. The meal was adequate and the staff friendly.

The restaurant also sells cakes and sandwiches in addition to the other coked meals on offer. The restaurant was cheerfully decorated with lots of animal pictures and animal masks made by the local school children.

However if like me you prefer to bring your own food then there are plenty of picnic areas. I would have much preferred to have done this as the picnic areas have good views of the animals.

Other information.
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The park is very accessible for those with disabilities. All the paths are flat and easy to negotiate. There are ramps to help access the walkways so they are wheelchair and pushchair friendly.

Dogs, including guide dogs are not allowed into the park. Obviously this is in the interests of the wild animals.

There are toilets situated next to the café. There are baby-changing facilities inside the toilets. The park only has one toilet block.

There is a gift shop situated next to the restaurant. It is worth noting that the gift shop closes at the same time as the park. I had expected the shop to close later than the park to give people a chance to buy souvenirs at the end of their visit. This has been my experience with other wildlife parks. The shop was well stocked with lots of interesting animal themed merchandise. They sell some beautiful animal puppets for example. My son bought a toy Lemur with his pocket money and it has pride of place in his bedroom. Many of the items were reasonably priced.
If you are concerned about animal conservation and want to do something to help then you can sponsor an animal from as little as £20.For more information about this scheme take a look at the wildlife protection website at www.wildprotection.info or www.tigertrust.info.

Opening times and prices.
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The park is open all year as follows-

From 3rd November until Easter -10 am-4.30 pm.
From Easter until Nov 09-10am-5pm

Adults pay £7.00 and children £4.00- children under 3 are free. Senior citizens pay £4.00. As the park is fully assessable there are no concessions for those with disabilities.

These are the winter rates. The summer rates for 2009 are yet to be published.

The pros.
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We all really enjoyed our visit to the park, we learned a lot and were impressed with how well all the animals were cared for. The keepers were all very knowledgeable and the talks interesting and informative. We all loved seeing the Lemurs running free and watching their antics. All the animals are kept in naturalistic surroundings and I am impressed with conservation work that the park is involved with. The list of pros is far too long for this review!

The cons.
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The only real negative was that feeding times are talks take up the whole day with no time for meal brakes! It was difficult making decisions about which activities we would miss as you really can't do it all in a day! Still that just means we will have to return soon!

Overall I highly recommend this park. We had an amazing day out that we will all remember for a long time! 

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