About Us
We opened our doors on 15th June 1990, after existing originally as a private collection of mainly birds and marmosets.
Even before visitors were able to see it for themselves, our animal conservation work had begun. Three species had reproduced for the first time in Britain on our property, and many animals were on their way to us.
Work started to convert the corn-fields which now form the park in 1989, and continues to this day.
Development is ongoing, with animal and public facilities being changed and improved all the time to stay current and appealing for visitors, as well as engaging and enriching for our animals.
Over the past decade Hamerton Zoo Park has been on a long journey to become probably the most environmentally responsible Zoo in Europe.
The ever rising costs of hosting increasing numbers of visitors, and the continuous expansion of our animal collection, mean an ever escalating demand for power, and it became obvious after huge increases in costs that something had to be done.
Several years of research resulted in the erection of two wind turbines in the fields to the north of the main zoo site. Since then the Parks renewable energy generation project has added three arrays of solar photo-voltaic panels and two bio-mass boilers to compliment the generation provided by the turbines.
Our mission is to provide a sanctuary for rare and unusual animals, where people can gain an insight into the conservation of the World’s resources by:
- Giving our visitors an interesting and unique experience, at the best possible value
- Providing the best possible standards of animal management, using enclosures specifically designed around the needs of our animals
- Breeding rare and unusual animals in co-operation with other collections, individuals and organisations, both within the UK and abroad
- Educating all visitors, both in our work, and in the wider conservation of animals and the planets resources
- Using funds collected from our visitors and supporters to contribute, where possible, to field research and in-situ conservation projects
- Encouraging the use of the Parks animal collection as a research resource, on a case by case basis
- Promoting care for the wider environment, and where possible leading by example
- Achieving carbon-neutral status (or better) by the provision of renewable energy resources, to under-pin the parks commercial and species conservation work, educating and informing our visitors and the public about this in the process.
Talk to us
Have any questions?
We are always happy to help, and we promise we don’t bite!