I went to a Zoo I'd never been to or heard from before - Hertfordshire Zoo. Turns out this is possibly because it rebranded from Paradise Wildlife Park in 2022, which rings vaguely more of a bell. But overall, it was a charming little Zoo that actually made me think of Planet Zoo specifically - piped in music with a similar tone to the Planet Zoo soundtrack definitely a big part of that, but also, unusual for Zoos in my experience - very much centred on child friendliness, a series of talks about different animals throughout the day where a keeper would show up to the habitat, separate food stalls for different foods - all very much planet zoo tropes which I'd never really seen at a real zoo before:
We picked it because I'd never been before and it had a lot of my favourite animals at, and honestly, well worth a visit if you are nearby, particular if you have kids!
Planet Zoo Overlap Species: Snow Leopard, Sun Bear, Jaguar, Meerkat, Binturong, Short-clawed Otter, Tiger, Ring-tailed Lemur, Red Panda, Bactrian Camel, Red-necked Wallaby, Emu, Alpaca, African Crested Porcupine, Lion (Asiatic), African Penguin, Capybara, Hermann's Tortoise, Plains Zebra, Red-ruffed Lemur
Non-Planet Zoo Highlights (Photos taken from their website unless otherwise noted)
Three-Banded Armadillo:
Sharing an enclosure with the Golden Lion Tamarins, these little guys were a delight - because their claws are so close underneath them the way they move around makes them look like little clockwork toys!
Golden Lion Tamarin:
Honestly, I make no secret of the fact that Golden Lion Tamarins are my absolute favourite primates - they are just really beautiful, characterful looking animals, and always a delight - and these guys shared a spare with the above armadillos!
Pygmy Marmoset
Not really a species I remember clocking at a zoo before, these tiny mouse sized monkeys were an absolute surprise delight though - a whole family of them scurrying around their enclosure, grooming each other, the young ones wrasslin' and just extremely characterful!
Fire-bellied Toad
My favourite "exhibit" animal of the day - just watching them hop around trying to catch crickets was a lot of fun!
Other High lights not features on their website:
Red-legged seriema, burrowing owl, panther chameleon, dyeing poison dart frog ("citronella")
A few of my own photos from the day:
We picked it because I'd never been before and it had a lot of my favourite animals at, and honestly, well worth a visit if you are nearby, particular if you have kids!
Planet Zoo Overlap Species: Snow Leopard, Sun Bear, Jaguar, Meerkat, Binturong, Short-clawed Otter, Tiger, Ring-tailed Lemur, Red Panda, Bactrian Camel, Red-necked Wallaby, Emu, Alpaca, African Crested Porcupine, Lion (Asiatic), African Penguin, Capybara, Hermann's Tortoise, Plains Zebra, Red-ruffed Lemur
Non-Planet Zoo Highlights (Photos taken from their website unless otherwise noted)
Three-Banded Armadillo:
Sharing an enclosure with the Golden Lion Tamarins, these little guys were a delight - because their claws are so close underneath them the way they move around makes them look like little clockwork toys!
Golden Lion Tamarin:
Honestly, I make no secret of the fact that Golden Lion Tamarins are my absolute favourite primates - they are just really beautiful, characterful looking animals, and always a delight - and these guys shared a spare with the above armadillos!
Pygmy Marmoset
Not really a species I remember clocking at a zoo before, these tiny mouse sized monkeys were an absolute surprise delight though - a whole family of them scurrying around their enclosure, grooming each other, the young ones wrasslin' and just extremely characterful!
Fire-bellied Toad
My favourite "exhibit" animal of the day - just watching them hop around trying to catch crickets was a lot of fun!
Other High lights not features on their website:
Red-legged seriema, burrowing owl, panther chameleon, dyeing poison dart frog ("citronella")
A few of my own photos from the day: