One million people visit zoo farm near Nailsea

Noah’s Ark zoo farm near Nailsea has counted its one millionth visitor this month.

The popular family attraction at Wraxall has also seen the birth of three new curious Capybara babies. 

The three cute capybara; the world’s largest rodents, are the newest additions to the growing zoo farm, born just in time for the warmer spring weather and preceded earlier this year by many special births including Sidney the endangered baby Siamang gibbon.

The themed family attraction, set in the sprawling 100 acre estate of an historic dairy farm, has quickly grown from small petting farm into a comprehensive zoo park, with annual visitor numbers growing rapidly from 25,000 to more than 130,000 in a decade.

The zoo passed the 1,000,000 visitor mark in March, with staff officially recognising Dan and Helen Brown and their son as the millionth customers on a sunny spring Saturday morning.

The Brown family have won a Family Ticket to come back to visit Noah’s Ark and the opportunity to adopt an animal of the choice for a year.

Originally a working farm, Noah’s Ark opened its doors to the public in 1999 for a trial year, inviting visitors to learn where their food came from and see a modest selection of farm animals.

With an unexpectedly high level of demand from visitors there began a decade of rapid development; Noah’s Ark gained a Zoo License in 2002 and added animals such as rhinos, giraffes and gibbons to the expanding collection on a yearly basis, resulting in impressive annual increases in footfall.

The family zoo farm is preparing for a potentially record-breaking year, with the first two months of the 2011 season indicating a 72 per cent increase in visitor numbers compared to 2010 and the highest number of annual membership ticket purchases compared to any other year.

Noah’s Ark received an excellent report from Secretary of State Zoo Inspectors at the end of 2010 after a usual Zoo Licensing Inspection which praised the developments at the site and the quality of animal handling facilities for visitors, calling the zoo ‘a very pleasant outdoor environment for families’.

Noah’s Ark is open Monday to Saturday from 10.30am-5pm until the beginning of December.

For more information about the animals, entry prices and events at Noah’s Ark, visit http://www.noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk or phone 01275 852606.

STOP PRESS:

Easter and New Life Celebration

Saturday, April 23 (closed Sunday, April 24)

Enjoy the Easter weekend with some traditional egg themed activities! Take part in the chocolate trail, egg and spoon race and arts and crafts. 

World Tapir Day

Wednesday, April 27

Meet these fascinating and friendly South American creatures and learn about their habitat in the wild. Have a go at feeding the tapirs and some lucky visitors will have a chance to enter the tapir enclosure!