Visiting wildplace project Bristol

A keeper taking a photograph of a merecat

In March, the Wild Place Project like most visitor attractions in England was suddenly forced to close its doors. This was a particularly difficult time for zoos that still needed to employ a large number of staff to look after the animals and pay food and vet bills.

After eating out to help out in August we have been trying to do  our bit to help local visitor attractions in September. Many have been awarded a good to go badge and can open their doors again.

Bristol zoological society runs zoos on two sites. The original zoo is in Clifton and is rather cramped with Victorian buildings.

Wild place

I prefer Wild Place which is near Cribbs Causeway shopping centre and close to Junction 17 of the  M5. It is about a twenty minute drive from the centre of Bristol. 

The land belonged to George White who was an early pioneer in Aviation and founded Bristol aircraft company. His family gave it to the Zoological society after his death. For a long time the society used it to grow food for their zoo animals and to look after sick or newly arrived animals.

A few years ago, they were given permission to open it as a visitor attraction and they have been slowly adding animals and developing habitats. For anyone who remembers the cramped conditions for large animals like polar bears or elephants in the old zoo, it is great to find that animals can roam freely through woodland. The fifty acres are now home to giraffes, zebras, okapi, cheetahs and lynx as well as baboons and lemurs.

Gelada baboon Wildplace Bristol
Gelada baboon

Social distancing

After being closed for three months the staff at Wild Place  worked hard to make visitors feel safe. Visitor numbers are limited and you have to prebook a timed ticket online.  They have introduced a one-way system and you are asked to wear masks in confined spaces.  You should allow at least two hours for your visit. More if you want to use the climbing adventure course, which has to be booked separately or eat in the Pizzeria. There are plenty of picnic tables in tower meadow where children have space to play games and they have installed extra toilets and handwashing facilities. The climbing wall, leap of faith and 3D swing are suitable for adults and older children. In normal times they can be booked for company team days as can the boardroom above the giraffe house. I have been told that the giraffes often poke their heads through the window to find out what is going on.

When we visited on Sunday we had plenty of time to see and photograph the animals. Bristol Zoo itself still has a few large animals such as gorillas and lions but you can find most of the larger animals at Wild Place. 

Some attractions such as the Madagascan village which is home to lemurs and pygmy goats are still closed but there is plenty to see. The sanctuary garden is still used to grow food for the zoo animals.

lemur Wildplace bristol
Lemur

Bear Wood

I particularly wanted to see Bear wood which was opened last year. Visitors walk along an elevated wooden walkway above woodland where bears and wolves roam together freely in a seven and a half-acre enclosure.  They last did this in Britain 8,000 years ago. You can also look across to the Welsh mountains.

A view across to Wales from Bear Wood Wildplace
The view from the walkway with the Second Severn Bridge and the blue hills of Wales in the background.

Unfortunately, I found it hard to photograph the animals in large enclosures but I am glad that they are able to roam freely.  Next time I must remember to take binoculars.

Wild Place is downriver from Slimbridge wetland centre and is also a good place for naturalists to spot wild birds and native flora.

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13 responses to “Visiting wildplace project Bristol”

  1. It’s really tricky for attractions like this at the moment isn’t it? This sounds like a wonderful place and I will try and check it out when I’m in the area.

  2. Sounds like a great day out. I feel so sorry for places like this as it costs money to feed and keep the animals especially when they rely so heavily on the tickets to fund them.

  3. It must have been so hard for wildlife attractions, I am so glad they are open now and it sounds like they are doing a fab job with the restrictions etc

  4. It’s so lovely that you were able to support the animals after such an extended period of closure. It sounds like the staff worked really hard to ensure everyone felt safe, which is reassuring!

  5. It sounds like they have done well with reopening. I must admit we haven’t really been too many places since the lockdown. We did get the train into London last month to see an exhibition in Greenwich, I was pretty impressed with the social distancing.

  6. Oh yes, binoculars are a good idea. I like the sound of timed ticketing too and it’s great this place has taken the need for precautions seriously so as to make customers as comfortable and safe as possible. The loss of income must have hit a lot of wildlife sanctuaries, zoos and similar very hard. xx

    • I think they relied a lot on corporate income from team days which aren’t happening. I like the idea of a management meeting with a giraffe looking through the window.