Blackpool Zoo
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| Address |
East Park Drive, Blackpool FY3 8PP
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| Telephone |
01253 830 830 |
| How to
Find it: |
By Train
Trains run to three stations in Blackpool: Blackpool South Station is about 3 miles from the Zoo, (there are usually plenty of taxis available), Blackpool North Station and Blackpool Central Station, which are a short walk from the Tower, from where you can take the bus to the zoo. Visit the links below for timetable and ticket information. www.thetrainline.com
By Bus
Blackpool Transport Service no 20 runs from the Tower (bus stop in Adelaide St, next to Sport City). This service runs from 12th April 2008 at weekends and Bank Holidays, and then from 24th May 2008 it runs every day until 2nd November 2008.
By Road
Follow the M6 to junction 32 and take the M55 to junction 4, then follow the "brown elephant" signs to the zoo
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| Open: |
Blackpool Zoo is open every day of the year except Christmas Day.
The zoo opens at 10.00am daily.
Weekends = 1st & 2nd, 8th & 9th and 15th & 16th March - last admission is 4.30pm
Weekdays = 3rd to 7th and 10th to 14th March - last admission is 3.00pm
Monday 17th to Thursday 20th March - last admission is 4.30pm
From 21st March 2008 (Good Friday) to September - last admission is 5.00pm
The zoo closes 45 minutes after the last admission
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| Prices: |
1st March 2008 - 28th February 2009 Daily Visitor Annual Member Disabled / Carer
Adults £13.00 £40.00 £7.00
Juniors (Aged 3 - 15) Under 3s : Free - JUNIORS MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT £9.50 £26.00 £5.50 (Carer : £7.00)
Senior Citizens & Students £11.50 £33.00 £7.00
Family ticket (2 adults and 2 juniors) £40.00 £114.00 N/A
Family ticket (2 adults and 3 juniors) £48.50 £129.00 N/A
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| Area: |
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No of Species |
No of Animals |
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Star
Rating |
| Mammals |
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Conservation |
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| Birds |
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Enclosures |
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| Reptiles |
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Education |
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| Amphibians |
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Recreation |
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| Fish |
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Research |
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| Total |
0 |
0 |
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Click here for a Link to the Zoo's own Web Pages
Write a
review of this zoo
This critique last updated:
Apr 2008
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Visitor Reviews Review submitted by K Smith, March 2008 My family had a wonderful day at Blackpool Zoo. The animals looked very happy and well cared for. My children were amazed by the lions, and being able to get so close to them, with only a sheet of glass between us was truly awesome! They also loved the little train. It was excellent value for money, we were there all day and still didn't see it all. My dinosaur mad son loved this new section.We will definately be back. Highly recommended. Review submitted by Steve Lowe, March 2001 Blackpool is a hardworking small zoo that has a nice range of species and is quite user friendly and does not over play the conservation hand it admits to being a tourist attraction whilst I believe its management is preservation orientated which must be difficult given the constaints of being local authority owned and financed the animals are niceley presented and ongoing improvements are evident it has a nice collection of lemurs set off in a brand new walk through enclosure an excellent elephant exhibit and good work is being done with primates this is a pretty good small zoo with good facilities both for animals and visitors. with a limited budget they have acheived a fairly high standard they need help in taking their acheivments a few steps forward but if recent trends continue advancement is unlikey and rumoours suggest an uncertain future if indeed there is a future at all
Review Submitted by Steve Park, April 2001 (visited: 31.3.01)
I'd heard on the local news programme that Blackpool Zoo was due to reopen on 31st March, so I thought I'd go along for the day. I was actually the first person through the gates on a cold, wet, and windy Saturday morning. I had to answer a few simple questions and walk on disinfected matting, because of the foot-and-mouth problem. This also meant that the children's zoo was closed when I visited. It was 4 years since I last visited Blackpool, and quite a bit has changed since that time. The first thing I noticed was that the elephant paddock has been increased in size, now covering the area formerly occupied by both elephants and giraffes. Inside the elephant house are some nice reptile and invertebrate exhibits, including the only pair of Yacare Caiman in Britain. All the herbivores: zebra, camels, antelopes, tapir, etc all have spacious paddocks. In fact, the sub-species of zebra at Blackpool, the Damara Zebra, is the only group of its kind in the UK. Other ungulates not normally seen in zoos include Yak, and Markhor. The penguin pool is now occupied by a pair of European otters. An island near the ape house has been converted into "gorilla mountain", an additional outdoor area for the gorillas, providing the zoo with more space should they wish to enlarge their existing gorilla group.
Another new attraction is "lemur wood", where the public can walk on a raised wooden walkway through an area containing 'free-range' black, red-ruffed and ring tailed lemurs. This allows people to get close to the lemurs without any barriers. One thing I noticed about the zoo was that a lot of the exhibits are geared towards children. The invertebrate tanks in the elephant house are all placed at a child's eye view. Another example is in the ape house, where some of the indoor viewing areas are low down to allow children a good view of the gorillas and orang-utans. Next to the ape house is a climbing area for children. The guide book is also aimed primarily at youngsters, with the character Professor Wilde talking about various habitats, and detailing interesting facts about the zoo's collection.
All the exhibits have detailed information boards, which stress the continued need for conservation. There are also plenty of talks given about the animals. In fact, you could plan your day around the zoo, by going from one talk to another ! The keepers will gladly answer any questions you may have during these sessions. Blackpool isn't a large zoo, when compared to some, but it certainly makes the most of the space it has. It's well worth a visit, and this reviewer will definitely be returning during the summer.
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