Fancy seeing a polar bear in Yorkshire? I’ve lived here almost half my life and only just realised that in recent years they are here, in Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I was pretty excited by this information so thought I’d best take my 2 year old daughter for a trip out. We were not disappointed.
Initially I did have a small level of anxiety about seeing animals in captivity, but this was quickly alleviated after a short while at the park. After seeing the huge enclosures and reading how many of the animals have been rescued from other zoos and parks, you can quickly see why this is a place for them to be able to live very happy lives and is doing it’s best to rescue animals and protect different species.
There is a fantastic range of animals to see at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, polar bears, brown bears, rhino, lions, tigers, leopards, giraffes, zebras and many smaller animals. Sometimes you have to spend a while looking for them as their enclosures are so large and have lots of places for them to hide. There are over 400 animals of 70 different species.
Some of our favourite parts of the day were spent in the walk through areas, where you could get really close to some animals. My daughter managed to stroke a wallaby, which was very cute. Being a massive Madagascar fan she also thought it appropriate to get quite close to a load of lemurs and sing “I like to move it, move it.”
Not only are the animals incredible, but there are a great range of play areas to break up the walking and searching for animals; two large outdoor play areas, an indoor play and a specific indoor slide barn (unfortunately being under 1m the little one couldn’t play on those and I felt it would be rude doing in without her). The play areas certainly catered for children of a variety of ages from really little people to teens.
There are plenty of places to eat, you can take your picnic, like we did, or go to one of the various cafes or stands. There was a decent range of food on offer and it wasn’t astronomically expensive.
I would suggest with the amount of walking that a pushchair is useful, if you’re wondering whether to, even the most stubborn toddler needed a push on our trip.
Yorkshire wildlife park prices
We paid on the door as it was a spontaneous day out and it was £18.50 per adult, you can save a pound on the ticket price by booking on line a day in advance. My favourite bit – under 3s are free! If you’re close enough you could book an annual pass for £60 per adult and £55 per child. As we live so close I am really tempted.
Interestingly there doesn’t seem to be a Yorkshire Wildlife Park Family Ticket.
On your way out you are directed through an array of little shops, the window of Laura’s confectionery dragged us in for pick n mix, but we used the sweets as a distraction in the massive cuddly toy shop whilst heading to the exit.
All in all a great day out for anyone of any age I’d say!
NB: Andrea and her family paid for entrance to Yorkshire Wildlife Park but liked it so much they decided to write a review.
Karen Beddow founded Mini Travellers in 2014 while doing what she loves most...going on holiday!
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