Family Day Out Review: Peak Wildlife Park in Leek

It is the school holidays…which only means that we have planned another Family Day Out to showcase on our blog.

This time we head to Peak Wildlife Park in Leek, Staffordshire which gives visitors the chance to come face to face with some exotic and endangered animals from across three continents.

A great family friendly-place to visit especially if you have a couple of energetic kids and a day to explore nature and animals. Keep on reading to find out what we did on our day out to Peak Wildlife Park.

We arrived around 10.30am and purchased our tickets at the door (you can pre-book tickets on their website and these tickets are valid for a year). They gave us a couple of maps and we checked on the talk and feed times. Our first stop was to see the Red Squirrels which we didn’t see much off, so decided to head to ‘Down the Hole’ to see some Rabbits.

It was wonderful to be able to get up close and personal with the Continental Giant Rabbits which can weigh up to 10kgs and even hold the record for the longest rabbit at just over 1.3 metres.

Continental giants are one of the oldest and largest breeds of rabbits in existence. Experts believe that this giant rabbit breed might be descended from related breeds such as the Stone Rabbit and the European Patagonian; both of which are now extinct, but were raised for fur and meat purposes. The first recorded reference to this breed was noted as being from the Flanders region in Belgium, during the 16th Century.

Next we saw the Alpacas, Kirk’s Dik-dik which evolved 12 million years ago and the  Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys before finally heading to the Penguin Viewing Gallery to admire the Humboldt Penguin (native to South America) which are little as they stand at a height of 65cm tall and weigh around 4kgs.  We were also in time for the penguins talk and feed time so the kids got a chance to see the penguins get fed. Seeing all the fish did make them hungry, so we decided to stop for our picnic lunch.

Peak Wildlife Park allows visitors to bring in a picnic with them to eat at the designated picnic areas or at their family room or you can also opt to eat at their cafe which offers a wide range of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches and sumptuous stone-baked pizzas. They also sell vegan friendly pizzas, sandwiches and cakes and hold gluten free products.

Peak Wildlife is not that big, so we decided to leave our picnic bags in the car while we explored the park.  We just popped back over to the car to pick up our bag and sat by one of their benches to enjoy our food. The weather was lovely so having a picnic on a lovely day like this was great.

Now that kids were energised, we decided to continue our tour again and our next stop was to visit the African Spurred Tortoise which is the largest species of tortoise found on the African mainland.  It looked ginormous and weighed an impressive 105kg.  If you are wondering, these tortoises get their name from the large overlapping scales found on their forelimbs. We spent quite a while admiring the tortoise before heading to see the Ring-tailed Lemur.

Kids spent the most time at the Wallaby Wonderland as they had the opportunity to wonder around the enclosure and be upclose with the Wallabies which are from Tasmania.  These marsupials are friendly enough that they let little children get close to them, there are park rangers around to remind you to move away from them when they want to be left alone.

We next headed to the indoor play area for them to have a quick play before heading to the outdoor play area for kids to continue playing at the sandpit, bouncy castle and slides. As you can already tell, it has been a super busy day for them and they were soon tired and ready to head back home.

What Did We Think of Peak Wildlife Park?

There are not many zoos that allow you to get so close to an animal, pet them and learn about them, so Peak Wildlife Park is very unique in that sense.  An important tip is to find out the animal feeding times for the day, so you can plan your day and not miss seeing them during their feeding time as the rangers share so much information about the animals.

Although the family entry tickets can be expensive, you can easily spend a whole day there hence worth your money.  It is also worth mentioning that Peak Wildlife Park offer annual membership allows you entry to the park as many times as you like. A great way to see the shy animals on another day, as we missed the Red Squirrels on our visit.

We decided not pay extra for the ‘animal/walkthrough experiences’ but I am sure we would the next time we head back as my children really enjoyed being close to the animals and I bet it would have been the highlight of their day if they had the chance to feed the animals as well.

Peak Wildlife is easy to get to, not too far from Alton Towers, it is not a large park but it is a wonderful place for children’s imagination to run wild and be inspired by nature.

How much are the tickets to Peak Wildlife Park?

Prices are indicated below, you can pre-book your tickets here (which is valid for a year) or buy them when you arrive.  The ticket price is the same either way.

• Adult – 17 to 64 years old – £14.95
• Child – 2 to 16 years old, under 2’s come free! – £12.95
• Concession – Senior Citizens from 65 and students with valid card photo ID – £12.95
• Carers – FREE – Disabled visitors may admit one accompanying registered carer free of charge when they purchase a full price adult or child ticket. Additional carers are required to pay the concession admission price. Proof of entitlement must be provided at point of admission (accepted forms of proof include: DWP or DLA letter, PIP Letter, or a valid Carer’s ID card from carer organisation or council).

Or you can opt to purchase their Annual Membership, which allows you unlimited entry all year round

• Adult – 17 to 64 years old – £44.95
• Child – 2 to 16 years old, under 2’s come free! – £39.95
• Concession – Senior Citizens from 65 and students with valid card photo ID – £39.95

Note: You can also opt to purchase additional tickets for “Animal Experience”/”Meet The Species” if you would like your child to go behind the scenes and tour the animal’s home as well as be involved in food preparation as well as feeding the animals. Do note that some of these tickets already include the entry fee.

What are their Opening Hours?

They are located in the Staffordshire Peak District on the edge of the National Park – just 20 miles from both Derby and Stoke on Trent.

Peak Wildlife Park
Winkhill
Leek, ST13 7QR
01538 308 880

Note:

• Picnics are allowed in the park in their outside areas and in the family room.
• Baby change facilities are available in the ladies toilets, disabled toilets and in their baby change rooms next to the family room.
• Car parking is Free

About Peak Wildlife Park

Peak Wildlife Park is a zoo in central England. The nearest towns are Leek, Ashbourne and Stoke-on-Trent. The zoo was originally known as Blackbrook Zoological Park, but entered administration in 2014 and closed. It was purchased by Jake Veasey and Colin MacDougall and reopened under its current name (Peak Wildlife Park) in 2015.

Blackbrook Zoological Park was established in 1991 by Diana Holloway and her son, Mark Rubery. Holloway was already experienced in running a wildlife visitor attraction, having owned and run Hillside Bird Oasis in Mobberley, Cheshire since 1974. Blackbrook quickly developed into a large bird collection in its own right. Following Diana Holloway’s death in 2006, running of the zoo passed to her son Mark.

Development and expansion continued in subsequent years: in 2006, a new entrance, gift shop and café were constructed, and in 2008, a £500,000 penguin exhibit was added. Hillside Bird Oasis was forced to close to the public in 2002 following complaints from local residents over increasing traffic levels, but it was still maintained by the owners as a private breeding facility. In 2008 the zoo became a charity and begun to focus on conservation and education. The zoo received no government grants.  Blackbrook held over 200 species of bird and around 40 mammals and reptiles. It had large collection of cranes, pelicans, and waterfowl.

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