We’ve been wanting to go to Twycross Zoo for ages as there are so many new things which have arrived since our last visit. Set in the Leicestershire / Warwickshire border Twycross has conservation at its heart and has an incredible 500 animals of 125 species. It now has #MoreRoarThanEverBefore with the introduction of two critically endangered Sumatran tigers.
Should you visit Twycross Zoo in the rain?
On the day we visited the zoo the forecast was rain all day. We woke up wondering whetehr we should cancal our trip but we decided to go ahead armed with rain coats and umbrellas ands we’re so pleased we did. You do get a different experience in the rain as most of the animals will be inside. There are so many parts of the park which are indoors or undercover so although you do get wet going from one enclosure to the next, when you’re looking at the animals you stay dry. It’s definitely worth wearing wellies as the paths get quite muddy. There are a number of places where you can eat, including an indoor picnic area. We ate at the fish and chip place and really enjoyed our meals. There were definitely smaller crowds because of the weather. We got close to all the animals and didn’t have people in front of us, which made the whole experience more enjoyable. It also meant we could talk to the zookeepers and had a particularly interesting convesation at the Sumatran tiger enclosure where Rose learnt lots of facts about her favourite animal.
For us, the big draw of Twycross Zoo is seeing all the monkeys and apes. They are Charlotte’s favourite animal (other than unicorns which are sadly not in any UK zoos at the moment!). We could spend hours watching the cheeky antics of these wonderful creatures.
Chimpanzee Eden at Twycross Zoo
We enjoyed the Chimpanzee Eden enclosure at the zoo, which opened in May last year. This is a spacious enclosure with lots to do for the chimpanzees. The walkthroughs are rainforest themed so it feels like you are inside the animals enclosure with the chimpanzees. Charlotte loved sitting next to the primates and having a chat to them.
Lovely Lorikeets
The girls could have stayed in the lorikeet enclosure all day. You can buy pots of nectar for £1. The lorikeets will come and sit on your hand to get to the nectar. If you are a bit nervous then you can hold it up to them.
Lorikeets are a type of parrot with brilliant plumage. They are incredibly noisy and you can hear them sqwaking across the zoo.
It’s definitely worth visiting the enclosure to get so close to these beautiful birds. It was lovely visiting when it was quieter as we got more time just to enjoy feeding them and there weren’t any other people photobombing.
Another animal we were thrilled to see lots of was the otters. We arrived just as they were being fed. They looked so cute standing up on their back legs to get their food.
Molly’s favourite animal is the giraffes. These were all in their enclosure to stay out the rain, although two of them were sticking their head out the door, trying to decide whether the rain was going to stop.
Eastern black rhinoceros
Another new arrival since our last visit was the Eastern black rhinoceros – so as close to seeing a unicorn as you can get. He arrived at Easter as part of an important European breeding programme which consists of over 20 zoos and wildlife parks from around the continent working together to help preserve the population and maintain genetic diversity of this incredible species.
Penguins on Parade
The penguins didn’t seem to mind the rain and spent a lot of time swimming in their pool.
They seem to want to get in the photo and kept swimming past every time we got the camera out.
Sumatran tigers
We spent a lot of time looking at the Sumatran tigers. Thre are less than 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and getting to see them close up really makes you realise how we have to protect them.
The Sumatran tiger habitat is the biggest in the UK. It features hot rocks, two pools and a 15m² glass tunnel that visitors can walk through to see tigers from all angles. The female tiger was in the indoor enclosure when we were there and it felt very close. I didn’t get a photo but you can see them in the video we made of our day below.
BRICKLIVE Big Cats
There are also big cats around the zoo made of LEGO bricks. These incredible sculptures are built from tens of thousands of bricks and took hundreds of hours to finish.
We loved seeing the big cats brought to life in bricks. There is so much life in them. It was a great finish to the day and we all had a wonderful day in spite of the weather.
You can watch the video of our day here:
Disclaimer: We were given a family ticket for the purpose of this review.