Bristol Zoo Project — Attraction in Almondsbury

I would rate the Bristol Zoo Project one of the best and most relaxing zoos I have had the privilege of visiting. This was my second visit which I used to explore the entirety of the site.

The following list is a set of reasons why I gave the place such a high review.

Firstly, the enclosures and the animals are clearly well maintained and well cared for. The animals are relaxed, healthy and live in large spacious enclosures. My favourite easily has to be the bear wood enclosure with its unique walkway design giving you a perfect view of the enclosure. The Eurasian brown bears are simply magnificent to look at. The animals have plenty of cover to rest and sleep but there is also ample amount of open space and visibility for people to see the animals. I could have spent my entire visit watching the bears and the wolves if not for the other animal enclosures.

Secondly the volunteers and staff are very friendly and game for conversation, which was ideal for an animal fact enthusiast like me. They also informed me of the upcoming expansion to their zoo with the African village that will feature the gorillas - who are being well looked after at the old Clifton site- as well as crocodiles, mangabey monkeys and parrots.

One volunteer, Patrick, was great to chat with and compare notes with other zoos and how well they looked after their animals. The others I met and chatted too were very knowledgable about the animals they looked after and clearly care for the animals as well. - I apologise as I spoke to a lot of them and didn’t get their names- rest assured the entire team did a wonderful job.

I have only a couple of suggestions for improvement -

1- Please could the zoo consider adding an elevated viewing platform to improve the visibility of the cheetah enclosure. The cheetahs are quite hard to see when they lie down in their hilly enclosure?

2 - could the Base Camp Pizzeria be given a closing time sign? They appeared to close one hour before the zoo closed which was not ideal as I was looking potentially for an early dinner before a long drive home.

The bear walkway could do with either a rubber foot covering or a sign for families with toddlers to watch their steps. Every time I have been there, there’s always been one or two toddlers who have tripped over the uneven walkway and I think myself and other viewers who want to view the animals in peace and quiet without listening to a crying toddler in the background would appreciate that being implemented.

Otherwise this is a fantastic zoo and I highly recommend it for adult zoo fans who live an hour’s drive away who want to visit on a...

I want to rank this zoo higher because they are doing such good work but I have to be honest.

I think if I could give 3.5 stars that would be better but no more because there is just so much chaos here.

If we revisit in the future and all the works are done then I’ll review.

First the good, the animal enclosures are great, they allow you to be and feel close to the animals whilst still giving the animals habitats that are enriching.

The food prices were no extortionate, they were more than you would pay outside, £12 for a margarita pizza or £9 for bbq. We bought ice creams at £4 per cone which wasn’t too bad as it was marshfields.

The staff are great and there are also lots of volunteers who were very knowledgeable about the animals.

Now the bad, things feel like “a zoo in progress” which it sort of is but we still paid £60 for three tickets, one adult and two children “they did allow a carer in free which is great” which was a little too much for what you see. At other zoos there are lots of animals, large exhibits but also others like reptiles and bugs, aquariums etc. The old Bristol zoo, though much smaller had these and more.

The signs were next to useless and there were nowhere near enough. The paths are mostly uneven and loose stone meaning it’s very difficult to use a wheelchair made worse because it’s hard to find your way around and paths on the maps are closed off so there was a lot of doubling back on ourselves.

In all we didn’t see any Lynx or Cheetah which could be understandable but equally lots of the birds were not in their cages and it sounded like speakers were playing noises.

Overall we left after a few hours feeling a bit disappointed.

We will have another day out when the zoo is more complete and re-review and despite the negative things I said there is still great reasons to visit and have a day out particularly if you have you get children as they have lots of play areas and you could easily spend the...

£17.95 in Feb 2023. Visited on a Sunday arrived at 10 am left at 1 pm and Walked the site twice. Not what I imagined at all, no animals from Bristol Zoo, but was told by a helpful volunteer lady the Gorillas will be coming once the enclosure is built by 2024! 'WILD PLACE' name I expected huge enclosures and some I felt were on the small side appearance wise you can see the full size of pens clearly from walkways. Volunteers also had great knowledge of animals there explaining the conservation angle, I saw the keepers put out 3 pieces of food for Cheetahs and then released them into the enclosure. One cheetah ate the others as well as their own taking it from right in front of it and so the very slow one of the 3 didn't eat a thing! I didn't think pigmy goats were endangered and the enclosure was small for the 2 on-site! The Hogs hidden behind the Amphitheatre were sweet-hitting treat balls around with their snouts. A lot of the animals were out of sight or sleeping, so feel missed out on the full experience for admittance charged! I know we're still in the Winter months, with our ice-blast unpredictable weather, so maybe I should go back in Spring to get to see what was missed. Several food kiosks on site but at £1.50 for a bag of crisps, I didn't purchase anything, shop on way out an example £24.99 for a small monkey soft toy and £9.99 for a mug, so again nothing was bought! If you book tickets the day before get 10% off the website claims I booked on the day so didn't qualify for it! Take a picnic with lots of A-frame table seats all around and bins dotted around for recycling your rubbish too. Free large car park thank goodness! The prices that pop up on search state £12.95 but £17.95 when getting to payment, different rates for different times of the year may be! Good walking shoes/boots some paths are uneven underfoot and you...