The Animalarium — Attraction in Borth

Both myself and my partner came here for the day, whilst staying on holiday in new quay... we had hoped for a nice day out, but sadly we were left shocked by the conditions of this “so called zoo”... the staff were in no way friendly or helpful and we were not spoken to the whole time whilst we were there. The lady on reception had very poor appearance and looked very unprofessional that combined with her unwelcoming attidued, already left us with a bad impression. Driving into the facility we had already had ours doubts, as there was no real car park just a dirt track with a few spaces at the side with an overflow carpark about a five minutes walk away. That being said it was not the staff or the facilities that had tarnished our experience the most, although I might add that the tolietes were disgusting and the overall hygiene was not not up to scratch.

What had tarnished our experience the most was the simply awful conditions these animals were kept in... I myself am a huge animal lover and have been to many zoos and animal parks and never have I left feeling so uncomfortable and disgusted... A number of animals appeared very distressed, espically the mongoose and tortoise. Furthermore one monkey had been throwing up and not one zoo keeper had noticed or checked if the monkey was ok. The enclosures for the animals appeared to be far too small... with little food or water to be seen and serveral enclosures smelt awful as though they were in need of a good clean. Myself and my partner had even noticed cracks and damage to fencing/gates that were enclosing the animals and had actually witnessed a very large tortoise nearly break free from its enclosure. A number of enclosures had no signs informing visitors about the animals and the ones that did, did not include any of the names of the animals just what animals they were . As if the animals had no identities and were uncared for as if they were just another animal that was there.

It is never likely that poor lynx had escaped and been killed under this zoos care. We were unaware about this incident prior to our visit but were not at all surprised to hear about the incident after visiting. I strongly recommend individual stay well away from this place and am even surprised that they are allowed to continue to “care” for...

This place ought to be shut down. What is the entry fee for? It certainly isn't to pay for an enjoyable day out. If it's for the welfare of the animals, the best thing would be to pay for them to be housed somewhere else. Disgraceful that we allow this place to exist in this country. Shame on you.

The animals were kept in absolute squalor. Monkeys with their own faeces in the food bowls. Dirty pens, poor lighting, overgrown and unkempt surroundings. The cages, because that's what they are, are too small for any animal to be able to roam around in happily. The animals were sad and miserable. They wouldn't even look at us, as if they knew how pitiful their surroundings were.

All the adults walking around with their families looked as ashamed as we felt at being there. This isn't a one off unhappy customer, everyone who visited felt uncomfortable and disgusted.

It is wholly inappropriate that a place like this should be allowed to exist. We are meant to be a nation of animal lovers. Where are the authorities? They should be stepping in and closing it down.

This place smacks of depression. It's as if the owners have tied themselves up with it and see no way out as it is their only income. No one else would buy this or run it, so they are lumbered with it. That's when places become rundown. When the people who live and work there don't want to be there. Unfortunately, this isn't a house that needs TLC. This is more than that, there are animals involved. The owners have a duty of care for them and they are seriously failing in their one job.

Moving away from the appalling state of animal welfare, let's talk about the cafe. The food score on the door says awaiting scoring... Having checked on the government website, I cannot find a score anywhere. If they do get a rating back, I sincerely hope it doesn't come back higher than a 1. It was disgusting, dirty and squalid. I felt unclean just sitting in there.

Something needs to be done. This place is not fit for purpose in any sense. It is a disappointment for children and depressing for the adults that feel they have participated and collaborated in...

After seeing some lovely reviews my children were so excited to spend the day here, especially for my daughters birthday treat. We arrive at lunch time so we could eat and then go see all the amazing animals that are pictured on their website. As we walked in we noticed a cat sat on the chair outside the kitchen door.. ok no Biggie right? Wrong. After we paid and sat to look over the menu we noticed that the menu had significantly changed compared to what was online, not pricing actual items. So we ordered 3 toasties, 1 egg sandwich and 2 bowls of chips. Now when we first walked in we noticed the cat right, that should of been our warning flag. The food came, chips where undercooked and we found 5 cat hairs in just 1 of the bowls. Our plates that the toasties came on also contained cat hair, the toasties where lacking in cheese (literally half of the bread) the egg sandwich was extremely snotty and When we put salt on the chips it didn't come out so we opened it and it was rusty, the actual salt was rusty! With my husband being a chef and having ran some kitchens over the years I was shocked to see the food and hygiene rating was a 3. This kitchen needs to be shut down and checked over as the whole building is absolutely disgusting.. and I have a household full of pets!

As for the actual zoo.. definitely not, the fox is held in a small enclosure and was physically twitching, very sad to see. As for the rest of the animals there aren't many! 1 wolf, some ducks, chickens, rabbits and goats.. oh and a turkey right next to the fox? Waste of money, waste of an over an hour journey, waste of time and waste...