Howletts Wild Animal Park
Howletts Wild Animal Park things to do, attractions, restaurants, events info and trip planning
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We had a lovely day here yesterday, and saw lots of animals all with large enclosures to explore. We also heard keepers talking about the animals that are being released such as the honey badger and the elephants. Reason for scoring only 4......the staff. The staff/ keepers around the zoo were absolutely amazing. Answered our daughters questions ect. She had an experience and loved it and the keeper was so good with her. Our issue was the staff at the entrance/exit. I have been before and there is one particular staff member who is always stony faced and verging on rude. ( I need to make sure I take note of her name next time ) When we arrived we had pre-booked tickets so we went over and sorted this all out. Both of our children are registered disabled and get DLA, one uses a wheelchair which we had with us. As one of the children is under 3 we were told we couldn't get a free carer for her. Which is absolutely fine I understood this ( although other places do allow free carers for under 3s who are disabled, so it's something I think aspinal foundation should think about ) The women asked us for proof of disability which again is fine. Her demeanor was the problem, it was like she was annoyed we were getting a free carer and was doing her upmost to make us feel uncomfortable. On our way out we decided to upgrade our tickets for year ones. I asked if I could pay for the child who is under 3 so that I can get a carer ticket for her. It started off with one staff member who said I didn't need to pay I would get a carer anyway. Then the lady who had dealt with us in the morning came charging over to inform me again that I can't get a free carer if I don't pay for her. I knew this ( it's the other staff member who didn't !!) She then proceeded to ask if the under 3 was acting as a carer ( erm of course not, what a stupid question !! ) I then once again had to prove both children's disabilities ( which I am fine with) it's just the atmosphere that is created by this particular staff member that is the problem. Her role is a customer service customer facing role. Please try and make people feel comfortable at the entrance and exit. I did pay full price for 2 children to be able to get 2 carers for free. The year tickets now do howletts and portlymph which is amazing ( but not advertised )
Rachel LightbownRachel Lightbown
00
Had the most amazing experience at howletts. My favourite animal is elephants, we actually only come to visit the elephant and gorilla and that's exactly what we did. I can't really talk about the rest of the zoo as our main and only purpose was to see the elephants and gorilla. The gorillas were fantastic, we saw the newest member an 11 month old who's mother was super protective. We listened to Dom one of the zoo keepers talking about the rewilding efforts and how successful they have been at introducing these amazing animals back to their natural habitats. Cannot express how impressive their efforts are at getting these animals back to nature they really go above and beyond. The elephants are another huge animal heading back to Africa ( the government is banning all elephants to be held in captivity) this is a slow long process. The keepers are working so closely to make sure every single elephant is comfortable in their crates ready for their imminent move. This was phenomenal to watch. Whilst this breaks my heart that IL no long be able to see my favourite animal in a zoo it's I know it's the right thing to do for the elephants and they will have all the space to roam freely and be truly wild. Whilst here I took advantage of the elephant encounter this is discounted price if you book on the day, this is depending there is availability but wow this was amazing. We got to go behind the scenes and see where their food is prepared. I can't make it clear these are wild animals and there are restrictions in place so you don't get to per these amazing animals there is still a boundary between human and beast but still an amazing experience. As already mentioned we didn't come for all the other animals but howletts certainly have a lot of rewilding projects going on which I think is truly amazing.
Rebecca BiggintonRebecca Bigginton
00
Most of the enclosures had nothing in them.. many were being upgraded or something as either had people or machinery inside. Went there on a Saturday and there was some guy trimming the grass and plants in the enclosures (the many that were uninhabited). Don't understand why this couldn't be done during the week when less busy. Plus he was cutting around the food area at lunch time - just what people want when they're eating, smell of freshly cut grass and an annoying motor sound. the website is outdated as a few animals advertised but not actually there. Shame as specifically went there hoping to see certain animals that either weren't there (or hiding, which is fine as you don't expect to see them all the time). I would have decided to come another time if there was proper information on the website (it only mentioned the gorillas section was closed because of covid, but nothing else) but as I paid the full £25 (x2) and fuel to get there plus a local overnight stay, I can safely say I'll never come back this zoo. If the information had been provided up front then I could have made the decision to come another time rather than waste my time and money. I dragged the visit out for most of the day but realistically, got there at 11, and by 1 we had walked round and saw very little. I was ready to head some place else but seemed a little wasteful to pay so much and see so little so had an over priced and very unsatisfactory lunch (although did have a caramel donut from the cafe when we arrived and that was tasty and fresh), We decided to do another walk round the park in the hopes of seeing something. only really saw the elephants (there's 10 of them, and if you wana see them, get there quick as some are being shipped off some place, I didn't catch when or the zoo keepers didn't say - doubt that's on the website either), all in all, saw obviously the elephants, a rhino, a few variants of monkeys, honey badger, ostriches, the limas came out at feeding time only because the volunteer kindly put the food outdoors and was very chatty about what the are like.. The whole zoo also felt very outdated and run down. The toilets by the entrance inside are unavailable as they look like they're having new ones put in - no alternatives like portaloos and they were all unavailable (so either go before you come in or go after the giftshop in the car park where there was some portaloos) and also the ones at the bottom where the ostrich & one of the elephant paddocks are are not available (but least there were portaloos as an alternative there). All in all, very underwhelmed, unimpressed for an overpriced day out. Wouldn't recommend unless you want to see a small herd of elephants.. The sun was out which can't complain about but least that was something the zoo couldn't control.
Karen ChappellKaren Chappell
00
Well where do I start? If you don't have a car, expect to walk down a country road with no pavement at all and a 40mph speed limit to access this park. The day my partner and I went was rainy, so we had the lovely experience of being splashed with muddy water on this trip by the cars speeding past us. Once you get to the park, it's a short trek to the main desk from the front gate. We bought a lemur experience but missed the message at the bottom of the page (/animal-experiences/animal-encounters) so didn't have a day ticket upon arriving at reception. I was surprised to hear, wet, cold and mud-slathered, that first I had to pay for a day ticket, secondly that the day ticket had no reduced rate at all despite the clear signposting on the website that it's the off season, meaning I had an extra £50 slapped onto my experience and, lastly, that the purchase of the day ticket was mandatory to be able to attend the experience, I could not simply attend the experience and leave the park. Not a great start so far... Once entering the park, we went straight to the experience which was honestly lovely. The keepers were great and the animals were fascinating. Very curious creatures and I'd recommend checking lemurs out if you get the chance. Walking around the entire park ended up being a bit of a waste of time, as entire areas of animals were indoors and just completely unobservable. I mean how hard is it to just put a sign on the website or maps saying as such? The few we did see included the elephants, anteaters, . Very, VERY few of the exhibits have observation points into indoor areas so that the animals can be enjoyed year-round, which was disappointing. By the end we had seen more plastic animals than real ones. We left the park cursing the lack of signposting and indoor viewing, wishing we could have just paid for the lovely experience and not been forced into wandering aimlessly around a barren and somewhat rundown park (I peered over the hedge into a lovely, beautifully maintained mansion, which I assumed belonged to Mr. Aspinall himself, and noted the stark contrast to the rest of the park). The only other park I've been to in Kent is Wingham, where I also purchased an experience (which came with day admission) and went on a cold, wet, rainy day. It was a much better time so these negatives from Howletts in combination with it's close proximity to a better park means I can only give this 2 stars despite the lovely animals and keepers.
Harry LawsonHarry Lawson
10
I don't like to offer bad reviews, but I am incredibly disappointed with the experience of my pre-booked visit to Howletts. I love animal parks and was taking my better half for a special birthday treat. I booked tickets 3 weeks in advance and for over a week prior we had lovely weather. We pulled up to the park and it was raining. We ventured on in the hope the rain would subside. We arrived at 11am and stayed for nearly 4 hours, but it rained continuously. So much so we had to shelter under cover and in the restaurant for over an hour and a half of our time there. I'm a keen amateur photographer and my better half just loves animals. We did see a reasonable amount but the rain was putting lots of animals off moving or showing themselves. But that's the risk you take. The park does offer a rainy day policy if your day is affected by rain that falls for more than 2 hours. Which it had done. It said gate house staff would make rainy day tickets available after 2.30pm on a day if this was the case. But you had to ask for them as you were leaving. So because I'd barely been able to get my camera out, due to level of rain. We asked as we left for rainy day tickets. The girl on the checkout said it hadn't rained enough to issue them. I advised it had rained all day since 11am, but she said it wasn't torrential. I asked where in the policy it said it had to be torrential. It doesn't of course. But either way they wouldn't adhere to the policy even though we'd fulfilled the written description of the policy. I complained when I got home and it took 5 days before they finally responded to say it wasn't rainy enough on the day, which I raised as incorrect because the policy just says it has to rain for 2 hours and it was non stop for over 4. They then came back to say they can't offer them retrospectively, but I said I hadn't expected them to as they should have offered them to us on the day before we left the park. So because of the poor policy, inability to act on it, making up rules which are not detailed and the delays to respond and failing to acknowledge that they are in the wrong, I won't be taking another visit there. Which is a shame as I would like to have gone back on a dry day and taken some great shots of their many animals. I'm sure I'm not the first person to have fallen foul of their poorly acted on policies. Plenty better I can visit.
Jay McGlynnJay McGlynn
30
On our final day of leaving Kent, we decided to stop off and visit Howletts on the recommendation of people we had chatted to during our stay. The sister zoo of Port Lympne, it is definitely a zoo that caters for the animals first (Quite right too), but is in need of an update. As we were told before we arrived, the animals here are either of elderly age or are sent to Port Lympne. Much like Port Lympne, it is poorly sign posted and the map rarely reflects the layout. We met a few groups struggling to navigate. However, its not a hardship when there are animals to see. As I said before, it is a zoo for the animals, and sometimes you won't always catch sight of them. The weather or the noise can keep them at bay. With a bit of patience, you'll spot you're after. I finally got to see a Honey badger and it was every bit as sassy as I imagined. The animals of the Ice Age is a great counterpart to the Dinosaur Forest of Port Lympne, but I wonder how long the fur will last in the outdoors without finally succumbing to moss and possible bird nests :D Its a nice walk around the park and all the animals look well looked after. However, as I said, it is in need of an update. Some of the cages look shabby and stretch so far back that its hard to see the animals. Go when the weather is sunny and mild and chat to the really friendly staff who will give you a lot of information.
Dylan CookDylan Cook
00
Nearby Restaurants Of Howletts Wild Animal Park
The Evenhill
The Evenhill
4.5
(382)Click for details
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AIBasic Info
Address
Bekesbourne Ln, Bekesbourne, Littlebourne, Canterbury CT4 5EL, United Kingdom
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Phone
+44 1227 721286
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Website
aspinallfoundation.org
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Reviews
Overview
4.5
(2.3K reviews)
Ratings & Description
outdoor
family friendly
Description
Howletts Wild Animal Park in the parish of Bekesbourne, near Canterbury in Kent, was established as a private zoo in 1957 by John Aspinall. In 1962, the House known as Howletts was being restored. A small cottage was inhabited by an employee. The animal collection was opened to the public in 1975.
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