I am absolutely disgusted with my visit to the Kingsley Bird and Falconry Centre and cannot recommend anyone visit.
Firstly, the centre is unsafe for staff and visitors. A volunteer had recently been severely injured on site because the owner hadn't provided appropriate safety equipment (or training) and the owner found it funny and repeatedly mocked the volunteer. Visitors are no safer, as the entire site is in dire need of maintenance and structures like steps, hand rails, and pathways are unstable and falling apart.
The birds are kept in depressing conditions throughout, but the birds kept in the kennels by the owner's home are surely not in legal enclosures. They looked agitated or depressed, either huddling back into the cage as we passed, or throwing themselves against the bars repeatedly in an attempt to drive us away. They looked miserable. Others were tethered on a lawn in the hot sun, which is not the usual habitat of these birds and surely is not good for them. I've been to many zoos and animal sanctuaries and never seen anything like this place. It felt seedy and I'm very distressed that I contributed money to a place that shows such a lack of concern for the animals.
The site itself can hardly be called a "centre". It's a bunch of cages up a hill in someone's back yard, with a hut out the front that they call a "visitor centre". When I went the entire visitor centre was locked up. The "tearoom" seemed to be piled up with furniture so my hopes of having a cup of tea and a cake before flying the birds were immediately dashed (I wouldn't have eaten anything served from there anyway). The toilets were locked up with no electricity. This meant I couldn't wash my hands after handling the birds and the dead chicks I fed them, something which should be mandatory at the end of a visit for the sake of hygiene. Really visitors should be encouraged to disinfect their hands before visiting the birds too, as real zoos do to prevent transmission of disease to the captive birds.
Finally, the owner's behaviour and attitude was appalling and hostile. Not content with mocking his injured volunteer, he also mocked visitors to the centre as a whole, me, and the other volunteers (who were lovely and seemed to actually care about the birds). His entire attitude was vaguely threatening and his "knowledge" on the birds seemed to extend only to what they could kill, and bragging about how big his collection was, how big his car was, how long he'd been doing this. I learned basically nothing about birds of prey, and a lot about always checking Tripadvisor as well as Google reviews before booking anything. I strongly urge you to check Tripadvisor for all the other people who've visited and had a similar experience. I wish they had posted here too.
I would strongly urge anyone considering visiting this place to give it a miss.
Edited 18/9/23 in response to threats from owner: I have now been threatened with legal action on Tripadvisor by the social media manager, who seems to think I am a disgruntled employee writing under a fake name. I will admit I am writing under a fake name, because Mr Gareth Lord was, as stated in my initial review, hostile and threatening during my visit, but I am not a former employee (who would have every right to be disgruntled judging by what I saw of the place). I do not feel safe revealing my real name but am happy to do so if you wish to take legal action against me.
I will not be threatened into deleting my accurate reviews from here or Tripadvisor and will stand by them in court if necessary.
This place should...
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