Shaldon Wildlife Trust — Attraction in Teignbridge

My partner researched all the zoo's in the south west and settled on this one for me because it's so up close and personal, and wow, he was right!

Firstly I'll say that this tiny little zoo has an amazing array of extremely endangered species. They put their animals first, and have a very strategic breeding programme that helps us keep these special animals alive. It's not just some thrown together Noah's ark of stuff to make a profit. They have animals I've never even heard of, and listening to the girls explaining to me how they mimic the animals natural habitats and find really creative solutions to help these animals live as wild creatures in our country is quite incredible!

It's also worth noting that most of the staff here are volunteers. They work for free. They are all completely dedicated and emotionally invested in these animals; and it's a privilege to have a snapshot of it.

As a zoo keeper for the day I got to prepare food, learn about diet, feed the animals, go inside the enclosures, and learn about them firsthand from experts. It was one of the best experiences I've ever had!

I had a meercat sit on my lap and eat whilst telling off other chancer meercats.. I had 3 red bellied monkeys all jumping on and off my shoulders and eating their food, I gave a tortoise a bath, I held an armadillo, and I hand fed many other monkeys.

There is SO much to see in this place. It feels more like a sanctuary than a zoo. It took 4.5 hours not including lunch to get through it all and hear the fascinating information from the girls. I would recommend this to anyone that loves animals!!

The gift shop has lots of treasures for kids there as well and the prices are excellent. There's also a really lovely cafe opposite; so a great day out for any couple or family.

Thank you so much for an amazing day I'll...

What a fantastic little zoo Sheldon zoo the small Zoo making a big difference .we saw animals that we hadn't seen before the Majestic Margay, Owston'sClvet the adorable slow loris or bush tail bettering there was lemurs meerkats and monkeys of all different kinds that I had not seen before there's also a smashing little gift shop in the front selling all kinds of memorabilia of your day. There's a children's quiz so they can study the animals and answer the questions. I don't feel children would be let down by the experience of the day in fact I would say it would nurture their interest in other animals they have done themselves proud, projects all over the world and Helping Animals in the wild. The staff were very friendly and very helpful and mostly I gather volunteers.Geff who was our guide through the nocturnal animals gave us the full inside of all the nocturnal animals the frogs and various other facts that we hadn't known if on a warm day you visit I'm sure you'll take time to have a picnic on the lovely picnic table beside the animals and you are allowed to take photographs of all sorts of the animals different positions while walking around the zoo. I hope if you do go you will enjoy every experience that we did my husband Keith and myself had a good day thank you all the staff at Shaldon zoo. Wendy...

Wow, what a fantastic place!! Totally different to any 'zoo' I've visited before and by far the best. Fascinating animals I could've watched all day with some rare and unusual ones, a few of whom I'd never seen before. The staff were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable with one in particular (I think his name was Steve) who simply couldn't have been better. He not only knew so much about the animals generally but could talk about so many individually, their names, little quirks, funny little quips etc. it was brilliant! We spent around two and a half to three hours there despite it being a relatively small place and for £8 each it was an absolute bargain! Would imagine if you had children with you, especially young children, you'd be looking at more like an hour or so to get round however your ticket is valid all day so you can always have a walk into the village for a bite to eat or off to the beach or whatever and then go back again later for another look or for one of the talks; would highly recommend seeing the civet have his tea, an endangered animal and gorgeous fella who was a real treat and a privilege to see. All in all an absolutely brilliant place and fantastic value for money, can't recommend...