Yorkshire Wildlife Park facts for kids
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Yorkshire Wildlife Park
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| Date opened | April 2009 |
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| Location | Cantley, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England |
| Land area | 260 acres (110 ha) |
| Coordinates | 53°30′17″N 1°02′30″W / 53.5047°N 1.0417°W |
| Annual visitors | 678,000 (2015) |
| Memberships | BIAZA, EAZA |
| Major exhibits | Into Africa, Lion Country, Land of the Tiger, Leopard Heights, Project Polar |
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park, often called YWP, is a cool place to see animals in Cantley, near Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. It was built on land that used to be a riding school.
YWP is part of important groups like the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA). These groups help zoos work together to care for animals.
Park History and Growth
The Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in April 2009. It was built on a large piece of land that used to be a farm and riding school. The park now covers about 100 acres of this land.
Cheryl and Neville Williams, along with John Minion, bought the land in 2008. They got money from a bank and other sources to build the park. Famous TV star Justin Fletcher (Mr Tumble) officially opened the park.
In 2010, the park did something amazing. They rescued 13 lions from a zoo in Romania. The lions were not living in good conditions there. After a short time to get healthy, the lions moved into a huge 10-acre area called Lion Country.
The park kept growing! In 2011, they opened Land of the Tigers. This area has two pools and a waterfall for the tigers. Visitors can watch the tigers from a long walkway.
In 2012, Leopard Heights opened. This special home for Amur leopards cost a lot of money to build. You can see the leopards from a tall tower or through a long glass wall. It's said to be the biggest leopard home in the world!
Project Polar opened in 2014. This is a massive home for polar bears. The first bear, Victor, weighed 500 kg! Another bear, Pixel, joined him in 2015.
The park quickly became very popular. In 2009, only 66,000 people visited. By 2011, over 323,000 people came to see the animals!
Amazing Animals and Exhibits
The Yorkshire Hive
In 2021, the park opened a brand new entrance called "The Yorkshire Hive." This area is very modern and makes it easier to get into the zoo. It has a bigger car park, shops, coffee places, and a learning center. You can visit The Yorkshire Hive without buying a zoo ticket.
There are also plans to add a new restaurant and a hotel here in the future.
Atlantic Forest
Also new in 2021, the Atlantic Forest opened in April. This area looks like the Amazon lowlands. It is home to many animals from South America. You can see bush dogs, maned wolfs, and lowland tapirs here.
Lion Country
Lion Country opened in 2010. It is home to six African lions: Simba, Maria, Carla, Crystal, Julie, and Ares. These lions were rescued from a zoo in Romania. They were not well cared for there. Now, they have a huge and much better home at YWP.
Lemur Woods
Lemur Woods is a fun area where you can walk right through the animal's home! It has many trees for the ring-tailed and red-bellied lemurs. You might see them climbing high or sunbathing. Sometimes, keepers feed the lemurs very close to visitors.
Meerkat and Mongoose Manor
Near the park entrance, you'll find Meerkat and Mongoose Manor. This exhibit is home to the park's groups of meerkats and yellow mongooses.
Into Africa
The main part of Into Africa is the African Plains. This is a huge area where many different African animals live together. You can see ostriches, Rothschild's giraffes, Reticulated giraffes, lechwe, Grevy's zebras, common eland, and East African Oryx.
The giraffes have a separate area for winter, but they often join the other animals in the big savannah.
Across from the African Plains, there is a home for the very rare black rhinoceros. This area looks like the scrublands of East Africa. It has space for two rhinos, with mud wallows and open grassy areas.
Land of the Tigers
Land of the Tigers is home to two Amur tigers named Vladimir and Tschuna. Their home has two pools and a waterfall. Visitors can watch them from a 150-meter walkway. The tigers often play together and even climb trees!
Project Polar
Opened in 2014, Project Polar is home to four male polar bears: Pixel, Nissan, Nobby, and Hamish. They are the only polar bears in an English zoo! Their largest home is ten acres big. It has two pools, with the biggest one being eight meters deep. This is one of the biggest polar bear homes in the world.
South America Viva
South America Viva is another walk-through exhibit. You can see several South American animals here. These include Patagonian maras, white-faced saki monkeys, Azara's agoutis, and capybaras. There are also separate homes for six-banded armadillos, Venezuelan red howlers, giant anteaters, cotton-top tamarins, and giant otters.
Baboon Reserve
The Baboon Reserve opened in 2013. It is home to a group of Guinea baboons that came from Edinburgh Zoo.
Leopard Heights
Leopard Heights is home to two Amur leopards named Drake and Freya. Their home is very large, covering 6000 square meters. It has climbing frames that are ten meters tall!
Hyenas of Harar
Hyenas of Harar opened in 2020. It is home to a group of Spotted Hyenas.
Simien Mountains
Also opened in 2020, Simien Mountains looks like the mountains of Ethiopia. It is home to a large group of Geladas.
Himalayan Pass
The Himalayan Pass is another new area from 2020. It has a mountain theme. Here you can see Red Pandas and a family of Smooth-coated Otters.
Sea Lions
In 2020, YWP announced that a new group of six California sea lions would join the park in 2021. They came from ZSL Whipsnade Zoo.
Rehabilitation Centre
The Rehabilitation Centre helps teach visitors about the park's work to save animals. It focuses on rescuing animals that have been kept in bad conditions. The center has shown different rescued animals over the years. These animals stay here until they can move to another part of the park or a new home in another zoo.
The first animals here were four Ussuri Brown Bears rescued from Japan. Sadly, these bears were very old and not well when they arrived. Later, a fifth male Polar Bear named Rasputin lived here. He moved to a zoo in Estonia in 2021.
Other Amazing Animals
The park is also home to many other cool animals. These include Bennett's wallabies, African wild dogs, visayan warty pigs, Bactrian camels, okapi, roloway monkey, african spurred tortoise, emu, kirk's dik-dik. You can also find different birds, reptiles, and insects in special displays.
