Opening for its first season as Noah’s Ark Farm Centre, visitors were able to get hands-on with bottle-feeding lambs and getting up close to both farm animals and exotic animals such as llamas, camels and wallabies. Now the zoo welcomes over 170,000 visitors a year and has an exciting, large animal collection of over one hundred species, which includes African elephants, giraffes, lions, a tiger, rhinos and spectacled bears. The original hands-on approach has continued and today visitors enjoy close encounters with some amazing animals. 

Sustainability and conservation are key to everything they do at Noah’s Ark. That includes education through daily keeper talks, education workshops and regular fundraising events for animal conservation charities. 

Noah’s Ark has various species, which are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), which works with animal parks and zoos across Europe to breed and protect endangered species. Their Elephant Eden enclosure is the largest elephant enclosure in the UK, indeed the largest in Northern Europe. 

They aim to be a leading “green zoo” and generate over half their electricity needs through renewable power generation on site - solar panels on the roofs of animal enclosures, biomass and a wind turbine. They harvest and recycle water from roofs and provide enrichment for animals using upcycled materials such as old fire hoses donated by the local fire service. 

Noah’s Ark has been recognised with multiple awards at a regional and national level for education, its animal enclosures, sustainability and green tourism. 

CLA members will have a day behind the scenes with talks from Anthony, Christina and son Larry, who has recently taken over the running of the business, and an exclusive tour finishing with an elephant keeper talk. Lunch will be provided and we will finish with a falconry display.