Durrell Wildlife Park, now known as Jersey Zoo is one of those places that you wish you lived close to. It is set in some beautiful grounds, contains lots of interesting animals and it has conservation at its heart. It really is such an inspiring place to visit and we loved our visit on our trip to Jersey with kids.
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The history of Jersey Zoo (Durrell Wildlife Park)
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The park was set up by Gerald Durrell, an amazing conservationist (and author of ‘My Family and Other Animals‘). He wanted to save species of animals that were dying out.
The park in Jersey was started in 1958 and was set around his beautiful house.
For anyone who doubts the credentials of this park, they are celebrating 30 years of the Pink Pigeon programme. This initiative saw the beautiful bird go from just 10 birds left in the wild to 446 by 2011.
Durrell Wildlife Park is constantly assessing species in the wild, looking at whether they may be in threat and taking action to stop their extinction.
Visiting today
And not only that, this park is a brilliant day out with children.
Probably the nicest wildlife park I’ve ever been to there’s a feeling of space and care at Durrell. Matched with staff who are eager to tell you stories about their animals.
One of our favourites was seeing the bats. We loved watching them fly and some of the female bats holding on to their babies.
Jersey Zoo also make such great use of the space. With displays such as these bat glass displays from recycled bottles.
And seats from recycled tyres.
My children are always big fans of meerkats. And it was lovely to see them being so well looked after at Jersey Zoo (Durrell Wildlife Park).
And we spent ages looking for the Mountain chicken Frog (we didn’t find it).
There’s a fantastic green space in the middle to sit and picnic. And wonderful walks through enclosures which will make you feel like you’re in the jungle.
Definitely our favourite place to see animals.
If you are going to Jersey, with or without children, don’t miss this inspiring park. It really is making a difference to wildlife around the world.
Want to find out more about Jersey Zoo?
Find out more about Jersey Zoo here and check out our ultimate guide to Jersey with kids here.
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what a fab looking day out love the pic of the underground window x
This looks fab, right up our street x
I think we need to visit Jersey, It looks like it has something for everyone
Actually looks a really nice zoo!
It’s a shame it’s so far away from us because I would love to visit. I have fond memories of My Family And Other Animals as a child.
WOW this look amazing! I love the look of the place, your pics are fab! I think my children would love this too!
I didn’t know Gerald Durrell had a connection with Jersey. Looks like a great day out.
Fantastic how they managed breed so many more pink birds in the wild. I’m all for any initiative that is about helping endangered species! x
Baya just saw these photos and asked when we could go!
What a lovely place for a family trip, it looks great. I really like the recycled glass bats too.
It sounds like one we would love to visit. Our current favourite is Paradise Wildlife Park.
Liska xx
Ooh looks fab, love the quirky elements, the glass bats and the pop up viewing hole. We keep considering a day trip to Jersey as we live a few miles from the fast ferry service – need to find a reliable travel sick prevention for the littlest first though!
This is my idea of a perfect day out – I love visiting wildlife parks 🙂
You have just given me one more reason to visit Jersey. Looks like a really lovely place.
it looks lovely. If we ever go to Jersey (I’d love to go one day) I’ll be sure to include this park in our visit.
Love it! And YES I wish we lived close to this park!!!! Love how it is more natural looking than cages with bars!
What a lovely day out, I miss days out like this x
I’ve heard of this park before but never visited – it looks every bit as good as I was told it was from your photos x x
ooh this sounds like a great place, I love the little peep hole for the meerkats, it’s like the one at Bristol zoo which F loves. x
It looks like an amazing place.
I wish I was closer by.
It’s so nice to see animals being cared for rather than paraded around. The little bubble you can look through in the meerkat enclosure is great too!