Bristol Zoo Gardens
Clifton, Bristol
BS8 3HA
Tel: 0117 974 7399
About Bristol Zoo Gardens
Bristols Zoo Gardens on Guthrie Road are a marvellous family day out, featuring a host of flora and fauna conservation programmes that make Bristol Zoo Gardens both an educational and a fun family attraction. A ticket to Bristol Zoo Gardens opens a door into a plant collections boasting unusual and rare trees and shrubs, such as the monkey puzzle, Kashmir cypress, oblong woodsia and flax lily, as well as two national collections of Caryopteris and Hedychium. Bristol Zoo Gardens has also set up a three-year national garden performance trial for Hedychium and contains Tree Register ‘Champion trees’ in the Trithrinax campestris (by the entrance to Zona Brazil) and Crataegus laciniata (opposite the herbaceous border).
As for fauna, the family attraction has over 400 species, most housed under cover, meaning a grand family day out whatever the weather. A ticket to Bristol Zoo Gardens includes access to the Aquarium, Bug World, Avon Gorge & Downs, Gorilla Island, the Monkey Jungle, Reptile House, Seal & Penguin Coast, the Aviary, the Watervoles enclosure, and Zona Brazil.
Among the animals on show at the family attraction are invertebrates including black widow spiders, the giant African snail, Hercules beetle, scorpions, ants, coackroaches, leeches, the red-kneed bird-eating spider, train millipedes and the Sri Lankan tiger spider. For those with a spider phobia, Bristol Zoo Gardens runs a ‘Living with spiders’ course (details at the website).
On the sea front, there are clownfish, gourain, pufferfish, catfish and piranha – making for a family day out with added bite! If birds get you in a flap, then the Aviary is just the ticket, with its penguin, magpie, lovebirds, ibis, doves, numerous ducks, flamingo, kea, pheasants, pelican, partridge, hornbill and toucan.
Bristol Zoo Gardens stages feedings through the day and those for mammals include African lions and gorillas, while other members of the family at the family attraction include various types of monkey, plus aye-aye, tamarin, bettong, capybara, mongoose, lemur, langur, fruit bat, saki, otter, okapi, pygmy hippopotamus, loris, sandcat, meerkat, seal, tapir, pudu and sloth.
A ticket to the family attraction allows ticket holders to challenge animal record breakers in the Zoolympics, while Group Tours include a guided walk and talk on the History of Bristol Zoo Gardens and its role in conservation. Discovery Days for Brownies and Cub Scouts run in autumn 2008, and Trails include Conservation Quest; Hot and Cold, exploring how animals survive extreme temperatures; What’s in a name?, about classifying animals; Out of Africa; Steamy Jungles; and Endangered Species.
Bristol Zoo Gardens additionally caters for Birthday parties with animal entertainment and an out-doors fun book for each guest, while Wedings, conferences and corporate events can be booked at the Grade II Clifton Pavilion on the edge of the Downs, two miles from the city centre.
The Bristol Zoo Gardens Pelican Restaurant, a covered picnic area, Shop and wheelchair-friendly paths mean that the family attraction is a family day out that everyone can savour – just the ticket!