Blackpool Zoo

Blackpool Zoo sits on 32 acres beside the Lancashire coast, a short walk from Blackpool’s piers and beaches. It opened in 1972 on the site of a former aerodrome, turning wartime runways into paths for animals from every continent. Over a thousand creatures now live here, from tiny tamarins to towering giraffes. The zoo is known for large walk-through exhibits that let visitors move among the animals. ‘Dinosaur Safari’ shows 32 life-size models along a trail, while ‘Amazonia’ brings South American monkeys and birds into a shared enclosure. In 2008 giraffes returned after a fourteen-year absence, and a new house was built with more than half a million pounds of investment. The same year brought twenty Magellanic penguins from Spain, followed by a million-pound sea lion pool in 2010. Paths lead past Lemur Wood, where ring-tailed and red-fronted lemurs climb overhead, and Gorilla Mountain, home to a troop led by silverback Bukavu. Orangutan Outlook offers a raised walkway above water dragons and lizards, while Project Elephant Base Camp shelters five females and the zoo’s first bull elephant. Children’s Farm lets young visitors stroke alpacas and pygmy goats, and Flamingo Lake reflects bright plumage of American flamingos and pelicans.