Northumberland Zoo Reviews Summary

Animal Enclosures and Welfare

Pros:

• "All the animals look very healthy and cared for and the whole place is spread out over many fields and through woodland so its lovely walk around all diff animals."
• "The wildlife all look very well looked after and healthy, which is really great to see."
• "The animals here do seem well looked after and that is the pretty much the most important thing."
• "All the animals looked very healthy, happy and enriched in their enclosures."
• "Animals are very well cared for."
• "Every animal here has a clear bond with each keeper, and it’s special to see."
• "Animals looked in their natural habitat with their enclosures very large and well looked after."

Cons:

• "The otter pool could be so much better than green, dirty water and nearly empty."
• "The only thing that was amazing was the birds of prey show and the otters screaming lol the soft play is tiny."
• "The enclosures for most animals were very similar and did not seem to provide a habitat tailored to that animal."
• "Some of the wild animals were in quite small enclosures."
• "Unfortunately the enclosures with snow leopards and lynx are, I think, far too small. The animals are just walking up and down bored stiff."
• "The Arctic Foxes also displayed repetitive behaviour. Also the enclosures for the birds of prey were wholly inadequate, the birds cannot fly in their enclosures."
• "Some of the cage sizes, particularly the birds, looked small."

Staff and Customer Service

Pros:

• "All members of staff were very knowledgeable, welcoming and friendly and we will definitely be back."
• "The staff and volunteers are helpful and knowledgeable, they were really good with questions from the kids."
• "All staff we saw were super friendly."
• "The staff here are all incredibly friendly and what makes it all worth while is it’s a non-profit organisation so the animals really are at the heart of everything they do."
• "Staff were very welcoming, friendly & had a wealth of knowledge to share about the animals."
• "The staff were all very friendly and informative, But for the price you'd expect a little bit more."
• "Staff were great and really friendly and approachable."

Cons:

• "One small thing is the staff not good at hospitality no eye contact or hello."
• "Zoo was great unfortunately I have no other way to review and warn people about the shop. Some customer service skills are needed."
• "The woman simply stated how much we had to pay."
• "The woman didn’t even check if anyone had been injured she just wanted payment."
• "Only let down was the bird demo where the demo giver spent most of the 15 min demo laying down the law and telling everyone off for breathing too loudly."
• "Shame that the play area was closed as it meant the small soft play was packed."
• "The cafe queue was a bit slow moving."

Facilities and Amenities

Pros:

• "There's also a brand new park and gift shop."
• "The toilets facilities were exceptionally well clean and maintained."
• "There's ample parking, toilets a decent cafe and a soft play area."
• "The park is very well laid out with plenty room to get around."
• "Disabled access across most of the site."
• "Also has indoor and outdoor play areas along with gift shop cafe."
• "The zoo itself was clean and very well presented."

Cons:

• "Café very comfortable but food very basic and not cheap. Coffee terrible!"
• "The only complaint i would have is the price of the food sold in the cafe."
• "The parrots closed at 1 so there was no entry into that area past that time so we missed those, and the lemurs close at 2."
• "Overall it was good. We had a two year old and an under one and was great for 3 or 4 hours. Only downside was that it was all a bit tired in general and quite a few empty, overgrown enclosures."
• "The car park is even worse with piles of empty wooden pallets stacked carelessly in several places."
• "A lot of the animals are warm climate animals and, given the cold temperatures, they were largely hiding in their bedding areas and therefore not visible to members of the public."
• "It's not very good for wheelchairs it's cinder paths and steep hills."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Reasonable priced admission and took me approx 2 hours to see all of the animals and attractions."
• "Great zoo with reasonable admission price."
• "The animals are well looked after, tonnes for kids to do, and the price for it is cheaper than most other zoos."
• "The zoo is cheap enough to get into, and the food is also fairly reasonable for such an establishment."
• "Cafe is really well priced for a place like this."
• "The cost is minimal only £9.95 per adult and tickets can only purchased online currently."
• "Prices were reasonable to get in given they are expanding the zoo further."

Cons:

• "Paid £28 for 2 adults and one 3 year old which is quite a lot but we thought it was worth it."
• "We're back again a year later it's the start of the school holidays we're here with the grandchildren, and what a mistake we've made it's gone up in price by a lot it's now £31 for a family ticket."
• "Paid £52.00 for a family ticket of two adults and two children, but was disappointed."
• "Only got a quick glance at a wildcat, and no sight of the armadillo."
• "On the small side for a zoo, so I would say marginally overpriced."
• "Only negative would be the drinks prices, £1.50 for a can of pop is far too excessive."
• "The food is really really basic but pricey."