The British Wildlife Centre

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On Wednesday (22/07/2015) I visited the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey. It is a really nice collection of native British Wildlife in enclosures that are fantastic from the animals’ point of view. The collection has all Mustelid and Owl species that are found wild in the UK as well as 13 rodent species along with four deer species, two reptile species, shrews, foxes, buzzards and a few others. The general grounds are very nice too with a countryside setting and lots of nice greenery.

The enclosures are very natural looking and seemed ideal for the inhabitants of them (apart from the owl and buzzard enclosures which were pretty average). This did however make viewing lots of the animals rather difficult and a lot of time is needed to watch and wait at the rodent enclosures to see anything. I also went around the area with the rodent enclosures just behind the keeper who was cleaning out the bedding and putting in the food – this proved the most effective technique for some of the more elusive voles and mice.

For many of the larger mammals though, the best way to see them was to go to the many feedings and talks throughout the day when the animals were guaranteed to show themselves. There were feeding times with keeper talks for Red Squirrels, Foxes (twice per day), Scottish Wild Cats (twice per day), Otters (twice per day), Red Deer, Hedgehogs, Badgers and Pine Martins. There was also an Owl Display.

When you first enter the zoo you go through the two main indoor areas, those being the barn which is home to brown and black rats, house mice and the indoor areas for red fox and barn owls who also had access to outdoor areas.

And after walking through the barn you come to the hedgerow area which is home to Field and Bank Voles, Harvest Mice, Rabbits, Hedgehogs, Yellow-necked Grass Mice, Wood Mice, Water Shrews, Stoats, Weasels, Terrapins (though not usually found in hedgerows) and also usually Moles, though there was a sign saying the Mole enclosure was temporarily empty.

I thought that both of those areas were fantastic though they would have less appeal for non zoo enthusiasts who would want to see the animals out and about so while I was waiting for some of the more shy inhabitants of the enclosures to show themselves, several families walked straight through both of these areas, only stopping to look at the rabbits which were the only animals that stayed out and showed themselves for the whole time.

Other enclosures that I thought were particularly good were the walkthrough enclosure with Mutjacs and Red and the enclosure for water voles.

There is also a section of the zoo that is called the ‘Wetlands Nature Reserve’. There are signs explaining that this area was once a field for cows but has since been turned into a wetland area and planted with native vegetation, there was a sign listing the wild bird species that have been seen there, including a few more unusual species. There was also a sign saying that Slow Worms had been released there and there are water voles being released into the area with a soft release cage with signs explaining what it is.



I have two complaints with the place overall, firstly, the difficulty that you have spotting some of the rodents. This wasn’t so much of a problem for me because I was happy to spend half an hour to an hour waiting for four unusual species of rodent to show themselves, but 90% of people aren’t going to do this for what is essentially four little brown mice.

The second that I have is the lack of bird species. They have a very nice Owl collection and a couple of bird of prey species, but I really thought that a few more birds would really fit in well with the collection. I think Capercaillie would be a perfect addition that would suit very well with what is already there – as would any native ground bird. I also think that a duck pond with a few native waterfowl species would be a great addition. I could also see a few corvids or maybe a gull aviary fitting in excellently with the existing collection.

Birds aside, I think that the British Wildlife Centre is a brilliant collection and I thoroughly enjoyed my half-day visit. Apart from the moles which were temporarily not there, I managed to see everything in the end with attending the various talks/feedings and some patient waiting.

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