Frequently Asked Questions

Visiting the Zoo

We have a wide variety of animals; reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, domestic species such as goats, alpacas, donkeys, guinea pigs and rabbits, zoo mammals such as meerkats, otters, marmosets and tamarins, porcupines, tapir and many more! We also have a wide range of informative signs, and regularly run keeper talks. 

We have a mixture of outside and inside areas, with our fish, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrate rooms inside (a great place to warm up on a cold day!), and then more animals to see in our outside space. There is indoor and outdoor/under cover seating available too.

Feast Cafe is open 10am-3pm selling a selection of food, daily specials, ice creams and hot and cold drinks. Feast is located by our zoo carpark. 

You can view the menu here.

The majority of our visitors spend between one and three hours with us, so you can make as much or as little of your visit as you like. Last entry is at 3:30pm, and we close at 4pm, so please make sure you arrive before then!  

Yes of course. Please contact us as far in advance as possible, with further information such as group size, method of travel (car, minibus, coach etc.), the date you wish to visit, estimated time of arrival, etc. and we’ll liaise with you to arrange a smooth visit. We may be able to offer discounted rates to visiting groups if arranged through a company, such as a charity, holiday club, social club, etc.

Yes, we are fully accessible, with an accessible toilet on site. Our car park is a 5-7 minute walk from the zoo. If you require closer access, please contact us via email at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with at least 3 working days’ notice to arrange this.  

Yes, we have a small zoo shop at our entrance selling a limited range of plush toys (including eco friendly ones made of recycled plastic bottles), badges, greetings cards, small toys, keyrings, etc. 

Zoo tickets

No, you don’t have to book before you come; unless you’re visiting us for a full college event such as Lambing, or Family Festival, you can turn up and pay on the day in our shop. 

Please check your junk/spam folder first, or log in to the online store Reaseheath College Online Store go to ‘My Account’ and look at ‘Order History’ at the bottom of the page for details.

Please email us at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with your REE order reference from your booking and the date you’d like to come, we should be able to rearrange this for you.

Experiences

All our payments have to be taken through our online shop. Please contact us at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with your name and contact number, and we’ll do our best to help.

Yes of course. All our experiences come with a voucher on request, with 12 months expiry from the date of booking. We can send this directly to the recipient, or to yourself if you wish to hand it over in person. Please leave enough time for the voucher to be printed and posted out to you, and bear in mind our closure dates over Christmas, and any postal delays.

Keeper for a Day

We try and keep an up to date list of availability on our website. Sometimes there is a slight delay in bookings coming in and updates being made, but we will always offer alternative dates where possible.

Once you have paid and requested a date, a member of our team will either send a confirmation email with further information, or offer alternative dates if we have no availability for your requested day.

Animal Encounters

Please pay via our website; once your payment comes through there’ll be an automatic email with a link to our bookings calendar so you can choose a date and time to suit you. If you have a specific date in mind and want to know if it’s available before you pay, please email us at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with as much information as possible (number of participants, date, type of encounter requested).

Please email us at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with your REE order reference and we’ll see if there’s anything we can do for you.

Once you have paid and requested a date, a member of our team will either send a confirmation email with further information, or offer alternative dates if we have no availability for your requested day.

Zoo School

Zoo School is booked on a first come, first served basis, so please book as far in advance as you can. We try to keep our website up to date with availability, however sometimes the bookings come in quick succession so please don’t presume your space is reserved until you have received a confirmation email from us.

You can email us to check if you wish, but the best way is to book your preferred date, and offer a couple of alternatives if possible, and then if we are fully booked we’ll contact you with other options as needed.  

If it has been 3 working days since you booked, please check your spam initially, or alternatively pop an email to zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with your REE order reference number, and we will check the status of your booking.

Once you have paid and requested a date, a member of our team will either send a confirmation email with further information, or offer alternative dates if we have no availability for your requested day.

Birthday Parties

Please email us at zoo@reaseheath.ac.uk with your requested date, group size, age range of party guests and the type of party you wish to book.

Yes, we currently have no catering facilities at the zoo, apart from some vending machines and water fountains, so please bring everything you think you may need.