Britain’s newest wildlife park will open next week with four unique interconnected immersive animal experiences that will showcase endangered and exotic animals from across three continents.
The new attraction in Winkhill, near Leek, will let visitors get up close and personal with wildlife as diverse as penguins, wallabies, lemurs and much more.
The 35-acre site was purchased last year by co-owners Dr Jake Veasey and Colin MacDougall, who between them have been involved in zoo management and wildlife conservation for over three decades. The Park will be involved in many breeding programmes for endangered animals and aims to support conservation work around the globe.
“This is just the start of our journey to create truly unique, enjoyable and inspirational experiences for our visitors as well as creating a conservation resource for wild animals from across the globe,” said Jake.
“With the large habitats we have created, people will have time to share and enjoy the space with the animals. We aim to flip the concept of zoos on its head where historically people have surrounded animals, here we want animals surrounding people. We hope it will provide a really magical and meaningful experience that will deliver a unique and enjoyable day out for all of the family, and hopefully switch people on to wildlife.”
Mark Winnington, deputy chair for Enjoy Staffordshire and Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for economy, environment and transport, said: “We welcome the news that Peak Wildlife Park will open next week. I’m confident its distinctive offering will have universal appeal as it attracts visitors to the region and boosts economic spend. We are particularly pleased to hear that wallabies will return to Staffordshire having famously roamed the Roaches for many years.”
Amongst the animals that will be part of the Peak Wildlife Park family are endangered species such as Humboldt Penguins, ringtailed, ruffed and brown lemurs and the critically endangered Visayian warty pigs. It is hoped that in 2016, Peak Wildlife Park will join the European Endangered Species Program for Tigers and will be constructing a state of the art tiger habitat in the coming months.
Peak Wildlife Park will open to the public on Thursday, June 18. For more information, please visit www.peakwildlifepark.co.uk.