The Welsh Mountain Zoo in North Wales opened on 18 May 1963 and became the National Zoo of Wales in 2008. It was founded by the naturalist Robert Jackson and run by him and after his death by his family until 1983 when it was taken over by the Zoological Society of Wales. One of its more interesting features is its location, as the name suggests, high up a mountain with views of the sea as well as woodlands.
It’s not a very large zoo but we did spend most of the day there, sometimes doubling back to revisit enclosures where the animals hadn’t been outside the first time. There were a few animals at the zoo we hadn’t seen before and a number that we had seen before but never so active or so close. Some of my favourites were the snow leopards,
the red panda,
the European Brown Bear,
the penguins,
and these fabulous Polish chickens which, despite the name, are actually an old Dutch breed.
What I didn’t particularly care for was the signage and the map design. It works on a visual key and not the names of the animals which made navigating around the site harder than at any zoo I’ve visited before. That aside we really enjoyed our time there. You can find more photos here.
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