THE LOWDOWN

Howletts is Kent’s original wildlife park, having opened in 1994, and houses some of the world’s most endangered and rare animals. With a whopping 390 animals to see over 90 acres of land, there’s a lot to take in on your trip including Kent’s only giant anteaters, the largest herd of African elephants in the UK and more gorillas than any other zoo in the country. Whatever the age of your offspring, we recommend putting Howletts on your agenda this Summer.

Like its sister park Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve, Howletts is a proud partner of the Aspinall Foundation who save endangered species around the world. The Aspinall Foundation (TAF) is a UK-based charity devoted to the conservation of endangered species and returning them to wild protected areas. The Park’s commitment to conservation, through captive breeding, education and reintroduction into the wild allows the experts to gain a greater understanding of some of the world’s most fragile environments and the endangered animals that live there. Has there ever been a more important cause?

Some of their major conservation projects have included the reintroduction of the western lowland gorilla to the Batéké Plateau region of Central Africa, the transfer of eight captive-born, Critically Endangered eastern black rhinoceros to protected reserves in South Africa and Tanzania, and the implementation of a species survival programme for the greater bamboo lemur in Madagascar. Your visit directly helps this well-known charity to protect wildlife here in the UK which, in turn, enables them to send animals back to the wild. Money well spent.

THE LOCATION

And, as luck would have it, it’s right on our doorstep – sitting just outside Canterbury in a very pretty part of Kent should you wish to linger a little longer. We can recommend glamping at Muddy favourite, Woolton Farm, situated next door to Howletts where it is said you can hear the lions roar at night from your tent.

And when you are not listening for lions, you can enjoy some of their wonderful cider, Kentish Pip, and award-winning wines, as well as pizza from their wood-fired oven. Nearby, The Dog at Wingham with eight bedrooms including a family room, should also be on your hit-list if you need another overnight option – the food alone is well worth a detour. Plenty of reasons to stay on in this corner of Kent.

WHAT TO DO?

Make sure you assign the whole day for your visit as we arrived at 10am and left when the park closed, and it still felt that much ground was left uncovered. I could spend a whole day just marvelling at their family of western lowland gorillas and with tiered seating by their enclosure, it seems I am not alone in those thoughts.

And for something a bit different there’s also an Animals of the Ice Age exhibit to explore. Discover a world lost in time with life-size prehistoric creatures taking over the Woodland Walk. Wonder at the mighty mammoth, eyeball the savage sabre toothed Smilodon and delight at the sheer size of the giant sloth, plus many more. My younger companions were certainly wowed by the size of these beasts.

Let’s also not the forget the allure of a playground as my daughter and her friend re-created their primate moves on the bars as Howletts has a particularly good one. There’s plenty of picnic areas too, our favourite being in the orchard, or there are some on-site catering options plus a new Sweet Hut with retro sweet treats or the obligatory ice cream with a personalized Howletts wafer.

Don’t miss a trip to Howlett’s kitchen garden and witness how much produce is made on site for some of the animals. You will find a rich abundance of leeks, fennels and chives as well as nasturtium for the primates as much like humans, their prettiness appeals as well as the taste factor. Dead sunflowers are also given to primates as they love the satisfaction of picking out the seeds from the dead sunflowers, before devouring them. The gardens are a work of art, and it is worth a detour, on your hunt for animals, for some Insta-worthy photos.

GET UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

We were signed up for the Lemur Encounter where you can spend 20 minutes with these curious and seriously cute animals as our task was to hand-feed them plus build an ‘enrichment’ box.

There is a genuine thrill in going beyond the ‘no entry’ sign with our guide, Corrie, so the adrenaline levels were high even before we had met the animals. I was with my daughter who is aged eight and one of her best pals and there were squeaks of excitement from the lemurs and girls alike as we stepped forward with our bowls of treats packed full of blueberries, grapes, sweet potato chunks and apple pieces.

These wet-nosed primates knew the story and their hands were already reaching for the food, so it was a relatively easy job to poke food into their incredibly soft little paws. If we could have taken one home with us, we would have done. Corrie, our guide, was very good about gently reminding us to resist the temptation to stroke or tickle them as the animals need to be kept as wild as possible should they get the opportunity to be rewilded in the future.

The next job was to make ‘enrichment’ boxes to keep the lemurs busy and active during the day or as my daughter remarked, ‘they are like fidget toys for animals.’ The boxes need to be stuffed full of herbs such as parsley with chunks of fruit hidden inside to help inspire the lemurs to still forage for their food.

Whilst the lemurs were tucked away in another part, we were allowed to slip into their open-air enclosure and hang the baskets ready for the lemurs to discover in what was really a very unique game of ‘hide and seek’ with the lemurs shrieking in delight as they watched us and waited to take part. It was highly entertaining to see them released and race to claim the enrichment boxes.

You can do this encounter with children from the age of five so it’s a fabulous entry point for those who want to get up close and personal with their favourite animals.

The Gorilla Encounter, where we headed next, was for children aged seven years and upwards so is the next stepping stone up in terms of animal experiences. Howletts has more gorillas than any other zoo in the UK, so this is the place to meet them in person. They are 25 gorillas housed across three buildings and there was much envy from my daughter and her pal when we stumbled across the gorillas’ toy cupboard packed full of gadgets made from fire hoses as they are, as you can imagine, unbreakable. It helps being good friends with the local fire station who donate old materials for the gorillas’ toys.

One of the extra magical parts of this encounter is that you get to climb on top of the Gorillas’ enclosure so you can feed them spinach, apple mint and lemon balm from above with stunning views across the park. It’s wondrous to see the gorillas so close and watch how they use their hands in such a lifelike manner to grab the food and feed themselves in such a delicate fashion. I only wish my daughter had shown such decorum whilst eating her chips in the café twenty minutes beforehand.

We were then able to spend ten minutes with Djanghou, the Silverback, and watch Brian, their keeper who has been working with them for 25 years, hand him an assortment of food items ranging from an entire red onion eaten whole finishing off with a punnet of strawberries. Once he had had his fill, it was left to the females and younger males to pick up his leftovers and we got the opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Sanki whose birthday it was that day.

COST

The Lemur Experience costs £45 for 20 minutes and the Gorilla Encounter costs £85 for 30 minutes – you will need to buy your park tickets on top but make sure you take advantage of some very enticing offers this summer for entry fees to the park.

WHAT ELSE?

This summer holiday, Howletts Wild Animal Park in Canterbury, Kent, is introducing new Bundle Tickets and a brand-new spectacular ‘Wild Summer’, hosting six different themed weeks, showcasing key species living at the sanctuary which is launching on 22nd July running through to 1st September. Alongside marvelling at the wildlife, you and the family can also enjoy wild animal face painting, expert animal talks and feeds, themed activity trails and arts and crafts mask making.

The new bundles allow guests to purchase a single ticket for their entire group and enjoy savings up to 35%. This is based on the cost of a five-person family bundle ticket charged at £80 vs the cost of purchasing five individual Howletts Adult Day Tickets charged at £24 each – total of £125 – giving you a massive total saving of £45. This gets a big animal roar from us.

Wild Week Themes:

Monkey Week: 22nd July – 28th July
Carnivore Week: 29th July – 4th August
Rhino Week: 5th – 11th August
Elephant Week: 12th – 18th August
Gorilla Week: 19th – 25th August
Lemur Week: 26th August – 1st September

THE MUDDY VERDICT

FOR THE KIDS: Even those who claim to be too old for the zoo, Howletts still delivers the magic of seeing these animals in the flesh especially with so much room for them to roam. Take a buggy for the younger lot though as there is a LOT of ground to cover.

FOR THE GROWN-UPS: Run out of present ideas for the older family members in your life? Animal Encounters are a great way to tick off items from people’s bucket list so consider a voucher for the next big birthday in your household – young and old.

Howletts Wild Animal Park, Bekesbourne Ln, Bekesbourne, Littlebourne, Canterbury, Kent CT4 5EL, www.aspinallfoundation.org/howletts, info@howlettsandportlympne.com 01227 721286

Review: Howletts Wild Animal Park, Canterbury

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