Colchester Zoo

On the 19th September a team of zoo keepers and gardening staff from Colchester Zoo will be taking part in the 3 Peaks Challenge to raise money for our charity Action for the Wild! This challenge involves climbing the highest mountain in Scotland, England and Wales, all in aid of two amazing projects, The Red Panda Network and the Komodo Dragon Survival Programme. Here is Komodo Dragon keeper Marianne explaining how funds will support this species in the wild. If you would like to support the team and this fantastic cause you can do so here> https://www.everyclick.com/3peakschalleng eczoo

As the Summer Holidays come to an end and the new school year begins we’re offering a fantastic SAVING of £5.00 per person with E-tickets so you can enjoy a day out for less before heading back to school! Find out more here > http://ow.ly/tVEt30lG1Lr

Meet Sydney our sea lion! Check out our Instagram story for more information on her throughout the day 😍 #animaloftheweek #colchesterzoo

Our Zoo pass sale ends this Friday! Take advantage of unlimited visits throughout the year *expect Christmas Day and enjoy exclusive discounts and events. Find out more here > http://ow.ly/byAS30lFjOz

Our crowned crane chicks continue to do well and are now almost as big as their parents despite still having their juvenile feathers! http://ow.ly/7sMv30lDrVv

Enjoy September savings on Animal Experiences! Purchase your animal experience gift voucher or book an experience by the 30th September and SAVE 15%! 🐾

Its FriYAY! And what better way to start the weekend with a £5 SAVING per person! Purchase e-tickets and SAVE! I’ll alpaca my bags! Find out more here> http://ow.ly/HGlY30lAcdd

We're excited to announce that at the end of July we welcomed 5 rock hyrax pups who are all doing well!
The rock hyrax is a small, tailless mammal; their appearance is quite similar to a large guinea pig however they are actually more closely related to elephants!
Why not stop by their enclosure at the Edge of Africa and see if you can spot our new arrivals!
... Find out more here> https://www.colchester-zoo.com/…/en…/ meet-our-5-new-arrivals
See more

Join us on the 15th & 29th Sept for a our 'Starlight Safari Night!' events! With activities throughout the evening such as Nocturnal WOW Stations, a Zoo Crew Party and much more! Find out more here > http://ow.ly/Lfks30lAckW

Don’t miss out on our Zoo Pass SALE! Take advantage of unlimited admission throughout the year* Ends the 7th September. Find out more here> http://ow.ly/M9PH30lAc8I

Meet Dante our 7 year old male mandrill and this week's animal of the week! Check out our story for more information on him throughout the day! #colchesterzoo #AnimalOfTheWeek

It’s #tongueouttuesday

As the Summer Holidays come to an end we’re offering a fantastic SAVING of £5.00 per person with E-tickets so you can enjoy a day out for less before heading back to school! *This offer is only available online through E-tickets. Find out more here> http://ow.ly/pYjN30lAbPh

When your enjoying your 3 day weekend #lounging #bankholidaymonday

Join us this Bank Holiday Weekend with our summer activities still taking place including scientist in the wild and entertainment on the main stage

It’s #DogAppreciationDay! Colchester Zoo is home to a number of dog species including our African Hunting Dogs. #colchesterzoo

It’s #DogAppreciationDay! Colchester Zoo is home to a number of dog species including our Bush Dog family, Dad Nico, Mum Nina and their three offspring, Oakley, Ozara and Octavia! #colchesterzoo

Book your place for our Breakfast with Santa or Christmas Twilight experience! These Christmas experiences are sure to get you into the Christmas spirit and add a spark of magic to your festivities! Find out more here > http://ow.ly/BwcL30luJbC

The school holidays are almost over but you can still enjoy our ‘Back to School’ offer with a fantastic £5 off per person when you book E-tickets in advanced to visit us from the 28th August to the 9th September! Find out more here > http://ow.ly/H5tD30ltzj8

Zoo Keeper Experience



Highly recommend!



Spend time with three Zoo Keepers for most of the day. Get up close and behind the scenes with your chosen animals ( three types of experiences to choose from).



Loved feeding the animals; especially the baboons, meerkats, giraffes and otters.



The female rhino genuinely liked being stroked! Amazing!



Truely a great experience which we shall not forget for a very long time.

Wow! What an amazing zoo! I came with friends on our Marwell passes and what an amazing day we have had. Lots of information about all the different animals. Great enclosures where the animals had space to roam. Highlights of the day feeding the Elephants and all the animal encounters. Our children had a fabulous day and learnt so much thank you Colchester Zoo xx

When we got there and went to get our entry tickets we was a bit taken back that it cost us just over £100 for 5 of us to get in � but omg it was sooooooo worth the money��� Wish we could have stayed longer got there about have 11 and left when it closed at half 6

What a fantastic zoo lovely big enclosure for all the beautiful animals was my first visit I will be back came on coach trip with my best friend thankyou to all the staff for all your hard work think your amazing

We visited today for the first time and we were very impressed, the grounds were all very well kept, the animals looked very well cared for and there was so much to do for our 2 little ones. Our 5 year old absolutely loved the parks with the huge slides, definitely worth the hour and 20 minute journey as I can honestly say it’s the best zoo we have been to and will be visiting again soon. Xx

We are so lucky to live 5 minutes away and visit pretty much every week! I can’t rate this zoo highly enough! We’ve never had a bad experience and never get bored as there is so much to do! We often just go to use the softplay facility which is always clean. I love seeing how your staff interact and care for the animals. It’s clear that they care very much for them. We still have our platinum cards and although it’s a shame they can not be renewed, I completely understand the reasoning behind this. The annual passes are fantastic value for money and we will continue to purchase gold cards as a family. My only suggestions would be that some of the toilets are very much in need of a refurbishment and it would be good to see more recycling facilities for bottles etc. Thank you Colchester Zoo for bringing so much joy to our family!

Visited yesterday loved it the animals appear to be well cared for and looked happy. The enclosures are good a lot better than Edinburgh zoo ��. Gutted I live 300 miles away or would have got a year pass. A lot to do in one day but was worth it. Am sure every you go you will see something different ��� x x

Thank you to the lovely lady who spent ages with our children talking to them

About the animals. We didn’t catch her name, but she said she helps to look after the elephants.was very grateful as she made some little people very happy especially as she took time out from having her lunch �

Spent the whole day here and loved it, it’s a shame everything started closing at 5, some of the smaller stands even earlier especially when the sun was still shining bright but hey ho staff need to get home at some point. Will definitely be coming back!

My Fiancée and I spent my 25th birthday (yesterday) at the zoo and we did the Elephant Perfect Partners Experience and wow, what an experience it was! We travelled down from bonnie Scotland (7 hour drive) but every minute of the journey was worth it seeing Tania the elephant in her glory. We were able to feed her and learned so much about how the zoo care for Tania and her other 4 elephant friends. For anyone who loves elephants as much as me or even just animals, please do the experience - worth every single penny! xxxxxx

My 6 yr old recently did the Fledging Keeper experience and it was fantastic. Really exceeded our expectations. Considering the price included adult and child entry, Lunch voucher and great gift bag, I thought it was really good value.

He’s already asking if he can do it again next year !

Me and my fiancé came to you guys yesterday for his 26th birthday, I had planned for us to be a zookeeper for the day and it was the best experience we’ve done!! Not only is Colchester our favourite zoo but we love it even more knowing what they do to care for the animals and how passionate the keepers who had us for the day are! Thankyou SO much to NIKITA for taking us to help out with the baboons, otters and meerkats. To CHRIS who showed us how to care for the Lions and a talk about the Amur leopards and lastly with SAM who showed us so many amazing different animals such as Aardvarks, Red river hogs, Pygmy Hippos, Giraffes and Rhinos! We had such a fantastic day and worth every penny! You certainly made my Fiancé’s day, he loved it!

Love this zoo have been going since I was a kid and have a gold pass so go very often. I'm very impressed with the recent vegetarian food options they have added to food outlets and would like to say a special well done to the train drivers who were so helpful yesterday July 14th by helping my friend and her baby on to the train using the ramp as she had fallen asleep in the buggy. They were so friendly and helpful and made sure our group were ok and looked after. Xx

I was "Keeper for the Day" yesterday at Colchester Zoo and I am struggling to put into words what a fantastic experience it was. From the moment I walked into the zoo the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly and the keepers who took us through the experience made it a day i will never forget. Their knowledge of and passion for the animals was infectious. Thank you Colchester Zoo!!!!!

I visit the Zoo regularly probably at least twice a month but in the summer and when I'm not working it's every week pretty much. My Little girl adores the Zoo it's her favourite place. We love coming a having a leisurely stroll around with not a care in the world.

Had the best day at the zoo! Was very lucky enough to do a few keeper shadowing experiences and they’re incredible. Getting up close to your favourites animals behind the scenes and feeding them is just a surreal experience that I would recommend if you’re an animal lover! The best zoo and so many animals to see.

Had a lovely visit to the zoo on 31/7/18 , being a wheelchair user some of the hills are a challenge but we managed to see most of the animals , all enclosures are Lovely and clean , staff are amazing and really helpful ( a special shout out to the train driver who was amazing at helping me on and off the train ) loads of CLEAN working disabled toilets and even a disabled changing place ! will definitely visit again . Well done Colchester Zoo

Couldn’t recommend the Hen Party experience enough. We got to get up close and personal with lots of the animals at the zoo with lots of fun and games in between. Massive thank you to Kelly and Becky for taking care of us and making the Bride to be’s day so special.

As annual Marwell members we ventured to Colchester Zoo for our friend annual road trip. We absolutely loved your zoo! The enclosures were fabulous, large and not over crowded. The animal encounters were brilliant, feeding an elephant was a huge highlight! Lots of informative games/ information for the kids which they loved. Being the hottest day of the year did concern us but we found plenty of shade and spent time inside and the kiosks/ cafes happily refilled our water bottles. You should be proud of the work you’re doing for animals worldwide, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to return soon. #weloveourmarwellzoobutlovecolchesterzoot oo

Zoo Keeper Experience



Highly recommend!



Spend time with three Zoo Keepers for most of the day. Get up close and behind the scenes with your chosen animals ( three types of experiences to choose from).



Loved feeding the animals; especially the baboons, meerkats, giraffes and otters.



The female rhino genuinely liked being stroked! Amazing!



Truely a great experience which we shall not forget for a very long time.

Wow! What an amazing zoo! I came with friends on our Marwell passes and what an amazing day we have had. Lots of information about all the different animals. Great enclosures where the animals had space to roam. Highlights of the day feeding the Elephants and all the animal encounters. Our children had a fabulous day and learnt so much thank you Colchester Zoo xx

When we got there and went to get our entry tickets we was a bit taken back that it cost us just over £100 for 5 of us to get in � but omg it was sooooooo worth the money��� Wish we could have stayed longer got there about have 11 and left when it closed at half 6

What a fantastic zoo lovely big enclosure for all the beautiful animals was my first visit I will be back came on coach trip with my best friend thankyou to all the staff for all your hard work think your amazing

We visited today for the first time and we were very impressed, the grounds were all very well kept, the animals looked very well cared for and there was so much to do for our 2 little ones. Our 5 year old absolutely loved the parks with the huge slides, definitely worth the hour and 20 minute journey as I can honestly say it’s the best zoo we have been to and will be visiting again soon. Xx

We are so lucky to live 5 minutes away and visit pretty much every week! I can’t rate this zoo highly enough! We’ve never had a bad experience and never get bored as there is so much to do! We often just go to use the softplay facility which is always clean. I love seeing how your staff interact and care for the animals. It’s clear that they care very much for them. We still have our platinum cards and although it’s a shame they can not be renewed, I completely understand the reasoning behind this. The annual passes are fantastic value for money and we will continue to purchase gold cards as a family. My only suggestions would be that some of the toilets are very much in need of a refurbishment and it would be good to see more recycling facilities for bottles etc. Thank you Colchester Zoo for bringing so much joy to our family!

Visited yesterday loved it the animals appear to be well cared for and looked happy. The enclosures are good a lot better than Edinburgh zoo ��. Gutted I live 300 miles away or would have got a year pass. A lot to do in one day but was worth it. Am sure every you go you will see something different ��� x x

Thank you to the lovely lady who spent ages with our children talking to them

About the animals. We didn’t catch her name, but she said she helps to look after the elephants.was very grateful as she made some little people very happy especially as she took time out from having her lunch �

Spent the whole day here and loved it, it’s a shame everything started closing at 5, some of the smaller stands even earlier especially when the sun was still shining bright but hey ho staff need to get home at some point. Will definitely be coming back!

My Fiancée and I spent my 25th birthday (yesterday) at the zoo and we did the Elephant Perfect Partners Experience and wow, what an experience it was! We travelled down from bonnie Scotland (7 hour drive) but every minute of the journey was worth it seeing Tania the elephant in her glory. We were able to feed her and learned so much about how the zoo care for Tania and her other 4 elephant friends. For anyone who loves elephants as much as me or even just animals, please do the experience - worth every single penny! xxxxxx

My 6 yr old recently did the Fledging Keeper experience and it was fantastic. Really exceeded our expectations. Considering the price included adult and child entry, Lunch voucher and great gift bag, I thought it was really good value.

He’s already asking if he can do it again next year !

Me and my fiancé came to you guys yesterday for his 26th birthday, I had planned for us to be a zookeeper for the day and it was the best experience we’ve done!! Not only is Colchester our favourite zoo but we love it even more knowing what they do to care for the animals and how passionate the keepers who had us for the day are! Thankyou SO much to NIKITA for taking us to help out with the baboons, otters and meerkats. To CHRIS who showed us how to care for the Lions and a talk about the Amur leopards and lastly with SAM who showed us so many amazing different animals such as Aardvarks, Red river hogs, Pygmy Hippos, Giraffes and Rhinos! We had such a fantastic day and worth every penny! You certainly made my Fiancé’s day, he loved it!

Love this zoo have been going since I was a kid and have a gold pass so go very often. I'm very impressed with the recent vegetarian food options they have added to food outlets and would like to say a special well done to the train drivers who were so helpful yesterday July 14th by helping my friend and her baby on to the train using the ramp as she had fallen asleep in the buggy. They were so friendly and helpful and made sure our group were ok and looked after. Xx

I was "Keeper for the Day" yesterday at Colchester Zoo and I am struggling to put into words what a fantastic experience it was. From the moment I walked into the zoo the staff were incredibly helpful and friendly and the keepers who took us through the experience made it a day i will never forget. Their knowledge of and passion for the animals was infectious. Thank you Colchester Zoo!!!!!

I visit the Zoo regularly probably at least twice a month but in the summer and when I'm not working it's every week pretty much. My Little girl adores the Zoo it's her favourite place. We love coming a having a leisurely stroll around with not a care in the world.

Had the best day at the zoo! Was very lucky enough to do a few keeper shadowing experiences and they’re incredible. Getting up close to your favourites animals behind the scenes and feeding them is just a surreal experience that I would recommend if you’re an animal lover! The best zoo and so many animals to see.

Had a lovely visit to the zoo on 31/7/18 , being a wheelchair user some of the hills are a challenge but we managed to see most of the animals , all enclosures are Lovely and clean , staff are amazing and really helpful ( a special shout out to the train driver who was amazing at helping me on and off the train ) loads of CLEAN working disabled toilets and even a disabled changing place ! will definitely visit again . Well done Colchester Zoo

Couldn’t recommend the Hen Party experience enough. We got to get up close and personal with lots of the animals at the zoo with lots of fun and games in between. Massive thank you to Kelly and Becky for taking care of us and making the Bride to be’s day so special.

As annual Marwell members we ventured to Colchester Zoo for our friend annual road trip. We absolutely loved your zoo! The enclosures were fabulous, large and not over crowded. The animal encounters were brilliant, feeding an elephant was a huge highlight! Lots of informative games/ information for the kids which they loved. Being the hottest day of the year did concern us but we found plenty of shade and spent time inside and the kiosks/ cafes happily refilled our water bottles. You should be proud of the work you’re doing for animals worldwide, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and hope to return soon. #weloveourmarwellzoobutlovecolchesterzoot oo