Beale Park

Beale Wildlife Park and Gardens

Date opened	1956
Location	Lower Basildon Reading Berkshire RG8 9NH
Coordinates	51°30′N 1°6.5′W / 51.500°N 1.1083°W / 51.500; -1.1083
Website	bealepark.co.uk

Beale Wildlife Park and Gardens is situated by the River Thames, between the villages of Pangbourne and Lower Basildon in Berkshire, England. It has three main areas of attraction: collections of small exotic animals, farm animals and birds; landscaped gardens and woodlands; and children's play areas.

The park was founded in 1956 by Gilbert Beale as his own private park. He was a keen collector and breeder of peacocks and these birds still roam free in the park. The park is known locally as both "Child-Beale" (after the founding charity) and colloquially as "The Peacock Farm."

Attractions

Beale Railway

Over recent years, the park has expanded to accommodate a wide variety of visitors, especially the youngest ones. The park has recently built a roplay area, a pets area, sand pits, paddling pools, Little Tikes Play Area, and the Beale Railway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) section of 10 ¹⁄₂ in (267 mm) narrow gauge railway on which is run a diesel locomotive, "Sir Humphrey Davy"; and previously a steam locomotive, "John Remmy", each capable of pulling 5 carriages and 50 people.^[1] Thirteen people were injured when a steam train crashed on the Beale Railway on Saturday, 27 June 2009.^[2]

For older visitors, there are the gardens, lakes, and the model boat exhibition.

There is also a gift shop, education centre, and restaurant on site.

Birds

One of the White-faced whistling ducks the lemurs live with

Beale Park's aviaries are home to a wide variety of bird species that are threatened with extinction. Most notable are the green peafowl, the mountain peacock pheasant, and the Bali starling. There is also successful breeding programme and several birds have been released back to the wild.

There are many themed aviaries around the park including: Regional aviaries (home to African, Asian and Australian birds), the walkthrough aviary, the owlery, Madagascan aviary, and the flamingos.

Changes

Over recent years, the park has expanded greatly to a more zoological collection, the park now houses lemurs, owls, and in 2007, meerkats, prairie dogs, and tamarins arrived.

2008 saw the arrival of various new exhibits and attractions including a New Zealand exhibit with wallabies and Arapawa goats and a small African mammals enclosure purpose built for yellow mongoose and bat-eared foxes with a raised walkway for improved viewing and also a new pair of capybaras.

References

↑ Beale Park - Attractions - Train
↑ Steam train crash on mini railway, BBC News, Saturday, 27 June 2009

External links

Media related to Beale Park at Wikimedia Commons
Official website

Zoological gardens in the United Kingdom

Those listed in italics contain more than 5000 animals

Zoos	Africa Alive! Amazon World Zoo Banham Zoo Beale Park Belfast Zoo Birdland Park and Gardens Birdworld Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park Blackpool Zoo Borth Animalarium Bristol Zoo British Wildlife Centre Chessington Zoo Chester Zoo Colchester Zoo Cotswold Wildlife Park Cricket St Thomas Curraghs Wildlife Park Dartmoor Zoological Park Drayton Manor Zoo Drusillas Zoo Park Dudley Zoo Durrell Wildlife Park Edinburgh Zoo Exmoor Zoo Flamingo Land Resort Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo Hamerton Zoo Hawk Conservancy Trust Howletts Wild Animal Park International Centre for Birds of Prey Isle of Wight Zoo Lakeland Wildlife Oasis London Zoo Marwell Wildlife Monkey Sanctuary Monkey World New Forest Wildlife Park Newquay Zoo Noah's Ark Zoo Farm Paignton Zoo Paradise Park, Cornwall Paradise Wildlife Park Peak Wildlife Park Plantasia Royal Surrey Gardens Screech Owl Sanctuary Seaview Wildlife Encounter South Lakes Safari Zoo Tropical World at Roundhay Park The Living Rainforest Tropical Birdland, Leicestershire Tropiquaria Twycross Zoo Welsh Mountain Zoo Wetheriggs Zoo and Animal Sanctuary Whipsnade Zoo Wildwood Discovery Park Wingham Wildlife Park Woodside Farm and Wildfowl Park Yorkshire Wildlife Park

Safari parks	Blair Drummond Safari Park Highland Wildlife Park Knowsley Safari Park Longleat Safari Park Port Lympne Wild Animal Park West Midland Safari Park Woburn Safari Park

Permanently closed	Belle Vue Zoo Glasgow Zoo Coventry Zoo Manchester Zoological Gardens Southport Zoo Windsor Safari Park Rare Species Conservation Centre Cricket St Thomas Wildlife Park

Category List Commons

Coordinates: 51°30′N 1°6.5′W / 51.500°N 1.1083°W / 51.500; -1.1083

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.