Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo

Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo

Lemur island at Folly Farm
Date opened 1988
Location Pembrokeshire, Wales
Coordinates 51°44′36″N 4°43′49″W / 51.743329°N 4.730273°W / 51.743329; -4.730273Coordinates: 51°44′36″N 4°43′49″W / 51.743329°N 4.730273°W / 51.743329; -4.730273
Number of animals 700+
Number of species 200+
Annual visitors 400000
Website www.folly-farm.co.uk

Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo (also known as Folly Farm), situated to the north of Saundersfoot and Tenby in Pembrokeshire, is a visitor attraction in Wales with over 400,000 visitors each year. Initially a farm attraction, the park is now also home to an indoor vintage funfair, a zoo with over 200 different species of animal and extensive indoor and outdoor adventure play areas. New to Folly Farm in 2013 was Penguin Coast, a state-of-the-art saltwater penguin enclosure which is home to 24 Humboldt penguins and was the setting for an unusual proposal of marriage.[1]

Giraffe at Folly Farm

Areas and Attractions

Folly Farm is made up of four areas: a farmyard; a zoo; an undercover vintage funfair, including a Wurlitzer organ;[2] and an 'adventure play' area.

Zoo

The Zoo animal collection includes: Bactrian Camel, bongo, fossa, lemurs, meerkats, the only giraffes in Wales;,[3] lions and Eastern Black Rhinos. The aviaries are home to: parrots, owls, cranes, herons, stocks, Kookaburra, turaco, ibis and lovebirds. The reptile collection includes snakes, tortoises and iguanas.

The Zoo is a member of EAZA and BIAZA taking part in a European breeding program for Eastern Black Rhinos, which are listed as critically endangered animals according to the IUCN red list.[4]

History

Folly Farm started life as a dairy farm. After noticing families stopping by the roadside to pet and watch their cattle, the Folly Farm founders decided to diversify into tourism. In 1988, Folly Farm was born. The former dairy farm was converted to receive visitors; now guests could stop to visit the Folly Farm cows and see them being milked. Over the last 25 years Folly Farm has grown with continued reinvestment. The first zoo animals arrived at the park in 2002.[5]

Further information

Winners of the Wales Tourist Board's 'Best Day Out in Wales' award in 2015, 2010 and 2005.[6] and Pembrokeshire Tourism's 'Best Family Day Out' award in 2009 before taking over sponsorship of the award.

A limited company, owned and operated by the Williams and Ebsworth families, Folly Farm holds Investor in People status and is a major employer in Pembrokeshire with 60 full-time employees and an additional 100 seasonal members of staff.

See also

Notes

  1. "P-p-please will you marry me?". ITV Wales. 4 September 2013.
  2. "Folly Farm Pembrokeshire, A look at the past". ridemad.com. December 30, 2006.
  3. "Camels: one hump or two?". BBC Wales. 13 November 2007.
  4. http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/three-critically-endangered-eastern-black-8662030
  5. "All the fun of the farm". South Wales Evening Post. 2013-06-15. Archived from the original on 2015-08-22. Retrieved 2015-08-22.
  6. "County Scoops Top Accolades in National Tourism Awards". Western Telegraph. 25 October 2010.

External links


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