My son loves animals so we’ve spent a lot of time this summer going to Zoos. We’re lucky to have 2 great local zoos in @SouthCambs - first is Shepreth Wildlife Park @SheprethWPark where we saw this cheeky Meerkat but they also have tigers and my own favourite here, the armadillo

Then there’s Linton Zoo @LintonZoo1 where our favourites were the Tapirs and Snow Leopard. These are both great zoos for taking young children around who often don’t have the stamina for larger zoos. Picnics are allowed outside but the play areas are not open.

My boy loves Julia Donaldson’s #TheUglyFive so also gets very excited to see these animals. At @LintonZoo1 you get to tick off the Maribou Stork, which he quite rightly says, is not ugly.

Then slightly further afield is Hamerton Zoo Park @HamertonZoo where we saw our first ever white tigers - a genetic mutation and extinct in the wild - they’re pretty awesome - play area is open here

(We also saw a Aardwolf which briefly features in #TheUglyFive)

A bit further out is the mammoth Whipsnade Zoo @ZSLWhipsnadeZoo which is a firm family favourite - and so large we have to take scooters for the kids to go around. Lots of favourites here but a family favourite are the African Hunting Dogs - play areas not open

We also went to Jimmy’s Farm @JimmysFarmHQ which we’d also highly recommend again especially for younger kids as it’s a very manageable place to get around with little legs and lots to see - we liked these Bactrian Camels - play areas all open

A special shout out for Church Farm in Stow Bardolph @ChurchfarmSB which has a petting animal section which the kids loved. The big kid loved jumping hay bales - play areas outdoors open

Lastly (for now) we went to Colchester Zoo @ColchesterZoo which was really fantastic! Son ticked off some more #TheUglyFive animals with a Kudu, a Hyena and some vultures (though not lappet-faced) and some African elephants! (Woburn and Whipsnade are Asian) play areas open

Our local zoos and wildlife parks really need our support as the impact on them and the animals and conservation work has been severely impacted. All those we visited had one-way systems, lots of social distancing measures and plenty of hand sanitizer everywhere!

If you have other recommendations around this area drop them below!

Oh and we’re missing the Wildebeest to cover off all of the #UglyFive (as well as technically, a lappet-faced vulture)