Telford’s Hoo Zoo gets around 90,000 to 100,000 visitors per a year, and is celebrating being ranked highly for another year by TripAdvisor.
This is great news for the zoo which is gearing up for a special May Bank Holiday weekend of festivities to celebrate its 35th birthday.
From Saturday to Monday (May 2 to 4) the zoo will host a ‘Big Birthday Bash’ and visitors are encouraged to come along to see the zoo’s popular walkthroughs and attractions.
“Without our visitors, ultimately, we’d be nothing so we appreciate that more than anything,” owner Will Dorrell told the Shropshire Star.
He continued: “We’re delighted, the entire team has worked very hard to make sure that provide as good a day out for people as possible. Obviously, still caring for the animals that we look after.
“It’s nice to know that we’ve beaten a lot of the bigger zoos. It hopefully shows that people are looking for something a little bit different, a more personal touch that perhaps we can provide that the big zoos can’t.
“When you visit us, you’re not going to find state-of-the-art massive buildings and paved paths. Hopefully what you are going to find is something that tickles that family feeling.”
“Obviously [we’re] now in our 35th year. I’ve got two young kids myself, I’ve literally grown up here so we know how important it is for people, and what people are looking for in a day out.
The zoo has just under 300 hundred animals in total, the “most famous” one being Cinnamon the capybara who famously went missing for a week in September 2024.
Cinnamon is back home and the zoo has lots of other fantastic animals worth visiting.
Will Dorrell shared 10 reasons why he thinks you should visit Hoo Zoo in Telford:
9. Lots of experiences are on offer at the zoo
The zoo offers personalised experiences for young children to meet a variety of local and exotic animals. They can do this by booking an 'experience' where they can play zoo keeper for half a day. | STEVE LEATH / ICONIC MEDIA
10. Immersive walkthrough habitats such as the zoo's lemur walk
From ring-tailed lemurs to Black and White Ruffed Lemur there are lots of lemurs to get close with at Hoo Zoo. The place offers a one hour experience where you can feed the animals. | STEVE LEATH / ICONIC MEDIA