Our Wildlife Park
Welcome to Askham Bryan Wildlife & Conservation Park! Opening to visitors in 2017, the wildlife park serves as a hub for the local community, welcoming 20,000 visitors a year as well as hosting schools, young people and other local community groups for tours, talks and workshops. The park is home to over 100 species of mammal, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates – many of which are threatened.
As a member of BIAZA, the wildlife park is part of a group of collections that provide vital education, conservation and research working in the UK and around the world. This ensures we maintain h igh standards, for both our visitors and our students (who are working towards industry relevant qualifications).
Our Arboretum
Askham Bryan Wildlife & Cosnervation Park is home to the college arboretum – a collection of rare and exotic trees from around the world, established nearly
The arboretum includes many fascinating specimens, including:
- Giant redwood (Sequoia sp.)
- Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)
- Twisted hazel (Corylus sp.)
- Indian horse chestnut (Aesculus indica)
- An avenue of Hungarian oaks (Quercus frainetto)
Several of our trees have information boards, written by our horticulture department students.
Our Conservation Work
Conservation is at our heart, and our conservation work includes:
- Membership of the Tansy Beetle Action Group (TBAG), working to conserve the local tansy beetle.
- Tansy beetle Ark sites within the wildlife park and by the college farm.
- Fundraising for the World Land trust ‘Operation Ocelot’, we have successfully purchased a piece of the Atlantic Rainforest the same size as Askham Bryan Wildlife Park, Fundraising for the ‘Shark Trust’ and ‘Painted Dog Conservation’ through our shop initiatives
We also participate in EAZA European Endangered species Programmes (EEPs), including:
- Black lemurs
- White lipped tamarins
- Desertas wolf spiders (2018-19)
Our Education & Research
Our facility is part of Askham Bryan College Animal Management Unit, which provides a curriculum resource for students from Entry Level to MSc.
We also provide learning opportunities to wildlife park visitors, through:
- Schools visits to the wildlife park.
- Our daily talks programme.
- Events and trail sheets.
- Informative signs at all our animal enclosures.
We support research projects undertaken by our students, as well as supporting BIAZA Research Committee endorsed projects through data submission.