Colchester Zoo: Information & Latest News

Colchester Zoo's group of Aardvarks celebrated yet another healthy offspring on the 20th March! The group continues to be one of the most successful breeding groups in Europe and the only successful group to breed in the UK.

Colchester Zoo's charity ‘Action for the Wild’ has confirmed that they will be supporting 15 worldwide conservation projects in 2011 to the tune of £200,000.

Colchester Zoo’s charity Action for the Wild is continuing with its funding of black and white rhino conservation in South Africa by sending £5,000 to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi National Park to continue with its important work via Save the Rhino.

Colchester Zoo’s charity Action for the Wild continues its work to support Komodo dragon conservation in the wild.

Action for the Wild, Colchester Zoo’s charity, is thrilled to report on the release of several antelope species at the Umphafa Private Nature Reserve in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

Colchester Zoo is proud to announce success in two of their primate breeding programmes which have resulted in the births of a silvery marmoset and Geoffroy’s marmoset triplets.

After the recent success of breeding Colchester Zoo’s male cheetah, Jack and female, Uria, their three cheetah cubs which were born in July 2011 have been exploring life outside.

As well as being one of the counties most popular tourist attractions, Colchester Zoo is a conservation centre with the aim ‘to raise awareness and empower people to respect and help animals world-wide’.

Thinking of making this Valentines one to remember? Well love is in the air at Colchester Zoo this February half term. From Saturday 11th to Sunday 19th February come along and show how much you love the animals at Colchester Zoo and treat your ...

As part of Colchester Zoo's native species work, bird boxes have been put up around its new nature reserve. The area which was opened in April 2011 is designed to teach zoo visitors more about the wildlife on their doorsteps and also how to care for ...

Colchester Zoo was the first zoo in the country to launch the chance for visitors to be a Zoo Keeper for the Day back in the early nineties and since then many thousands of people have had the opportunity to find out what it is really like to be a ...

Colchester Zoo’s constant programme of development continued apace in 2011 despite a difficult year in terms of attendance the year before. Developments are set to continue into 2012 with a number of new developments already well underway.

Colchester Zoo is delighted to have been named the most popular wildlife attraction in the UK in a recent survey by Which?, the magazine that publishes expert, unbiased information for consumers.

Colchester Zoo's animals have been enjoying playing with redundant fire hoses donated by the 80 strong Fire and Rescue team at London Stansted airport! Animals including the African elephants and Amur tigers at Colchester Zoo have even been getting ...

Colchester Zoo's charity Action for the Wild is continuing to support an Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia and has recently received an update on one of the young orphans rescued back in October, as well as on a recent rescue.

Colchester Zoo's charity Action for the Wild will be supporting a new campaign for threatened species in Southeast Asia spearheaded by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Union ...

A male golden lion tamarin at Colchester Zoo has taken the unusual step of babysitting for the other primates that he shares his enclosure with! The tamarin, named Tom, has taken on the role of babysitter for two silvery marmoset youngsters.

Three keepers at Colchester Zoo, are all in training for the National Three Peaks Challenge. Mick Harrison, Jason Phillips and Glen Fairweather are aiming to raise £1,500 for two conservation projects supported by Colchester Zoo’s charity, Action ...

At a month old, Colchester Zoo's latest baby Aardvark is now on view to visitors having been moved into one of the main burrows at the Aardvark enclosure with its mum. Female Aardvark Oq gave birth to her 7th baby at around 11.30am on the 20th March ...

Colchester Zoo's brand new walkthrough lemur enclosure "Lost Madagascar" is to be opened by Mike Dilger, the wildlife reporter on the BBC's "The One Show" on Saturday 31st March, just in time for the Easter holidays.

Donating to Colchester Zoo's charity Action for the Wild couldn't be easier in future thanks to a new fundraising campaign which has just been launched. The charity supports conservation projects worldwide and a new text campaign will help to make a ...

Computer software that checks an animal’s genetic history to find the best potential mate for it has resulted in the successful birth of a litter of Cheetah cubs at Colchester Zoo!

Colchester Zoo’s newly arrived male cheetah, Jack has been selected as being the most genetically suitable mate for the zoo’s female cheetah, Uria, using a specialist computer programme.

This Halloween the forever popular Shriek Week returns to Colchester Zoo. Why not come along for a fright from the 22nd to 31st October where you can enjoy plenty of spook-tacular fun during the October half-term!

Colchester Zoo is now offering its visitors a modern way to explore the zoo with the new Colchester Zoo app which is available free of charge on iPhone and Android phones.

From March 31st to April 15th 2012 all the Egg-citement is at Colchester Zoo this Easter. Whether you wander through the Easter wonderland, boogie with the Easter bunny, meet the chicks, enjoy the Easter themed live animal show, 'Eggstraordinary ...

The 1st Myland Guides have stepped into the new lemur walk through enclosure at Colchester Zoo to help plant up to 30 edible trees this weekend thanks to the Woodland Trust and Sainsbury's Active Kids.

Come to Colchester Zoo this Christmas for the truly magical ‘Breakfast with Santa Experience’, where children can wake up Santa for his busy day, receive a gift and have exclusive entrance to the zoo before it opens and for the rest of the day.

With enough rain to necessitate the possibility of building an ark it is ironic that the keepers at Colchester Zoo have been conducting their annual stock take of all the animals!

The sealion keepers at Colchester Zoo have bonded so strongly with two of their resident Patagonian Sealions that they can now swim and play with them as if they were members of the sealion group.

Ever wondered what goes on at the zoo after all the visitors have gone home? Well, now you can see for yourself by visiting Colchester Zoo for one of the 12 hour summer spectaculars taking place on June 4th, July 23rd and August 20th, where the zoo ...

As Colchester Zoo’s charity, Action for the Wild, continues work to develop the UmPhafa Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, a leopard has finally been spotted on the reserve after many signs had been recorded indicating that they had been ...

Visit the Magic of Christmas events at Colchester Zoo and see Santa arriving with all his friends to meet everyone in his enchanted Christmas grotto!

Colchester Zoo’s new male baby Aardvark has been named “Scorch” after he picked his name out of a bucket – with a little help from his keepers! His name was decided after all the zoo keeper’s added their best suggestions to a bucket and keepers gave ...

Honey bees have dramatically declined in the UK over the last century and in an attempt to curb this decline Zoo Keeper and Amateur Beekeeper, Richard Hazelgrove is creating a honey bee colony in the zoo’s nature area.

Newly released research conducted by Visit England has shown that Colchester Zoo is amongst the most popular wildlife attractions in the country!

Colchester Zoo’s female meerkat Pippa has successfully given birth to her eighth litter on the 5th September 2011. Pippa who arrived at Colchester Zoo in 2009 has successfully reared seven litters previously with male meerkat Robbie and the three ...

Four ocellate river stingray joined the collection in August 2011 in the Worlds Apart exhibit! The stingray have been named Little Sun, Ringo, Lucky and Dot by their keepers and can be seen hiding amongst the sand at the bottom of the pool, or ...

Colchester Zoo was thrilled to have conceptual animal photographer, Tim Flach at the zoo to photograph Rajang the orangutan for his new book. The book is a visual exploration of the rainforest habitat and stands alone from other wildlife picture ...

Staff at Colchester Zoo have been excited to observe rare red kites in several areas of the park; with the indigenous birds even being viewed observing the falconry display which takes place at the zoo.

Keepers at Colchester Zoo were kept busy over the Easter period with four healthy Humboldt penguin chicks hatching out over April.

By turning the clock back 6 years you can now save a whopping 40% on the peak rate prices when you visit between the 14th November and 31st December!

School children from Montgomery Junior School in Colchester are contributing posters that they have designed for a new classroom at Colchester Zoo as part of a project on Africa and Madagascar.

On the 2nd of July Colchester Zoo will be holding its annual Special Senses Day, a great day out that has been designed to make the zoo fun and accessible for all abilities.

On the 3rd December Colchester Zoo is hosting a Special Senses Santa Day with British Sign Language interpretation for children with hearing impairments that would like to meet Father Christmas. There will also be signing at other Christmas events, ...

Colchester Zoo is pleased to have been able to give a new home to two sun bears, originally rescued from certain death in Cambodia and brought to the UK by the Rare Species Conservation Centre.

Colchester Zoo has received tragic news from the Elephant Orphanage Project which their charity, Action for the Wild, supports. Sadly, two, incredibly brave, Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) officers have been killed after responding to yet another ...

Colchester Zoo’s latest new exhibit, Otter Creek, is now open and houses a group of six smooth-coated otters in a spacious and exciting new home!