Dudley Zoo

Dudley Zoo has, like many things in the midlands, got a lot of bad press. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not in the same league as some of the more famous zoo’s in the UK but it’s slap bang in the middle of Dudley. I’ve been twice now over the last 6 years and on my second visit I easily noticed a massive improvement in the quality of the enclosures and the general well-​being of the animals.
Being centred around Dudley Castle the zoo is subject to a hefty amount of inclines so be prepared and wear some sensible shoes. There’s plenty of parking and is easy to get to via public transport and at £14 (ish) entry for an adult it’s quite reasonable.
This small, yet perfectly formed, zoo is home to snow leopards, red pandas, all the big cats, primates, reptiles, birds and more including a very chatty raven!
I’d wholeheartedly recommend Dudley Zoo to anybody looking for an animal packed day out in the black country!

Went for life drawing during my time at the University. It’s good place to go and see animals you see on tv from different countries all over the world. For me it was very helpful going and do drawings of animals and you have the Dudley Castle next to it.
Very relaxing, especially on a sunny day. Was a little busy when I went, lots of families having day out. I didn’t know about this place before started University. Bus takes you right opposite the Zoo from city centre. Would love to go again sometime.

Considering we live in the Second City, it’s surprising our nearest zoo is in Dudley. Nevertheless, it’s worth a visit if you venture towards that side of Birmingham.
The zoo is deceivingly small yet houses some wild and exotic animals. You can feast your eyes on lions, camels, monkeys and even penguins. Unfortunately all the animals are not always available to see at the same time, but then I suppose it depends on the time of year.
There’s always some sort of event being held or sessions you could participate in, such as ghost overnight events, «be a zookeeper» experience and feeding times.
They have a restaurant but it only serves hot food until 4.30pm — I wish I had known that rather than prioritising the animals over food! Overall, it’s a great day out but I’m not sure whether the admission price of £13 is appropriate.

Dudley isn’t doing so well; even when I was a nipper it was declining rapidly. You know it’s all gone Pete Tong when McDonalds shuts its doors and moves town. But the one thing Dudley has that other dead towns don’t is a Zoo.
Now if the animals inside the Zoo reflected the town it resides in they would all be dead. That’s not far from the truth; but it’s not all so bad. Animals die just as humans die — Cuddles the whale died and got chopped up. I guess it was due to his size and them not being able to move him…
Anyway…
The first things you see as you enter the Zoo are wall-​mounted pictures of how animals should look and then the gift shop (also where they sell the tickets).
Animals — they have a great selection and, surprisingly, they all look happy and well looked after. Cages seem in good condition and reptiles live in the reptile house, monkeys in the monkey house… you get the idea.
The problem is the Zoo itself; it reflects Dudley so well in the fact that it feels dead; not the animals but the atmosphere. Some kiosks that look 30 years old haven’t been used and now they are decaying. Certain parts of the Zoo have been sectioned off altogether and left to waste away.
As a photographer, I kept noticing spots I’d use as a perfect post-​apocalypse setting for a shoot, but I shouldn’t be thinking that in a Zoo right?
At the top of the Zoo there’s a great castle; there are always events held here such as archery and bird shows. During Halloween they normally have a London dungeon type event that really brings the place to life and brings in a lot of people.
Past the castle is a small café and more animals. Food is a standard school dinner affair and its overpriced but that’s the way it goes in these kind of places (bring a packed lunch). Also, watch out for the peacock outside the café she hates me and always seems very angry when I see her (though I probably deserve it).

I must confess to being slightly skeptical initially about Dudley Zoo. I’d heard all the black country jokes about it.‘come to Dudley Zoo, we’ve got a new hamster!’ and having recently gone to Paignton, Chester and Twycross Zoos i wondered how it would compare to them. I ended up buying a season ticket to the place! (Its a 5 min walk for me!). I’m pleased to say that i’m going as the zoo has turned a corner. Having gone from the start of the year they’ve obviously spent some money on the place (and they’ve just won a major lottery grant to refurbish some of the 1930’s modernist ‘Tecton’ architecture thankfully). The ‘Tecton’ architecture is one of Dudley Zoos main challenges as its listed, of architectial significance but isnt ‘fit for purpose’ for what it was originally designed for, in a modern zoo. However, they seem willing to adapt them to meet different uses. The zoo operates a structured series of talks everyday (the outside /​inside birds of prey flying comes highly recommended as does any of the talks for that matter). My daughter liked the ‘horrible history show’. The lemur walkthrough is fab (you can also have a laugh at the sign next to it that says ‘lions and lemur walkthrough’!). I’m sure once the work is completed (there is also the possibility that the chairlift is about to be refitted according to local press) then it’ll be a 5 star attraction. A really good local day out.

this is great fun for all the family plenty of animals to see, and creatures, lovely walk and there are hours of fun before you leave for home, it is very expencive though.

My daughter has her birthday party in March 2007. The place was disgusting. There was slimy mould on the walls of the party room, pools of water on the floor with electrical cables sitting in it and the highchairs were right next to the mould ridden walls. The food was inadequate and the manager was very short when asked for a few extra sandwiches for the children. There was nowhere in the room for them to wash their hands after staff had bought in the animals, they had to run to a building, it was pouring with rain and one of the children fell and hurt her knee. It was that bad we actually went to the paper with it. It cost in excess of £100 and was a complete waste of money