Sandown, Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Zoo

Having been to the Isle of Wight Zoo a few times over the last 15 years this time I was most dissapointed. It started with being charged to park? why? They said to stop beach visitors parking there which is rubbish as they could have refunded the whole £3 when I bought my tickets. They do refund £1 but as I paid nearly £38 entrance i thought parking should be free like most other attractions with its own parking.

the Zoo is well run down, over grown area's make it hard to spot the animals and some of the big cats look in poor condition. the reptile area is all but gone. We found some exhibits that contained no animals or maybe they were just so overgrown we could'nt see them.

I really feel the Zoo is doing itself a diservice by hitting the car driver, as it is a Island with a lot of holiday makers using the car it is hitting its core customer and that cannot be right when so many other attractions have free parking.

We visited the zoo as a family and really enjoyed our visit. As previous reviewers have said it does mainly focus on Tigers and Lemurs and some monkeys. We visited about 4 years ago and there were more species but these have now gone. They are obviously continuing to redevelop all the time with some rebuilding in evidence. There is a lovely cafe selling well priced and homecooked local food and a simple but popular climbing frame and toddler swings just outside. There is a special price for Island residents of £5 if you bring proof. Overall it is a small zoo with a focus on just a few species, with lots of educational information about the animals and good facilities.

Once inside the zoo I found it to be very scruffy. The grass doesn't look like it has ever been cut and the enclosures were the same. I could hardly see some of the animals for the long grass and weeds inside the enclosures. There was also litter inside the enclosures like empty coke bottles. Around the outside of the fences there is a line of shrubs thich makes if difficult for small children to see the animals without having to be lifted up. The zoo buildings are run down and one of the doors was held shut by a plank leaning against it.

The tigers looked very bored. I only saw one enclosure with something in there to stimulate them mentally. The rest looked very bored.

I wouldn't really call this a zoo as it was more of a tiger and monkey sanctury as thats really all they had.

The bug handling was also a bit of a disapointment. Children had to sit on a dirty floor while a keeper handed round a stick insect. That was it. They told us not to bother with the Jeepers creepers bit as it wasnt very good.

I was also spoken to like a piece of s**t by one of the keepers.

All in all this is the scruffiest zoos have ever seen and couldn't be more dissapointed.

The first time I went to the Isle of Wight Zoo in Sandown was about three years ago and I was disgusted at what I saw. There were parrots with no feathers that were tied to perch's, there were three to four tigers in a cage that was no bigger than my living room they had room and enough water to dip your toe in. I hadn't been back to the Isle of Wight for a long time and revisited the zoo. I was so over joyed to see the improvement on what I had seen before. The animals looked happy and healthy, I just want to say well done to everyone that has made this zoo a much better place to visit. It was really an educational visit a really good day out. Could do with a few more species other than tigers

Huge improvement to what I had seen before

This Zoo is well worth a visit for the Big Cats alone. It is easy to find with plenty of free parking and faces on to Sandown Bay, being separated from the beach only by the main road.

Photography-friendly but with wire to be focussed out on most enclosures.

Hot food and drink can be bought at reasonable prices and there are good washroom facilities.

We have visited the Isle of Wight Zoo twice now (visits a year apart) and a great deal of work has been done between visits.

The main focus is on Big Cats and they really are well worth seeing.

I have no doubt that this Zoo will go from strength to strength.