Manor House Wildlife Park


Manor House Wildlife Park is a zoo located in Pembrokeshire, Wales, just north of the village of St Florence. It was bought in 2008 by television presenter Anna Ryder Richardson and Colin MacDougall and is more recently known as Manor Wildlife Park.

Animal exhibits

Large animals include Southern White Rhino, oryx, Damara Zebra, tapir, camel, llama and Sumatran tigers; there are also smaller wild animals such as red panda, meerkat, wallaby and four species of lemur, and a variety of birds, principally ostrich, emu, rhea and guinea fowl.

Endangered species

As well as the endangered Sumatran Tigers, Siamang gibbons and Ring tailed lemurs, the park is home to the white rhino "Zamba", one of three Southern white rhino at the park, and the first to be bred from artificial insemination in the UK. Red Ruffed lemurs are also critically endangered, according to IUCN, and are part of the zoo's collection. In 2015 the park learned that they had been allocated a pair of critically endangered Sumatran tigers to support the European Endangered Species Programme. In 2018, the park welcomed two endangered red panda sisters from Odense Zoo in Denmark, they now live in their own little forest in the heart of the park.

History

In 2002 the park was called Manor House Wild Animal Park and included a museum, souvenir shop and restaurant as well as animal exhibits.
TV presenter and property developer Anna Ryder Richardson and her then husband Colin MacDougall took over the zoo in 2008 when it was in a "dilapidated" state and spent seven months renovating the park.
In March 2012, it was announced that Richardson and her husband were to be prosecuted over alleged breaches of health and safety legislation after a mother and child were injured by a falling branch. Subsequently, charges against Richardson were dropped but her husband and the zoo pleaded guilty to four charges and were fined a total of £74,000, plus costs.

Facilities

Facilities include a cafe, indoor play facilities, bouncy castle and educational support programmes for teachers and pupils.

Cultural references

In television
Anna Ryder Richardson made a video diary of the redevelopment of the zoo which became the TV film Chaos at the Zoo, narrated by Ruth Jones. Among the animals featured was a pair of endangered Siamang gibbons.