Keeper Experiences

Looking for unique and memorable animal experience days? Want to do your bit for animal conservation first hand? 

Our Keeper Experience sessions will bring you up close to our fascinating animals and can teach you more about their daily lives and habits.

You’ll work on a one-to-one basis with one of our knowledgeable keepers, giving you plenty of time to ask questions and to tailor your visit to your individual interests.

Wearing your New Forest Wildlife Park t-shirt or baseball cap, you’ll be part of the keeper team, getting to see how everything works behind the scenes.

Participants can choose two animals for a keeper experience, including: 

  • Amazonian Giant Otters – help to feed our otters fish or give them some enrichment to play with

  • Smooth Coated Otters – help to feed our otters fish/crustaceans or give them some enrichment to play with

  • Asian Short Clawed Otters – help to feed our otters fish/meat or give them some enrichment to play with

  • Eurasian Otter – help to feed our otters fish or give them some enrichment to play with (please be aware that Chestnut does not always get out of bed though!)

  • Deer – help to feed with a browse or fruit & veg bucket

  • Bison – help to feed with some browse or veg

  • Pine Marten – help to feed or give some enrichment 

  • Hedgehog – help with some hedgehog care (hibernating Oct-March)

  • Ferrets/Polecats – help to feed our ferrets/polecats or give them some enrichment to play with!

  • Wallabies – help at feeding time (afternoon's)

  • *New* Barn Owl – meet one of our stunning Barn Owls up close

  • *New* Fox – meet Copper and help to feed him or hide enrichment around his enclosure for him to discover (please be aware that Copper does not always get out of bed though!)

Buy an Animal Experience like no other and make yours or your loved-ones year! 

  1. Gold Keeper experience

    Keeper Experience (2)

    Single - £165.00/ Dual - £270.00

    • 16 years+
    • 3 hours with a friendly, knowledgeable, experience Keeper
    • Feeding
    • Enrichment toy
    • On the day admission
    • T-shirt or cap
    • Certificate of participation
    • 50% off adoptions
    • Voucher for drink and snack
    • Annual Pass holders are entitled to 10% off their Keeper experience - please call to receive this discount.
    • 1 supervising adult included for under 18's
    • PPE provided

  2. Silver Keeper experience

    NFWP Lowerres 07121

    Single - £130.00/ Dual - £210.00

    • 10 years+
    • 2 hours with a friendly, knowledgeable, experience Keeper
    • Feeding
    • Enrichment toy
    • On the day admission
    • T-shirt or cap
    • Certificate of participation
    • 50% off adoptions
    • 1 supervising adult included for under 18's
    • Extra supervising adult £75.00
    • Annual Pass holders are entitled to 10% off their Keeper experience - please call to receive this discount.
    • PPE provided

  3. Bronze Keeper experience

    New Forest Keeper Experience

    Single - £85.00 / Dual - £135.00

    • 5 years+
    • 1 hour with a friendly, knowledgeable, experience Keeper
    • Feeding
    • Enrichment toy
    • On the day admission
    • T-shirt or cap
    • Certificate of participation
    • 50% off adoptions
    • 1 supervising adult included for under 18's
    • Extra supervising adult £40.00
    • Annual Pass holders are entitled to 10% off their Keeper experience - please call to receive this discount.
    • PPE provided
Keeper Experience

Animal Experiences

Delve into a world of extraordinary animal experiences and thrilling animal encounters at the New Forest Wildlife Park. 

Keeper experiences are flexible, and range from 1-hour sessions minimum age 5, 2-hour sessions minimum age 10 and 3 hour sessions minimum age 16, depending on your preferences.

Partners and family members are welcome along to the park too, but will not be part of the keeper experiences as this is a one-to-one experience (children have 1 accompanying adult free of charge).  

Please get in touch for more information on our animal experiences. Available all year round, Keeper Experiences make an ideal gift, anniversary or birthday present for family and friends, so contact us to find out more.

We’ll do our best to accommodate your particular needs and to vary your experience, to take in the activities and animals you’re most interested in.

Buy & Book a Keeper Experience

Purchase a Keeper Experience Gift Voucher

Keeper Experiences FAQs

Our keepers are very passionate to share their knowledge with you and will tell you all about the animals, answering your questions whatever your age, knowledge, or ability. Due to the nature of our animals and their individual requirements, close contact or touching of most animals is not permitted.

Closer contact with some of our smaller residents’ animals such as a deer, owl, ferret, or hedgehog may be possible at the keeper’s discretion.

Maximum of 2 participants per experience. Children under 18 must be accompanied by a responsible adult (adult is not included as part of the 2 participants)

Admission is included in the price of the experience for participant/s and accompanying adult/s (if participant under 18).

Accompanying adults are there to support the child(ren) and although they watch experience, they do not take part in feeding/ enrichment making etc.

Experiences still take place in the rain (unless particularly heavy in which case your experience can be re-arranged).

Keeper experiences are done on a one-to-one basis with a friendly animal keeper.

Parts of the Keeper Experiences are visible to other wildlife park visitors as you will be working with our keeper team around the park.

Our animal kitchen does have a lot of food preparation for carnivores and birds of prey such as meat chunks, fish, rodents, and chicken – the animal keeper will be willing to support however involved you wish to be in food preparation and will always offer disposable gloves if necessary.

Specific requirements should be provided when booking.

Our Bronze Keeper Experiences start from age 5, Silver age 10 and Gold age 15.

You will work with at least 2 species that you choose when booking.

You will receive a certificate pack at the end of your experience which includes a voucher that can be redeemed for 50% off an adoption.

Please give us a call on 02380 292408 to discuss.

Please give us a call on 02380 292408 to discuss

NFWP Lowerres 07945

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