Beale Park opens its doors for the new season
19 March 2008
Beale Park at Lower Basildon in Berkshire has opened for the start of a new season with a variety of new attractions including: animal exhibits, landscaped gardens, wildflower meadows, an education room and even an elephant!
New for 2008, the animal staff have created three new enclosures. The New Zealand Islands exhibit which will become home to a family of Wallabies and Arapawa Goats. A Small African Mammals enclosure which has been purpose built to enable visitors to spot the Yellow Mongoose (and hopefully, some Bat Eared Foxes when they arrive later in the season) from a raised walkway – while the third enclosure goes to Peggy-Sue and Boris, the Capybara’s who are new to the wildlife park and which have taken up residence at the end of Pampas Walk.
Another new addition, is the arrival of the Park’s first baby elephant. Visitors can see the elephant as they cross the bridge next to the Waterfall. The four foot high, bronze statue is set to cause quite a stir as he squirts water from his trunk at regular intervals and compliments the Park’s collection of unusual sculptures.
Even the entrance to the Park has had a make-over for the start of season, with landscaped gardens and a re-developed ticket office to greet visitors as they enter the Park to discover more landscaped areas within.
Beale Park Director, Nick Bailey says “The new season sees the introduction of new attractions as we enter the second phase of our re-development programme to enhance our visitor’s experience.
“As a charity, we are reliant upon donations, takings on the gate and funds raised from events held in the Park. Now in our fourth year of re-development, the Park has changed considerably with many new species, new features and the continued development of our conservation projects.”
Nick continued “2008 has seen the creation of two wild flower meadows, as part of our conservation initiative. Each season will see a new stage of development in the meadows – something that everyone can enjoy as the meadow tells the story of ecology - the flowers attract insects which are important in plant life cycles and in turn are a sauce of food for birds and other animals.”
Also new for 2008 is the introduction of a self-tutoring education room. Due to open in April, it is designed to help children recognise and learn about the wildlife in the Park. Themes zones and a collection of worksheets will encourage children to find out more about the animals, conservation and plants that they see at Beale Park.
Questions? Comments?
Donna Hatchett, Marketing Manager Beale Park, The Child-Beale Trust, Lower Basildon, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 9NH Tel: 0118 9767489 Email: donna.hatchett@bealepark.co.uk