Hanwell Zoo

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Hanwell Zoo

Hanwell Zoo - get wild in West London! Hanwell Zoo has been an animal centre in the heart of Hanwell since 1975.
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There are many animals to see, a children's play park, a maze made up of 2000 yews, a wonderful cafe and free parking. The parking is limited, but we are very close to Hanwell station, the E3 and E1 bus stops and we have plenty of bike racks. There are toilets and baby changing facilities available during opening hours. There are lots of activities and events to participate in, so make sure you ch

eck our page often to keep updated. For parties and education sessions or private tours, please contact us for more information.

23/01/2023

13/09/2022

We are all deeply saddened by the recent passing of
Queen Elizabeth II. We will be showing our respects to Her Majesty by closing Hanwell Zoo on Monday, 19th September on the day of her funeral.

30/07/2022

The summer holidays have arrived and so have some new animals to Hanwell Zoo! 🥳🤩🥳

Our male Six-Banded Armadillo has been joined by a female! She has settled in extremely well making full use of the new space, she especially loves rolling around in the sand! 🧡💛🧡

ANOTHER exciting event this summer, is the return of the Hazel Dormouse! Often found asleep, tucked in the top eaves of the enclosure, so keep a keen eye out! Remember to be SUPER quiet!
🥱🙊😴

03/07/2022

Happy World Meerkat Day!

Another beautiful day down at the zoo today ☀️☀️☀️. Our mini mob- Chicu, Stephen, Rex and Titch start these mornings with their bellies facing the sun, helping them to warm up quickly 🥰. Our zookeepers are preparing some special treats as we speak 🪱🪱🪱. Why not pop down to help us celebrate our amazing mob!

01/07/2022

In honour of tomorrow's parade 2022, Hanwell Zoo would love to share the love with our very own rainbow of wildlife.
🐞❤️🦊🧡🐤💛🐢💚🐠💙🦩💜

26/06/2022

EXCITING NEWS this week! Our resident flock of chickens have been joined by this year's clutch of chicks. Pop down to see how they're getting on. They grow up so fast! 🐣🐥🐓

16/06/2022

Can You Spot the Difference (because we can't)

This week is our three male meerkats 9th birthday. These three siblings; Stephen, Rex and Titch arrived from ZSL London zoo eight years ago.

If you can spot the differences in their faces you are doing better than us. Although we see these boys every day, it is their character traits that we tend to rely on to tell them apart.

Stephen is always the first to come for food.
Rex is always on look out peering up at the sky.
Titch is always stretched out, in no hurry to do anything.

When we have to be absolutely sure of who is who we have to rely on the microchip placed just under their skin which contains a number that is unique to each individual. All the mammals at the zoo have these unique identifiers and they will stay with them throughout their lives.

This identification process is even more important now as many of the animals at Hanwell Zoo are part of European breeding programmes and each individual plays an important role in maintaining genetic diversity for threatened species in European Zoos.

09/06/2022

Happy Capy Day

Hanwell Zoo's resident Capybara, Hydro and Tupi, love nothing better than going for a dip in the lake. Capybara are the largest of all the rodents with Hydro and Tupi weighing in at 82 and 71kg respectively.

These incredible animals are highly adapted to a water based life in their South American homeland. Their ears and nostrils are perched high on their head allowing them to relax in the water. Their webbed feet allow them to swim for long periods whilst grazing on aquatic vegetation.

Aquatic gymnastics are not their thing as Hydro demonstrates in the video at 24 seconds in when he leaves the water as only a capybara can.

03/06/2022

Congratulations to HM The Queen on her Platinum Jubilee! 🎉7️⃣0️⃣🎉

In honour of this we would like to share some fascinating facts about Hanwell Zoo's resident Queen. 👑🐜

In every colony of leaf-cutter ants there is ONE queen. The queen ant is the most important! Not only is she the biggest ant, at approximately 2 inches, she can live longer than 20 years. 😲😲😲

Our ant colony works hard to produce a special fungus. The leaves they cut are carried to the nest which are placed in fungal gardens/chambers and used to cultivate this fungus which they then feed on.

The Queen lives in one of these fungal chambers where she lays eggs constantly. She is the only ant permitted to laying eggs and can lay around 150 - 200 million in her lifetime!! Each ant is born with a specific job so once the egg hatches, the Queen's work is done!

Without the Queen the colony will die so even though she's hidden deep inside the nest, our active colony lets us know she's doing great! 💚🐜💚

27/05/2022

Many animals shed their fur/coat naturally when the weather gets warmer. However, our resident pair of alpacas need assistance with this! Once a year Cali and Chile are sheared to maintain good health and welfare. 🦙🥰🦙

We won't tell them but there is quite an amusing change in appearance from their winter look to their summer one. 🙊🙊🙊

20/05/2022

All animals go through changes throughout their lifetimes. Birds especially can change dramatically in physical appearance. Breeding season is in full swing and plenty of our birds have been showing off their colourful feathers! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

One example we have at Hanwell Zoo is the male peafowl. Below we can see the changes one of the peacocks has gone through over the past three years. He has his full plumage for the first time this year, and we must say, it is quite spectacular! 🦚

13/05/2022

Any plans for the warm weather this weekend? Why not pop down to Hanwell Zoo to see how the animals enjoy the sunshine. 🌞🐢🐾

Many animals use the sun to help regulate their body temperature. Sunning or basking are speedy ways to raise body temperature without using very much energy. It also provides them with comfort. 💚☺️💚

03/05/2022

Over the past 2 months we have been busy re-designing different areas of the zoo for you all to enjoy! Look out for some new creatures and plant growth around the site. We'll start you off with the heron and the pangolin, see what else you can find! 🦛🦚🐓🦒

Address

Church Road, Hanwell
London
W7-3BP

Website

https://hanwellzoo.co.uk/

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Videos

Happy Capy Day Hanwell Zoo's resident Capybara, Hydro and Tupi, love nothing better than going for a dip in the lake. Capybara are the largest of all the rodents with Hydro and Tupi weighing in at 82 and 71kg respectively. These incredible animals are highly adapted to a water based life in their South American homeland. Their ears and nostrils are perched high on their head allowing them to relax in the water. Their webbed feet allow them to swim for long periods whilst grazing on aquatic vegetation. Aquatic gymnastics are not their thing as Hydro demonstrates in the video at 24 seconds in when he leaves the water as only a capybara can.

Silvery marmosets enjoying some gum

Many marmoset and tamarin species enjoy eating tree sap. To simulate natural behaviours, our keepers ensure our silvery marmosets have lots of opportunities to enjoy their favourite gum. 🐵💚🌴

Lemurs and their tails! Ring-tailed lemurs are the most recognised species of lemur due to their striking, long, white with black rings tail. There are many fun facts about lemur tails that people might not know. Did you know: • All ring-tailed lemur tails have either exactly 13 or 15 alternating black and white bands. • A ring-tailed lemur’s tail is longer than its body. • They use their tail to help balance them whilst moving through trees. From the video you can see our lemurs like to ‘move it, move it’! As they roam around their space, jumping across their ropes, they remain balanced with their tails raised.