BCA Zoo

BCA Zoo is a college run Zoo open to members of the public at weekends and school holidays for prebooked tours and encounters.

In August 2015, the BCA Animal Management Centre was awarded its first ever zoo license and with that BCA Zoo was ‘born’. A huge amount of hard work, commitment and investment went into the development of the zoo and that was reflected in the glowing feedback from our first inspection. Shortly after obtaining our license, the zoo became full members of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and

Aquariums (BIAZA) which outlined our commitment to having the best standards possible for our animals, students and visitors. BCA Zoo is now home to over 100 species of animal ranging from scorpions to lemurs. A number of the species housed at the zoo are at risk in the wild and are part of European Endangered Species Programmes (EEP’s) which include our critically endangered Bali starlings, Slow loris and Desertas wolf spiders. BCA Zoo is first and foremost an education and training centre for our students and as such, we only offer public encounters and events on a pre-booked basis during weekends, bank holidays and student term breaks. When visiting, you will have the opportunity to look around our zoo courtyard which houses the majority of our mammals and birds. Here you will be able to see species such as Meerkats, Squirrel monkeys and Lemurs. The zoo also has a nocturnal room where you will be able to observe animals in the dark when they would naturally be most active. You can find the small Spotted genet and our Armadillo living here. The exotics house is home to our diverse collection of reptiles and invertebrates. A number of the species are on public display like our Cuban rock iguana and Elongated tortoises but if you want the opportunity to see much more then look into booking onto one of our fantastic Reptile Encounters.

24/09/2024

No plans for Saturday? Looking for something to do?
Come visit us at the Zoo!
We still have tickets available for our last Family Zoo Day of the year.
Explore the Zoo, Reptile House and Farmyard at your own pace, plus our cafe will be open, and we will have our fabulous face-painter onsite too.

📅 Saturday 28th September 2024
⏱ 09:00 - 12:00 or 13:00 - 16:00

Tickets are just £9pp (under 3's are free and don't need a ticket).
https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/

27/07/2024

For anyone attending our Family Zoo Day today…. We are really sorry but unfortunately due to staffing our cafe is not open. You are more than welcome to bring along picnics to eat onsite. We apologise for the inconvenience.

27/06/2024

We have still got tickets available for this Saturday's Family Zoo Day! Come and see our new fledgling Bali Starling chicks along with all the other residents.
Tickets are just £9pp (under 3's are free and don't need a ticket).
https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/

20/06/2024

The Birds are out of the nest!
We have some very eggciting news here at BCA Zoo as our 3 critically endangered Bali Starlings have finally fledged!

The blue eggs were laid back in March by mum Siabang after the pair were introduced at the end of last year. This is fantastic news for the conservation of their species as back in 2001 there were just 6 of these birds left in the wild. Through the fantastic conservation work being done out in Bali along with breeding programmes in Zoos this is now estimated to have risen to 450 birds found throughout national parks in Bali.

17/05/2024

Calling all Photographers aged 12+.
We have had a last minute cancellation for one space on tomorrow mornings session!
Come and spend 3 hours from 9:00 - 12:00 meeting all of the animals at BCA Zoo whilst perfecting your shot.
Louise our photography expert will be on hand to help you capture the perfect memories.
The space is £60 pp and if you are booking for someone under 16 an adult will need to stay with them for the duration but will not be able to go into any of the enclosures.
https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/photography-morning/

02/05/2024

Happy Birthday to our beautiful skunk Jasper 🦨. One of our wonderful visitors (who also adopts Jasper) turned up at the weekend with his favourite enrichment… SOIL! We filled the tray with all his favourite bugs and fruit and he spent hours digging around which is great enrichment making Jasper use his super sense of smell and powerful claws.

24/04/2024

We are open this Saturday for our next Family Zoo Day.
Come and spend the morning or afternoon exploring the Zoo, Reptile House and Farmyard for just £9pp.
Our cafe will be open and we will have our amazing face-painter onsite.
You can purchase tickets online at https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/ 🐍🐵🦗

14/03/2024

Yesterday we visited Rivermede Court Care Home to arrange some exciting activities in the near future.

The residents had made these amazing hedgehog books for World Book Day that work perfectly as enrichment for all the animals 🦔📚.

We hid lots of wriggly worms in the pages that meant the monkeys, meerkats and chickens spent ages turning the pages.🙊

06/03/2024

The Lemurs are finally spending time outside now the sun is starting to come out!
In just over three weeks we have got our first Family Zoo Day running on the 30th of March.
Come and spend the morning or afternoon visiting all of the animals.
We will also have our marvellous mini beasts for you to get up close with, colouring and games, face painting and the cafe will be open for refreshments.
Tickets are just £9 pp and can be purchased online at https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days

03/03/2024

Thank you so much to the people who donated potted Christmas trees earlier this year 🥰🥰🥰.
They ended up being planted in the lemurs garden who absolutely love them ♥️.
Not only have they been nibbling the ends it has provided hours of sniffing, scent marking and a perfect place for keepers to hide their dinner.

We have got our first Family Zoo Day on the 30th of March if you want to come and visit all the animals who are slowly emerging as we get our first glimpses of spring 🌼🌸🌺🪷🪻

Zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/

28/02/2024

Due to a last minute cancellation we do have one space available this Sunday for a Zookeeper Experience at 9:00 am!
If you are looking for a wholesome way to spend your Sunday Morning feeding some amazing animals you can book online now using the link below. 🐵🐸🦦

BCA Zookeeper Experience: Spend three hours experiencing what it’s like … Continued

08/02/2024

We are now taking applications for Work Experience placements for summer 2024.

Berkshire College of Agriculture is offering voluntary work experience placements over two 3-week periods running from the 15th of July – 4th of August and the 5th of August – 25th August. Aimed at those looking to gain practical experience working in a progressive animal facility we will be offering roles on our Zoo, Ectotherm, Companion and Domestic sections. Applicants must be aged 18+ to apply
If you are interested please email [email protected] for the full role descriptions and application form.

08/02/2024

Calling all science presenters!

Come and join us at BCA Zoo on the 28th of February 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm where we will be hosting the next regional meet up.

Attendance is free you just have to sign up to the Presenter Network and this session we will be exploring the topic of engaging mixed audiences.

More information and sign up at
https://scienceoxford.com/the-presenter-network/

25/01/2024

The days are getting longer and Spring is slowly on the way.
Our Family Zoo Days will be running on the last Saturday of each month March - September.
Family Zoo Days give you 3 hours to explore the Zoo, Farm and Reptile House along with lots of other little activities on the day.
Tickets are onsale now at https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/

If you are looking for tickets to any of our other activities dates for March and April will be released on the 7th of February at about 10:00 am.

05/01/2024

POTTED TREES WANTED 🌲
It is already time to take down the Christmas decorations and whilst our cut trees this year are being donated and dropped off by the wonderful Alexander Devine Charity we are still in need of any unwanted POTTED TREES.

These will be used in our Scottish Wildcat Enclosure once it is built and will make them feel like they are at home in the pine woods of Scotland.

If you have a potted tree you would like to donate and able to drop off we are offering 2 FREE Zoo Tour tickets or Family Zoo Day Tickets to be used anytime in 2024.

If you are local and unable to drop it off please get in contact as we may be able to collect.

Potted trees can be dropped off at the Zoo any day 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, please leave your name with a member of Zoo staff and then email us once you have dropped it off to claim your free tickets.

Alvie our Scottish Wildcat says Thank You!!

28/12/2023

We have got some last minute tickets still available to meet the Meerkats on New Years Eve!!
This is the last date to grab them at our 2023 prices and what better way to see out the year than spending it at the Zoo!
Tickets can be purchased online at https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/meerkat-encounters/

16/12/2023

For anyone looking for something to do today we have tickets available on the door for our Christmas Family Zoo Day!!🎄🎁
Come and watch the animals get some early Christmas presents and visit our Rabbits who are usually off show 🩷❤️🧡💛💚

There are also lots of mini activities going on from Meerkat Christmas cracker making to Rabbit fishing all to raise money to buy the animals some extra special presents (small additional cash donation)

🦨🦝🦦🐌

13/12/2023

Every year we take part in the BIAZA secret Santa.
This is where lots of BIAZA Zoos will swap gifts to spread some festive cheer. Here's a video of keepers Sam and Ross opening our gift.

Thank you to Askham Bryan Wildlife & Conservation Park for the lovely presents 🥰🥰🥰

Address

BCA Zoo
Maidenhead
SL66QR

Telephone

+441628827571

Website

http://zoo.bca.ac.uk/

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Videos

We are open this Saturday for our next Family Zoo Day. Come and spend the morning or afternoon exploring the Zoo, Reptile House and Farmyard for just £9pp. Our cafe will be open and we will have our amazing face-painter onsite. You can purchase tickets online at https://zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/ 🐍🐵🦗

Thank you so much to the people who donated potted Christmas trees earlier this year 🥰🥰🥰. They ended up being planted in the lemurs garden who absolutely love them ♥️. Not only have they been nibbling the ends it has provided hours of sniffing, scent marking and a perfect place for keepers to hide their dinner. We have got our first Family Zoo Day on the 30th of March if you want to come and visit all the animals who are slowly emerging as we get our first glimpses of spring 🌼🌸🌺🪷🪻 Zoo.bca.ac.uk/encounters/family-zoo-days/

Every year we take part in the BIAZA secret Santa. This is where lots of BIAZA Zoos will swap gifts to spread some festive cheer. Here's a video of keepers Sam and Ross opening our gift. Thank you to Askham Bryan Wildlife & Conservation Park for the lovely presents 🥰🥰🥰 #biazasecretsanta2023