Peak Wildlife Park is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

in central England. The nearest towns are Leek, Ashbourne and Stoke-on-Trent. The zoo was originally known as Blackbrook Zoological Park, but entered administration in 2014 and closed. It was purchased by Jake Veasey and Colin MacDougall and reopened under its current name in 2015.

History

Blackbrook Zoological Park was established in 1991 by Diana Holloway and her son, Mark Rubery. Holloway was already experienced in running a wildlife visitor attraction, having owned and run Hillside Bird Oasis in

Mobberley Mobberley is a village in Cheshire, England, between Wilmslow and Knutsford, which in 2001 had a population of 2,546, increasing to 3,050 at the 2011 Census. Mobberley railway station is on the Manchester to Chester line. Manchester Airport lie ...

, Cheshire since 1974. Blackbrook quickly developed into a large bird collection in its own right. Following Diana Holloway's death in 2006, running of the zoo passed to her son Mark. Development and expansion continued in subsequent years: in 2006, a new entrance, gift shop and café were constructed, and in 2008, a £500,000 penguin exhibit was added. Hillside Bird Oasis was forced to close to the public in 2002 following complaints from local residents over increasing traffic levels, but it was still maintained by the owners as a private breeding facility. In 2008 the zoo became a charity and begun to focus on conservation and education. The zoo received no government grants. Blackbrook held over 200 species of bird and around 40 mammals and reptiles. It had large collection of cranes, pelicans, and waterfowl. Some of the animals that were exhibited are listed below:

Birds

Humboldt penguin The Humboldt penguin (''Spheniscus humboldti'') is a medium-sized penguin. It resides in South America, its range mainly contains most of coastal Peru. Its nearest relatives are the African penguin, the Magellanic penguin and the Galápagos pen ...

* Grey peacock-pheasant *

Great argus The great argus (''Argusianus argus'') is a species of pheasant from Southeast Asia. It is not to be confused with the two species of closely related crested argus, genus ''Rheinardia''. Taxonomy Carl Linnaeus gave the great argus its speci ...

Siamese fireback The Siamese fireback (''Lophura diardi''), also known as Diard's fireback, is a fairly large, approximately long, pheasant. The male has a grey plumage with an extensive facial caruncle, crimson legs and feet, ornamental black crest feathers, re ...

Boat-billed heron The boat-billed heron (''Cochlearius cochlearius''), colloquially known as the boatbill, is an atypical member of the heron family. It is the only member of the genus ''Cochlearius'' and was formerly placed in a monotypic family, the Cochlearii ...

* Magellanic steamer duck * African spoonbill * Hammerkop * Red-crowned crane * White naped crane * Sarus crane *

Wattled crane The wattled crane (''Grus carunculata'') is a large bird found in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. It is sometimes placed in the monotypic genus ''Bugeranus''. Taxonomy The first formal description of the wattled crane was by the German nat ...

* Demoiselle crane *

Black-necked crane The black-necked Crane (''Grus nigricollis'') is a medium-sized crane in Asia that breeds on the Tibetan Plateau and remote parts of India and Bhutan. It is 139 cm (55 in) long with a 235 cm (7.8 ft) wingspan, and it weighs ...

Sandhill crane The sandhill crane (''Antigone canadensis'') is a species of large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird refers to habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills on ...

Mammals

* Meerkat * Black and white ruffed lemur *

Visayan warty pig The Visayan warty pig (''Sus cebifrons'') is a critically endangered species in the pig genus ('' Sus''). It is endemic to six of the Visayan Islands (Cebu, Negros, Panay, Masbate, Guimaras, and Siquijor) in the central Philippines. It is know ...

Wallaby A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and som ...

* Maneless Zebra * Brown Lemur *

Flemish Giant Rabbit Not to be confused with the Continental Giant rabbit The Flemish Giant rabbit is the largest breed of domestic rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus''). Flemish Giants are historically a utility breed used for their fur and meat. They are ...

Patagonian mara The Patagonian mara (''Dolichotis patagonum'') is a relatively large rodent in the mara genus ''Dolichotis''. It is also known as the Patagonian cavy, Patagonian hare, or dillaby. This herbivorous, somewhat rabbit-like animal is found in open and ...

* Ring-tailed lemur *

Cameroon Sheep The Cameroon or Cameroon Dwarf is a Cameroonian breed of domestic sheep. It belongs to the West African Dwarf group of breeds. Some have been exported to Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its o ...

African Pygmy Goat The American Pygmy is an American list of goat breeds, breed of achondroplastic goat. It is small, compact and stockily built. Like the Nigerian Dwarf, it derives from the West African Dwarf (goat), West African Dwarf group of breeds of West Af ...

* Valais Blacknose Sheep *

Dik-Dik A dik-dik is the name for any of four species of small antelope in the genus ''Madoqua'' that live in the bushlands of eastern and southern Africa. Dik-diks stand about at the shoulder, are long, weigh and can live for up to 10 years. Dik- ...

* Otter * Polar Bear

Notes

External links

* {{authority control Zoos in England Tourist attractions in Staffordshire Tourist attractions of the Peak District Buildings and structures in Staffordshire Zoos established in 1991 1991 establishments in England