Secret Valley Wildlife Park
Secret Valley Wildlife Park
Secret Valley Wildlife Park is the only Wildlife Park in the South East of Ireland. Ann O’Connor and her husband, John set up the original farm a few years ago and it has since grown from strength to strength. The passion that Ann and her staff have for the animals and environment is clearly evident from the moment the visitor is welcomed into the grounds.
With fourteen areas of beautiful countryside, the Park has plenty of room for expansion and plans are already being put into place for 2013. We have a great range of animals at the Wildlife Park such as raccooons, lemurs, rabbits, goats, donkeys. horses, alpacas, llamas, guinea pigs, prarire dogs, skunks and more. Activities are aplenty from riding ponies, arts & crafts, riding on a quad-bike, feeding kid goats, treasure hunts etc.
The ultimate goal is to finalise the transformation from Wildlife Park to a fully-fledged Zoo with a strong emphasis on the conservation and enrichment of animals from all over the world. Winter 2012 saw the arrival of some rescued seals after the Irish Seal Sanctuary issued a nationwide call for volunteers. We decided to help any seals in need as Secret Valley is strongly committed to conservation. Seals are a protected species under the 1976 Wildlife Act.
Education
Here at Secret Valley, we pride ourselves in bringing the animal world to the children with a hands-on, friendly and fresh approach. The background environment is one of learning while the children experience new surroundings, different animals and are free to roam and enjoy our beautiful Wildlife Park.
For schools and kid groups, we offer the following:
At The Park
Kids will always get excited about a field trip, and Secret Valley Wildlife Park offers an environment that is fun, unique, and educational. Additionally, at the Park your students will have the ability to interact with wildlife many of them likely haven’t ever seen in person before. Here are a few examples of the activities that allow them to do so:
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Goat Feeding – Children have the opportunity to feed young goats with bottles.
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Animal Handling – Children can interact with and handle some of the reptiles and smaller animals at the park.
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Lemurs – Children get a chance to meet lemurs, often the most exciting of the animals for kids.
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Meeting our Rescue Seals – Children receive a thrilling and new experience observing these beautiful sea creatures and getting each of the seal’s own individual background rescue story
In The Classroom
We also conduct visits to classrooms, with our newly established programme featuring our small animals. This programme offers the opportunity for the children in your classes to interact with any of the insects and wildlife from the Park small enough, and able, to be transported – all within the classroom! This is a wonderful way to bring some exciting nature and science into your classroom. A few of the small animals include snails, lizards, and in some cases even the lemurs!!