If your screen does not print after clicking the button above, simply click on FILE in the top left of your browser menu, then click PRINT
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis
Hale, Milnthorpe,
Cumbria LA7 7BW
Tel: 015395 63027
About Lakeland Wildlife Oasis
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis is to be found at Hale, near Milnthorpe, Cumbria, and is a family attraction boasting all manner of domestic and exotic animal and plant species that can be seen all year round without the chance of the weather intervening. A fun and illuminating family day out is assured, not least as the family attraction is in the heart of the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Yet Lakeland Wildlife Oasis is only five minutes by car to the M6.
A novel combination of exotic wildlife and cutting edge interactive exhibits, a ticket to Lakeland Wildlife Oasis grants holders the chance to journey virtually through 3 billion years of evolution. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis focuses on the emergence of life on Earth, with displays ranging from fossils to computers, along with some of Earth's most endangered species, which are nurtured as part of the facility’s international breeding schemes.
Both a leading family attraction and a conservation pioneer, Lakeland Wildlife Oasis aims to encourage public interest in and appreciation of the environment, while participating in projects designed to conserve wildlife and its natural habitats. Thus, Lakeland Wildlife Oasis is just the ticket for anyone who wants illumination as well as fun on a family day out.
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis relates the story of terrestrial evolution via models and more than two dozen interactive exhibits, over and above the live animals, which include the likes of starfish, snakes, chameleons, monkeys, flying foxes and poison arrow frogs. Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ first hall focuses on the first sparks of life and gives examples of single celled organisms still thriving to this day. Their biology can be explored using microscopes and other features.
Next, Lakeland Wildlife Oasis visitors can enjoy the spectacle of The Aquarium, where projection microscopes focus on various maritime creatures. Among its residents are freshwater and seaborne fish, notably out of the ordinary species such as the bizarre African lungfish and mudskippers, not to mention groups of strange fish that reside as much on land as in the water – not something that you’ll see at just any family attraction! Among the interactive displays is the chance to create a souvenir fossil rubbing.
Tracing the evolutionary trail, Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ Butterfly House presents a mini tropical jungle, brightening a family day thanks to its exotic flying butterflies and insects. A major draw for ticket holders is the colony of South American leaf cutter ants that take leaves, petals and other debris along a suspended rope walkway to their home. There, they nurture their staple diet of mushrooms.
Other standouts at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ Butterfly House include impressive tropical millipedes, tarantulas, stick insects and unusual plants like the giant Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Oleander, passion flowers and palms, further enhancing an enticing and novel family day out.
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ Tropical Hall features jungle vegetation and creatures, among them birds and fruit bats boasting a metre-wide wingspan. The Hall’s interactive exhibits include an opportunity to "Design your own Mammal" and a "Whale Weigh" station. Besides all this, there are a plethora of reptiles like the Lizards lounge residents, an open- enclosure with daily "Meet the Reptile" presentations by the staff, who give ticket holders an opportunity for face to face contact with an iguana, python or chameleon – worth the price of a ticket alone for many.
Amphibians also feature at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ Tropical Hall, not least the planet’s most endangered frogs, notably the minute orange mantellas of Madagascar, the odd axolotls of Mexico, and vivid-hued poison arrow frogs that originate in Central America.
As regards plant life, Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ Tropical Hall includes a magnificent Nepenthes (picture plant), bromeliads and other air plants, orchids, epiphytes (bark growing species) and hibiscus flowers.
Mammals are represented at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis by tree shrews, pygmy marmosets and the planet’s smallest monkey species, whose activities enliven a family day out even further.
Dinosaurs and birds put in an appearance too at the walkthrough Lakeland Wildlife Oasis Aviary, with a star turn being the waldrapp ibis, of which barely 120 still exist in the wild. They share their home with the equally rare Java peafowl, and a host of spoonbills and demoiselle cranes. Smaller aviaries contain other birds such as the very rare pure white Bali starling. For twitchers, it’s worth the price of the ticket alone.
Elsewhere, ticket holders can observe Patagonian hares, muntjac deer, and the rarely spotted fossa - the biggest carnivore from Madagascar. It resembles a puma with an extended tail, used to balance when hunting lemurs in the Malagasy canopy. It's one of the planet’s most endangered species and Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ are the only examples in the north of England. They’re part of an international breeding scheme designed to stop their extinction, as are their co-habiting lemurs.
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis’ recently added South American Safari walkthrough takes in bands of cotton-eared marmosets, squirrel monkeys and agoutis. A further big draw on a family day out to Lakeland Wildlife Oasis are the meerkats that flit about their enclosure underneath a transparent dome, while the monkey house is busy with squirrel monkeys, tamarins and breeding marmosets.
A ticket for a family day out to Lakeland Wildlife Oasis additionally grants access to a children’s animal stamping trail, free parking, the Creature Comforts Café, Gift shop, Picnic areas and disabled access throughout, making it a family attraction for everyone. Further, pre-booked birthday parties provide a touch-tour of the Oasis and a chance to handle some of the more exotic residents. As an extra special treat, visitors can be Keeper for a day, caring for, feeding and interacting with numerous creatures, thereby gaining an insight into the work of a zoo keeper for a fraction of the price levied by many bigger zoos.
Lakeland Wildlife Oasis hosts school visits with a full touch tour in the indoor zones of the Oasis, lasting 90 minutes. An expert guide highlights subjects like species classification and camouflage, with work sheets on hand.
Illuminating but enjoyable exhibits at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis include design your own insect, using a "bugatelle" rolling ball– not something you’ll find on just any family day out! Visitors can even try to gather enough plankton to make a fish finger, follow the Evolution Trail, delve into a tool chest in the walk-through aviary or build their own virtual genes - all making for a great family day out at Lakeland Wildlife Oasis.