Who’d have thought they’d have Zebras, Monkeys, Lions and Leopards just up the road from here eh? Pictures in The Gallery.

Oh, it was the Cotswold Wildlife Park. I spent a couple of years working a few miles down the road, drove within spitting distance of it on the way home, and never once registered its exist­ence. It took my mother (who lives about 130 miles from me) to a) point out that it exists and b) drag me there. Glad I went though — its not every day that you get to see White Rhino and eat/drink slush puppies.

I should point out that Great Grey Owls are very sinis­ter looking creatures in real life (as opposed to the quite friendly looking speci­men on that page). They seem to belong in some sort of gothic horror film. Perhaps that’s not too surpris­ing, consid­er­ing their native habitat is the dark and remote forests of Alaska and Lapland.