British Wildlife Centre

This is a private collection rather than a zoo. It has restricted opening to the public, and is more geared for group tours, school tours and so on.

One of the options is Mammal Watch - up to three hours spent in any combination of animal enclosures to photograph, draw or just sit with the animals. Folding chairs are provided. Naturally, I sat in the otter enclosure for my whole three hours. It was amazing. These animals are not really tame, and you are left entirely alone, at your own risk, so it is an unusual encounter. I sat very still and eventually the otters came to investigate what was going on. They watched me from the cover of the reeds, and from under the bank. The male would swim round the enclosure and creep up the bank, gradually coming closer and closer on each circuit. Any movement or sound and they would vanish silently. Near the end of my three hours, the male had sniffed my shoes, though the female stayed in the water. In fact, of course, I could have been bitten if I had acted unwisely, but that is the risk you take in any close encounter with animals.

It is a very quiet and peaceful place. The owner went off and got on with his work, and all I could hear was birds and so on (apart from aircraft coming and going - the place is very near Gatwick Airport).

I found it a quite magical experience. It is only available to adults, and is not always possible, so I was lucky. There are lots of other activities, though - see their web site for more information. The centre specializes in hosting film crews working on natural history programmes, and has been on television several times.

There is quite a large carpark, but because it is not really a public attraction, there is more of the air of a working farm about it than slick marketing. I believe a small gift shop is open on public days, and some of the guided tours include a cream tea.

The centre is off the A22, between Junction 6 of the M25 and Lingfield, in Surrey.

I last visited the centre in June 2001