From now until 7th January 2019, visitors at Twycross Zoo will have the chance to explore the world-famous Great Brick Safari with over 70 life-sized LEGO brick animals, showcasing 27 different species across the zoo. Twycross Zoo is set in an 80-acre site, caring for around 500 animals from over 125 species, located amongst the rural countryside in the heart of England, Leicestershire and it is easily accessed from major roads and motorways.
They are home to one of the largest primate collections in Europe and the only place in the UK, and one of four worldwide, where visitors can see all four types of Great Ape (gorilla, orangutan, chimpanzee and bonobo) as well as a wide collection of gibbons.
We were so thrilled to visit the zoo as it was our first time visiting this place. Not only that, we are big fans of LEGO and so we were delighted to be able to witness a lot of incredible Great Brick Safari sculptures around the zoo!
The World Famous Bordon-based LEGO brick building company, Bright Bricks, used a total of 882,339 LEGO bricks for the animal sculptures and they have a combined weight of just over 5,389.5kg! That is equivalent to seven full sized-female giraffes!
As soon as we entered the zoo, there was a unique LEGO brick Safari Jeep that allowed us to capture a photo!
Among them, you will find a four metre tall elephant named Earl Grey which weighs 1,210kg and made from 271,739 bricks! It was a very impressive sculpture!
You can also find a roaring Bengal tiger, a majestic lion with his playful cubs and a showcasing of the vibrant world of butterflies. Swords, harpoons, levers and even snow-shoes are used to replicate these distinctive shapes, adding incredible, novel details to these amazing creatures! There are so many LEGO sculptures to look at!
As I mentioned earlier in the post, this was our first time visiting, and we were very well impressed with the layout of the zoo and also the living conditions for the animals. The animals have plenty of room to roam around and in a clean environment. The zoo is a conservation charity fighting to save endangered species and over 80% of babies born at Twycross Zoo in 2017 were from species that form part of the European Endangered Species Programmes (EEPs) & European Studbooks (ESB) breeding programmes.
We had a bit of excitement during our visit – one of the giant tortoises made a really slow motion escape from its enclosure! It was a truly fantastic experience and a scary one too! We had to call in the zookeepers before this giant tortoise made a slow getaway, which he did! Watch here and see this clever tortoise climb over the rocky enclosure.
We also went into the Lorikeet Landing to feed those beautiful rainbow lorikeets in the large walk-through aviary. It only costs a £1 to buy a nectar pot for the lorikeets at the counter. Please do note that you won’t be able to feed them between 12-1pm. As we were the first to feed the birds, there were a few hungry ones and it was such a pleasant experience.
The zoo has a list of activities and daily talks across the day, so do make sure you plan it well! Little ones from aged three to ten will have a chance to enjoy an off-road adventure in their new safari cars at a fee, which you can book online, at the pay booths or at Guest Services.
If you are just passing by the area, you can pop into Twycross Zoo’s Himalaya Centre which offers a spacious 300 seat all-day restaurant with views overlooking a Himalayan landscape enclosure for snow leopards, corporate facilities, a gift shop and a soft play attraction and is open until 9pm on Fridays. Plus for a small fee, visitors can even build and take home their very own LEGO brick animal. Ms C was very pleased to make this Frankenstein LEGO!
We all had a great time visiting the zoo and were very impressed with it. We will definitely come back again. There are many outdoor and indoor play areas catering for different ages. Also plenty of sitting areas, restaurants and gift shops around.
Twycross Zoo is open to the public from 10am to 6pm, 364 days a year. For further information and to save 10% off tickets, book online today at www.twycrosszoo.org or call 0844 474 1777.
Disclosure: We were invited to attend the Press event in exchange for our honest review, however, all thoughts and opinions remain our own.
