Date opened 1971 Land area 11 acres (4.5 ha) Annual visitors 200,000 Area 4 ha Number of animals 174 | Location Neath, Wales No. of animals 174 Opened 1971 Date closed September 1998 | |
 | ||
Penscynor wildlife park 1991 and 2016 video footage
Penscynor Wildlife Park was a wildlife and safari park located near Neath in South Wales.
Contents
Penscynor wildlife park last day 1997 8mm video live footage
HistoryEdit
In 1966, Neath builder Idris Hale bought the semi-derelict Penscynor House in Cilfrew. The 11-acre (4.5 ha) grounds then became home to a large collection of exotic parrots and a number of charity days were held in response to public demand to see the birds.
Idris then decided to open the park to the public in 1971. It was launched by TV personality Johnny Morris, of the Animal Magic TV series.
Success followed and it remained in the family's ownership until 1996 when Mr Hale's grandson, Jonathan Hale-Quant, took it over.
The park had annual attendance of 200,000 visitors and employed 18 staff.
InhabitantsEdit
Total 174 animals at time of closure.
ClosureEdit
Since 1998 the park has been abandoned. Starting in 1999, the Northern part of the park was developed into 41 residential units, retaining the children's playground from the zoo and area around it as open space.
Jonathan Quant put Penscynor House up for sale in 2005. Plans for converting it from "residential dwelling (Class C3) to care home for up to 5 residents (Class C2)" were approved on 18 October 2011. Many of the enclosures still existed as of 2012, including the chimp houses and penguin pool. All structures are derelict, and in poor condition.