The giant otters
More than half of Britain's giant otters, in what the park calls the world's largest collection, with 2025-born cubs that swim after feeding sessions.
More than half of all the giant otters in Britain live in this patch of oak woodland on the eastern lip of the New Forest, about twenty minutes by car from Southampton. A South American river hunter that grows to 1.8 metres and fishes in packs is an odd headline act for a park devoted to British wildlife, but it works: three cubs were born here in August 2025 and you can watch them swim with their older siblings after every feed. Around the otters runs the park's real story, the animals that once roamed these islands and vanished, brought back across some ten hectares of trees: wolves, lynx, European bison, wild boar, wolverine and the Scottish wildcat. Do not arrive expecting a big zoo. The site is small, the paths are woodland tracks, and a full circuit with a pause at every enclosure takes between two and a half and four hours. What lifts it is the daily round of keeper talks: Asian short-clawed otters at 11:00, the deer at noon, then wolverine, lynx and wolves in turn between 14:00 and 16:00 in Wallaby Wood, where the wallabies hop about loose among visitors. Times are approximate and shift, so check the board at the entrance; without them you can walk past the wolf enclosure and see nothing but trees, so plan the visit around them. For Gulf families in the summer holidays it is an easy win: two adventure playgrounds, one for under-sixes, and deep shade even in July. Pushchairs roll fine in dry weather; after rain the tracks turn to mud and the park itself recommends wellies. The Forest Kitchen cafe does simple English snacks, pasties, sandwiches and a Costa coffee station, so bringing your own food is the better plan and picnic areas are welcome. There is no prayer room. Adults pay £17.95, children aged 3 to 15 £13.95, and the family ticket for four at £56.50 saves a useful sum. No date needs booking: an online ticket is valid for any day within 30 days, and you can pay at the gate. Open daily 10:00 to 17:30 in summer and 10:00 to 17:00, or dusk if earlier, from late September to spring, with last entry ninety minutes before closing; the only shut days are 25 and 26 December. From Southampton, drive out on the A35 towards Lyndhurst and follow the brown signs into Deerleap Lane, where parking is free. By train, take the short hop to Ashurst New Forest station and a taxi of £7 to £9; the lane has no pavement and is not a walk for children. Treat it as a half day before or after a drive among the New Forest ponies.
More than half of Britain's giant otters, in what the park calls the world's largest collection, with 2025-born cubs that swim after feeding sessions.
Five talks a day from 11:00 to 16:00; without them you may not see the wolves or lynx at all.
Wallabies roam loose among visitors in the wood that also holds the wolf, lynx and wolverine enclosures.
Deerleap Lane, Longdown, Ashurst SO40 4UH
If you have one zoo day in the area, Marwell is larger and broader. New Forest is smaller and quicker, and its strengths are the giant otters, the British species and the woodland shade, so treat it as a half day paired with a drive through the New Forest rather than a substitute for a full zoo.
Yes, in two steps: a roughly ten-minute train from Southampton to Ashurst New Forest station, then a taxi of £7 to £9 for the three kilometres or so. Do not attempt the walk from the station; the lane is rural with no pavement.