British Wildlife Centre

My destination today was the British Wildlife Centre near Lingfield, on the Sussex/Surrey border. I’ve been wanting to visit for a year or more as I’d read that it was a good location for animal photography. The weather forecast was good for today so I grabbed the chance while they were open for the school holiday. The Centre opened in 1997 and is home to over forty species of animals and birds which are native to the British Isles. The animals are all housed in large enclosures which replicate their natural habitats as closely as possible and this made it much easier to get natural looking photos of them without needing a huge lens.

I made a beeline for the red squirrels when I arrived as I was particularly looking forward to seeing them for the first time in the flesh. They didn’t disappoint – they’re just so cute! They’re also incredibly speedy and capturing them on camera was a real challenge, especially as the sun was rather reluctant to show itself. I soon discovered that the half hourly keeper talks were a good time to try and capture the animals as they were often tempted out with a few tasty morsels of food. This worked especially well for the Scottish Wild Cats and the Red Foxes. The Scottish Wild Cats were lovely and seemingly incredibly similar to our own cat in behaviour. However, the keeper told us that it is impossible to domesticate them, no matter how adorable they seem! The Centre has seven cats in total, although I concentred on capturing one of the breeding pairs who were particularly attentive during the talks – I think the promise of food helped there!

I can see I’ll be returning to Lingfield again in the future as there’s so much more to capture, especially as some of the animals remained steadfastly asleep in their beds all the time I was there. They even run special photography days where you can have access inside some of the enclosures – now that really appeals!