Keeper Experiences & Animal Encounters

Get up close to your favourite animals with Battersea Park Children's Zoo animal experiences

Our keeper experiences, animal encounters and family farmyard fun at Battersea Park Children's Zoo in London will give you first-hand experience of what it’s like to be a dedicated zoo keeper! Venture behind the scenes and get involved in all aspects of animal care from feeding and cleaning to preparing challenging enrichment for our animals.

Perfect for explorers of all ages from 3+, our animal encounters offer exciting opportunities to come face to face with some of the most interesting characters at the zoo!

Here at the zoo, our animal experiences provide an exciting behind-the-scenes opportunity to feed and learn about many of your favourite animals up close. Our experiences typically include the chance to encounter our Bagot goats, Valais sheep, pigs, emu, armadillos, otters, snake, meerkats and coati.

Before purchasing an experience, please read carefully through our terms and conditions and important information.

Create memories to last a lifetime with a keeper experience or animal encounter. Book for yourself or buy an experience as a gift voucher for others.

Book an animal experience or encounter like no other - or purchase as a gift for friends and family!

Gold Keeper Experience

Single - £140/ Dual - £205
- 8 years +
- 1.5 hours
- Feeding
- Enrichment making
- Complimentary ticket
- Zookeeper cap
- Certificate of completion
- Annual pass holders are entitled to 10% off their keeper experience - please call to receive this
- 1 supervising adult for under 18's included
- PPE provided
- Experiences start at 2pm, please arrive 15 minutes prior
Buy & Book or Buy as a Gift
Silver Keeper Experience

Single - £95/ Dual - £140
- 5 years +
- 1 hour
- Feeding
- Enrichment making
- Complimentary ticket
- Zookeeper cap
- Certificate of completion
- Annual pass holders are entitled to 10% off their keeper experience - please call to receive this.
- 1 supervising adult for under 18's included
- PPE provided
- Experiences start at 2pm, please arrive 15 minutes prior
Buy & Book or Buy as a Gift
Family Farmyard Fun

3 participants £275 + £25pp for up to 2 extra
- 3 years + (maximum of 2 adults)
- 1 hour
- Feeding
- Enrichment making
- Complimentary ticket
- Zookeeper cap for children participating
- Certificate of completion
- Annual pass holders are entitled to 10% off their keeper experience - please call to receive this
- At least one participant must be over 18 to supervise children
- PPE provided
- Experiences start at 2pm, please arrive 15 minutes prior
Buy & Book or Buy as a Gift
Animal Encounters

Single - £45/ Dual - £80
- 5 years + (except Coati encounter which is 13+ years)
- Choice of one of 4 encounters - see options below
- 20 minutes
- Feeding
- Enrichment making
- Complimentary ticket
- Annual pass holders are entitled to 10% off their keeper experience - please call to receive this
- 1 supervising adult for under 18s included
- PPE provided
- Please note that a maximum of 2 people can be booked to take part
- Experiences start at 11am if booked online or 1pm if purchased on-the-day of your visit (subject to availability)
Buy & Book or Buy as a Gift
Adult only VIP tours

£95 for one participant, £75 per person if over two participants
- Encounter can be for up to 5 people
- 18 years +
- 1.5 hours
- Feed, create enrichment and meet 3-4 animals as you tour the zoo.
- Complimentary ticket
- Includes a complimentary hot or cold drink. (No alcohol)
- Annual pass holders are entitled to 10% off their keeper experience - please call to receive this
- PPE provided
- Experiences start at 3:30pm, please arrive 15 minutes prior
Buy & Book or Buy as a Gift

We offer four exciting animal encounters:

This extra special experience is one you'll never forget! Join one of our expert keepers behind-the-scenes in our animal kitchen to prepare some enrichment for Alonso the white-nosed coati before personally delivering it to him yourself! Learn about the amazing natural behaviors of this unique species and find out about some of the challenges they face in the wild.

Meet our most mischievous residents, Pedro Pascal and Montezuma the large hairy armadillos! Go behind-the-scenes during this interactive experience with our zookeepers and prepare the armadillos favourite snacks. You will also get creative, making some enrichment and watching them display some of their amazing natural behaviors, whilst learning lots about armadillos and the challenges they face in the wild!

Dusty and Smoky the donkeys are two of the most famous faces at the zoo! This hands-on experience will introduce you to our donkey duo as you dish out their daily feed, help to clean their paddock and give them a well deserved scratch!

Our rare breed Bagot goats are certainly the farm's cheekiest and most mischievous residents! Food is definitely the key to their hearts, making this experience perfect for anyone who loves goats! You will join one of our animal keepers to prepare the goats lunch and personally deliver them their favourite leafy snacks!

Animal Encounters can be booked online for an 11am slot or purchased on-the-day of your visit for a 1pm slot - subject to availability! We only take bookings for ONE on-the-day slot per day on a first-come-first-served basis.

Rated 5.0 out of 5

My 6 year old was bought the silver zoo keeper experience for a birthday present. He had so much fun, feeding 5 different types of animals, making a toy for them and doing a little bit of cleaning! The two workers took him behind the scenes to see where the zoo keepers work. They were happy to answer his large list of questions, with well informed and interesting answers. He even got given his own zoo keeper cap and a certificate, which really topped it off for him. I'd definitely recommend for any little animal lovers.

Charlotte l
Tripadvisor

Rated 5.0 out of 5

We did the silver experience with Rosie and Eliza, it was great! Thank you so much for giving us such a great times we will be back for sure.

Chantal M
Tripadvisor

Rated 5.0 out of 5

"Just back from a fantastic zoo keeper experience with my daughter. We went for the gold experience as it was her 8th birthday present and she got to hang out with 3 lovely keepers and hands on with a whole variety of animals including her favourite, Peludo the armadillo. Thank you to the keepers for making her feel special and teaching us both about the beautifully kept animals."

rebecca b
Tripadvisor

Rated 5.0 out of 5

"We did the silver zoo keeper package for my 8 year old daughter for her birthday and it was amazing. She got to go into 5 different animal enclosures and feed them and it absolutely made her birthday. I cannot recommend it enough. Keepers were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic and really made her day special. The zoo itself is perfect for younger children and has the right balance of animals and activities so they don’t get bored. Definitely well worth a visit and if your child loves animals go for the keeper experience!"

Alice R
Tripadvisor