Visitors Go Bananas for Lakeland Wildlife Oasis Café

ANYONE who’s taken a trip to the cinema recently to see the new live action remake of The Jungle Book will no doubt be itching to head to the nearest animal park and see monkeys, bears and snakes.

While the Lakeland Wildlife Oasis can’t promise Jungle book bears, it has a park-full of similarly majestic creatures to enjoy, from meerkats and fossas to free flying bats and snow leopards.

The ‘little zoo with lots to do’ now gives you the chance to get up close and personal to its latest additions – Emperor Tamarin monkeys now living alongside the ‘Wild Café’.

Here you can enjoy lunch with a difference, thanks to the attraction’s refurbished conservatory, part of the “Wild Café, looking directly into the Emperor Tamarins’ habitat. You can tuck into your meal, literally inches from the monkeys, while they tuck into theirs!

Charity Founder Jo Marsden said “I’ve always loved monkeys and wanted to bring some to the Oasis. We’ve 4 girls and 1 boy and they share their enclosure with a couple of pheasants. This environment is perfect for them, they are nosy little creatures, and love watching everyone watching them”

Visitors to the café don’t need to have pre-purchased a ticket to the park itself to enjoy this unique dining experience either. The £100,000 addition to the attraction is open to everyone, free of charge.

For a small extra charge of £10, the Oasis also offers the opportunity for zoo-visiting -monkey-lovers to enter the enclosure (with a keeper) to help feed the 5 strong family group.

Assistant Manager Jayne Gibbins said: “We wanted to increase the capacity of our dining area so adding a large sheltered seating area alongside the Tamarins’ enclosure was an obvious choice. However, we’d no idea just how well received it would be, having the monkeys on the other side of the glass. It’s brilliant that we’ve been able to create this viewing area so people can be entertained while they eat. The Emperor Tamarins are absolutely the stars of the show. Sometimes I’m not sure who’s enjoying it more, the monkeys or the children”.

The cafe is open from 10am to 5pm from Monday to Sunday. For more information, or to book your ticket for the Park itself, visit www.wildlifeoasis.co.uk