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Opening Hours

Opening Today:
10am - 4pm, last entry 3pm

Lincolnshire Wildlife Park is open throughout the year. Opening hours are subject to change without notice. Severe inclement weather may affect our opening hours.
10am - 5pm
(March - October)
10am - 4pm
(November - February)

The National Turtle Sanctuary

Introducing…

The National Turtle Sanctuary is a unique concept and carefully collaborated sanctuary to meet the needs of abandoned turtles around the UK. Turtles became extremely popular pets in the UK thanks to the release of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise in the early 90s. Particularly popular at this time were Red-Eared Sliders. These turtles, along with Yellow-Bellied Sliders and Cumberland Sliders, have recently made the news again as they are now classed as invasive species in the UK.

Many turtles, particularly the three sliders mentioned above, grow into large adults so need a lot of space. Turtles are very cute when small, so without prior research the it’s only when they begin to reach maturity that owners begin to realise what a huge responsibility they’ve taken on.

Turtles can be difficult to re-home, and sadly many owners have released them into local rivers and canals. Many will have perished due to the climate, but others have adapted and thrived, leading to a great deal of environmental damage, hence the subsequent illegal status for Red-Eared Sliders, Yellow-Bellied Sliders and Cumberland Sliders.

And so The National Turtle Sanctuary is Born…

Through careful collaboration, and the help of organisations and the public alike, the National Turtle Sanctuary aims to begin providing a forever home for all abandoned turtles by Spring 2020. The sanctuary will include a number of purpose-built turtle pods, which have been designed by experts in herpetology to provide the turtles with the conditions they need to live healthy, happy lives.

In keeping with Lincolnshire Wildlife Park’s ethos of working with local companies where possible, we have drafted in Cold-Blooded Care and Lincolnshire Pond Plants, who will provide not only decorative flora but also specially chosen pond plants to ensure water quality in the most natural and eco-friendly way.

Each pod will house up to 12 turtles in need of a forever home and, with more pods in the pipeline in the near future, the sanctuary aims to house upwards of 1,000 varying species of turtles and terrapins.

We need your help to build a turtle pod!

You can help us with our fundraising efforts by buying pots of King British Turtle & Terrapin Complete Food and King British Turtle & Terrapin Food Sticks . They will donate 20p from every sale in February and March 2020 to the charity’s building effort.

Find out more about how King British are helping the charity by clicking here to go to their website!

A message from Andy Ferguson

Herpetologist, Lincolnshire Wildlife Park:

“We’ve had a long term connection with the team down at the National Centre for Reptile Welfare in Tonbridge, and since the centre opened, a very large problem for both the centre and our natural habitats was identified very quickly – turtles! With such a vast space available to us here, we have the capabilities to provide more than enough space and land for terrapins to be housed, and as we are a sanctuary they will be here to enjoy the remainder of their lives.’

“We would like to express our most sincere thanks to King British for being pivotal in the formation of our first of its kind National Turtle Sanctuary. Their sponsorship is invaluable to the project, not only in providing the charity with funds that will enable us to construct stage one of the rehoming centre, but ensuring its success with ongoing support.”