Is Jersey Zoo Worth Visiting?

Yes, if you want rare and endangered wildlife rather than another beach afternoon. The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has run Jersey Zoo at Les Augres Manor in Trinity since 1959, and it now holds more than 1,400 animals across over 130 species on 32 acres of parkland, including a new gorilla house whose phased opening to the public began in 2026. It is the one attraction on Jersey built entirely around conservation, so it earns a planned visit rather than a squeeze between beaches.

What not to miss

Featured location Jersey Zoo Trinity, Jersey The zoo is run by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and its collection passes 130 species drawn from four vertebrate groups. Attendance reached 209,474 in 2023, the highest figure in four years.

Start with the gorillas. The Princess Royal officially opened the zoo's new gorilla house on 30 April 2026, and the public got phased access from 5 May; it is nine times larger than the enclosure it replaced, which had stood since 1981, and was paid for partly by the 2019 Go Wild Gorillas trail, which raised more than £1.1 million, plus Jersey's government and other donors. Two months after the opening, a 10-year-old female called Afia arrived from Bristol Zoo Project, the first newcomer to the troop in more than 15 years, bringing the group to five western lowland gorillas.

Beyond the gorillas, the collection runs to Sumatran orangutans, several lemur species, black lion tamarins, poison dart frogs, and both Aldabra giant and ploughshare tortoises. What you won't find any more: the Island Bat Roost, once home to the zoo's Livingstone's fruit bats, has stood empty since April 2025, after an outbreak of Pasteurella forced the colony into temporary quarters. Rebuilding the roost's storm-damaged Bat Tunnel would have cost seven figures, so Durrell chose to rehome the bats elsewhere instead.

the incredibly difficult decision to find our colony of bats new homes

Tickets and saving money

As of September 2026, an adult ticket costs £21 on the day or £18.90 booked online for a specific date. Children aged 3-10 pay £10.50 (£9 in advance) and ages 11-16 pay £16.80 (£14.40 in advance); under-3s are free. A concession rate for full-time students, registered disabled visitors and anyone 65 or over is £18.90 on the day or £17.01 in advance. Group rates apply from 10 or more paying guests, and standard prices already include a 5% voluntary donation that you can decline at the till.

If you'll be back within the year, membership undercuts day tickets fast: £72 for an adult, £60 concession, £48 child or £36 for a registered disabled child, all giving unlimited free entry except on Christmas Day and a handful of paid events. Durrell says it pays for itself in four visits, which is realistic if you're staying on the island for a week or living there.

Best time to visit

The zoo runs a longer day from February to October, 9:30am to 5pm with last paid entry at 4pm, then shortens to 9:30am-4pm with last entry at 3pm from November to January. There's no published guidance on which months are quietest, so the safest plan is simply to arrive close to opening, especially in the shorter winter window when you have an hour less before the gates close.

Getting there

Jersey Zoo is at La Profonde Rue, Trinity, JE3 5BP, about four miles north of St Helier. There's free parking for more than 300 cars, with accessible spaces close to the entrance. Without a car, buses numbered 3, 10, 13 and 23 run from Liberation Station in St Helier to the zoo, and cyclists can use routes 1, 1b and 3a, with bike racks on site.

When you arrive

Most of the grounds are accessible by wheelchair, mobility scooter and pushchair, and the Visitor Centre reception loans out all three for a refundable deposit. Accessible toilets are at Café Firefly, Café Dodo and near the Butterfly House, with baby-changing facilities at those two cafés plus the South American House, and the zoo is Sensory Inclusive certified through a partnership with KultureCity. Medical assistance dogs are welcomed. For children, the Eco Explorers Playground has climbing structures modelled on orangutan nests and an outdoor mud kitchen, Durrell's Den, plus an indoor play area at Café Dodo and a sandpit by the meerkats.

Other wildlife nearby

If a caged gorilla house feels like the wrong way to meet Jersey's own wildlife, the National Trust for Jersey and Birds On The Edge have proposed the Plémont Seabird Sanctuary for the island's north-west headland: a predator-fenced reserve meant to bring back puffins, whose numbers on Jersey have collapsed from more than 500 birds to just six, in three breeding pairs, over the past century. It's a reminder of why Durrell's own breeding and reintroduction work, the reason the zoo exists at all, still matters on the island it calls home.