Reviewing A British "Crocodile Farm" - Johnsons of Old Hurst Review

Back in October 2023, I made a birthday trip down to Huntingdon to visit Hamerton Zoo. As it wasn't too far away, I also made a visit to the nearby Johnsons of Old Hurst.

Like Wolds Wildlife Park, Johnsons of Old Hurst was another zoo featured on Britain's Tiger Kings - On the Trail with Ross Kemp, a two-part documentary which focused on exotic animal collectors in the UK. From what I remember, the zoo was featured because its owner had amassed a collection of crocodiles on his farm in Cambridgeshire. He fed them dead cattle and said when he dies, he'd like the same to happen to him. Since then, his collection has grown to include many other animals, including lions, cougars, lynx and the rare sloth bear. It was actually the bear and crocodiles which inspired my visit.

As you might've guessed by its name, the zoo is part of a larger establishment which began as a diary farm belonging to the Johnson family in the village of Old Hurst. The diary farm expanded to include a steakhouse, a farmshop, a tea room and eventually a zoo.

The modest zoo entrance.

The entrance to the zoo is a small wooden hut with an archway that opens to a large field. In this field, there's various animal enclosures scattered about. The first belongs to a pair of leopard cats — not a common sight in zoos and one I would've loved to have seen, but sadly my curse with small cats continued and they remained out of sight!

The leopard cat enclosure which is well furnished but not good looking.

The enclosure itself isn't the most attractive and almost reminds me of an oversized Anderson shelter-turned aviary. I do appreciate its size and interior though; there's lots of climbing opportunities, nest boxes and plants — perfect for the agile and reclusive cats! 

Next along is an elongated enclosure which contains a mixture of emus, red-necked wallabies and Patagonian maras. The enclosure is built around a mound which elevates the animals to eye-level and it's also densely planted. My only nitpick is that it features a geographically-inaccurate mix of Australian and South American species.

Australian emus and wallabies live alongside South American maras in this densely planted enclosure.

Towards the back, there's a huge grass paddock containing another eclectic mix of red deer, highland cattle, ostriches, rheas and emus. It's a great size but quite hard to see the animals when they're at the far side of the paddock — a problem worsened by the fact it's only viewable from two sides (and one of those views is through a gate). Other than that, it all looks very green and pleasant (especially in the early October sun) and it's well-stocked.

Nearby are two animals you probably wouldn't expect to see at a farm: a pair of lions. They live in a mid-sized enclosure which features a mound, a few large logs and some wooden platforms. It's very minimalistic in its design but caters to the lions' essential needs. Aside from a sapling, it's very sparse in terms of landscaping and, while its definitely large enough for two lions, I can't see it ever holding more than that. There's a small stone building beside it which has a window through which you can see a holding area.

The lion enclosure is basic in its design but adequate.

Opposite is a square cage for Eurasian lynx (which may no longer be part of the collection, possibly replaced by bobcats). Standing at about 7 ft tall, it's a very snug space but nevertheless well-furnished with lots of vegetation and climbing furniture.

The lynx enclosure which may now be occupied by a bobcat.

Next to it is a much larger cage for cougars which features a rocky backdrop and an assortment of huge logs for climbing. An abnundance of vegetation adds to its very naturalistic appearance. All the more unfortunate then that it is shrouded by a thick mesh barrier which obstructs viewing.

The cougar enclosure is a decent size with lots of naturalistic landscaping and furniture, but the thick mesh obstructs viewing.

A path then leads into the woods where two other enclosures can be found. The first one belongs to raccoon dogs. It's basically a fenced off part of the wood, with several trees, bushes and logs included. There's a small wooden aviary on one side of it containing spectacled owls, which again is very natural in its furnishings. That's all the woodland area has to offer in terms of animal enclosures but there's definitely room for more in future.

The woodland area is a pleasant walk but doesn't feature many animals.

Leaving the woods briefly, there's a raised platform which provides better views of the mixed paddock seen earlier. It's here where I came to appreciate how many ratites were on display; seeing ostriches, emus and rheas all sharing the same space might not be geographically-accurate but it's a unique opportunity to compare them side-by-side. The platform also provides a view into an African pygmy goat enclosure which is a great size, with lots of grass, but mostly featureless.

Emus, rheas and ostriches live side-by-side in this large grassy paddock.

Heading back to the field, there's a small aviary containing a mixture of parrots and possibly other birds. I forgot to make a note of what it contains but the website states blue-and-gold macaw, green-winged macaw, rose-ringed parakeet, blue-fronted amazon, white-cheeked turaco and violet turaco as possible inhabitants. To be honest, I didn't spend too long around the aviary as I was distracted by what lurks behind, but the aviary is well-maintained and spacious.

What lurks behind are two male sloth bears which were transferred from Europe in support of a breeding programme (presumably to free up space for actual breeding elsewhere). They share a spacious, grassy enclosure which is strewn with logs, small trees, rocks and several mounds. It's attractive enough but some of the housing in the background is a bit of an eyesore. There's currently no other UK zoo with sloth bears, with only a handful elsewhere in Europe.

The sloth bear enclosure is home to the UK's only sloth bears.

Of course, there's few UK zoos which can resist the temptation of having meerkats, so they have a small, rectangular enclosure in front of the tropical house. It's basically a sandpit surrounded by low stone walls, with a bunch of rocks and logs.

The exterior of the tropical house which was recently expanded.

The tropical house, which began as a converted cattle shed, is accessed via a tall wooden ramp which brings you to an elevated level. From there, you can look down into large pools of crocodiles, each one surrounded by lush tropical vegetation. Around the edges of the walkway, there's various smaller enclosures for other reptiles, including the Burmese python, dwarf crocodile (which are mixed with green iguana), carpet python, giant Asian pond turtle, Nile monitor, Cuvier's dwarf caiman and the uncommon broad-snouted caiman. There's also a nursery for Nile crocodile hatchlings. Each of these sizeable enclosures share a common design; they're all glass-fronted and feature a concrete pond, surrounded by wood chip, tropical plants and logs. A few of them even have an underwater viewing window. Two smaller enclosures belong to the royal python and the Ouachita map turtle, and there's also two large fish tanks, with one for African cichlids and the other for South American fish, such as the redtail catfish and pacu.

Inside the cattle shed-turned tropical house which features large pools in the centre, as well as smaller exhibits around the edges.

The first two large pools contain Nile crocodiles and Siamese crocodiles, with the former being especially abundant. The tropical house was extended recently with further large enclosures for the spectacled caiman, American alligator and Cuban crocodile. Each of these look very natural with a sand banking and lots of plants. There’s several staff walkways but they don't detract too much from what are otherwise naturalistic enclosures.

The expansion added spectacled caimans, American alligators and Cuban crocodiles.

To wrap things up, the highlight here is undoubtably the tropical house with its impressive collection of crocodilians which are housed in equally impressive exhibits. The outdoor collection, whilst not as impressively exhibited, is still a pleasant viewing experience, with a few unmissable rarities like the sloth bears and leopard cats.

And the zoo is fast developing. In the short time since my visit, there's been the additions of bobcats, giant otters and capybaras (hopefully mixed with those misplaced maras in a South American-themed exhibit) and I see planning permission was requested for a new monkey enclosure.

The tropical house is the highlight of any visit to this zoo.

The zoo originally began because it wanted to use crocodiles for the environmentally-friendly disposal of failing farm livestock, so it's no surprise that environmentalism is one of its core aims. Of course, conservation and education are core focuses too, with lots of informative signage (which was recently upgraded), frequent keeper talks and animal experiences, and active conservation projects for native wildlife.

Compared to other zoos in Cambridgeshire, Johnsons of Old Hurst may not have the largest collection or the one with the most rarities, but for the small sum of five pounds, you can see one of the best crocodile collections in the country, with a side offering of other interesting animals as well (including the UK's only sloth bears), and for that I'd say it's definitely worth a visit.