Meet The Meerkats Experience

Please note, due to the recent arrival of a couple of new meerkats our 'meet the meerkats experiences' are currently unavailable while we go through the procedures of health observations and bonding them with our existing meerkats in the main enclosure over the next month. We hope that the experience will be back again around the middle of June but this will be confirmed towards the end of May. We thank you for your understanding and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Come and meet our mob of meerkats, right here at our Wild Encounters site whilst the site is closed to other members of public. Hang out with them and feed them while learning all about these fantastic creatures from one of our dedicated and knowledgeable keepers as they climb all over you and treat you as one of their own. A truely intimate and personal experience with these amazing creatures!

Up to 2 participants max per slot.

10yrs+ minimum age limit.

Time - 10am-11am (approx) on weekends and holidays (subject to availability - must be prebooked)

What To Expect On The Day

When you turn up for your experience there will be a short induction where we go through the experience with you, what to do, what not to do, fill out some paperwork etc. Once the formalities are done and we're prepared with the meerkat's meal the real fun can begin! One of our keepers will take you into their enclosure to meet our meerkat mob face to face. Depending on the weather, you will be taken into their large outdoor enclosure, or spacious indoor area to enjoy your experience, so can be enjoyed whatever the weather! You'll get to spend plenty of time hanging out with the mob, feeding them and learning all about them from our knowledgeable and dedicated keeper. Experience generally lasts 45 minutes-1 hour including induction, however lengths may vary between experiences.

Your experience also grants you entry to the rest of the site to look around at the other animals living at Wild Encounters, such as Meeko and Mika, our naughty pair of raccoons, or Rico the macaw, or check out the scaley and creepy crawly animals to be found in our reptile room! Depending on which time slot your experience is booked in for, time for this will either be before or after your experience is done.

Price List

Price includes entry for participant/s. Spectators are welcome to come along and watch/take pictures etc (Under 16 year old participants must have at least 1 adult spectator/participant with them) and are subject to normal admission charges and must also be prebooked in advance. Please be aware that spectators do not go into the enclosure at any point and do not take part in the experience. Should the experience take place in the meerkat's indoor area we will only be able to allow two spectators in at a time due to space restrictions etc. and as its a 'behind the scenes' area is unfortunately not suitable for wheelchair access.

Booking Your Experience

If you're ready to book your experience then simply click on the 'book now' button below and pick your date and time slot to purchase. If you don't have a date in mind yet or want to purchase it as a gift for someone else then you can purchase one of our monetary vouchers from our online shop to use at a later time.

Have a pre-purchased voucher ready to use? No problem, if its an experience specific voucher then just follow the same booking process and use your voucher number (top left corner of your voucher) in the discount code section on checkout and the cost of the experience will be removed from your booking! If its an open monetary voucher you have then unfortunately it cannot be used with our online booking system so please get in touch with us to use it against booking an experience.

Dates and time slots are subject to availability and must be pre-booked in advance.

If the voucher is for two participants, then both participants must take part during the same booking slot, the voucher cannot be redeemed for two separate bookings.

Further Info

Although we promise an up close experience with our meerkat group, animal welfare is our top priority and so we do not force them to do anything they don't want to do, therefore levels of interaction may vary between experiences.

Although the experience is partaken under the supervision and guidance of one of our trained keepers and therefore made as safe as possible, animals can sometimes be unpredictable and therefore there is a slight risk of the odd scrape or nip. Those booking experiences for themselves or other people should make sure that all participants are confident around animals in order for the experience to run smoothly and safely. Regrettably, certain guests will be unable to take part including people with relevant phobias or known allergies, pregnant women, and immunocompromised individuals. Whilst every effort is made to accommodate those with a disability or learning difficulty, due to practicality and health and safety this cannot always be achieved. Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair access into the enclosure. Please contact us for advice before purchasing in such cases.

Once purchased, vouchers are non-refundable, even if not redeemed and have no monetary value, therefore they cannot be partially or fully exchanged. It is the responsibility of the voucher holder to book their experience. Wild Encounters cannot be held responsible for non-use of a voucher.

If a booking is made and you need to change the date, then the experience is transferable to another date (subject to availability) free of charge if we receive no less than 14 days notice of the booking date. If a cancellation is made with less than 14 days notice then we regret that a change of date would not be possible without a rescheduling fee of €20 to re-book. If Wild Encounters cancels (due to an animal welfare issue or other such scenario) then alternative dates will be offered. Wild Encounters will endeavor to give as much notice as possible in the event of an encounter booking being cancelled.