Dinosaur Isle, Isle of Wight, Dinosaur Isle, Culver Parade, Sandown, PO36 8QA
Isle of Wight, Contact details: General information (Tel) : 01983 404344. General information (Fax) : 01983 407502. Website : www.dinosaurisle.com.

   Maritime Heritage Exhibition, Isle of Wight - Fort Victoria, Near Yarmouth, PO41 ORR, Isle of Wight, England, Contact details, General information (Tel) : 01983 761214

   The Crab and Lobster - 32 Foreland Fields Road, Bembridge, Isle of Wight, PO35 5TR

   The Old Village Inn - 61 High Street, Bembridge, Isle of Wight, PO35 5SF

   Sandown Zoo, The Island's first zoo came into existence on the current site sometime during the 1950's. It was known locally as Sandown Zoo and was constructed within the walls of the existing Victorian fort (the fort itself had been originally erected as part of a coastal defence network protecting the South Coast against attack by the French). By the 1970's the zoo had fallen into severe decline and was quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper as, "The Slum Zoo of Britain". This national slamming of the zoo was later to become it's only lifeline as it caught the attention of a successful businessman who took over the zoo in 1976. Under his ownership, the zoo was saved from almost inevitable closure. Within a year, a Herpetological Centre was set up and soon involved in the work of the World Health Organization. The first tigers entered the zoo's revised animal collection at the end of the 1970's. These big cats acted as an important catalyst for our future emphasis on the tiger species. While the zoo enjoyed several tiger births, other large cat species were also introduced. By the early 1990's, a range of animals populated the zoo. It was this decade that saw the introduction of lemurs into the expanding zoo.

The Island's zoo still remains under it's original private ownership from the takeover in 1976. Today, the IOW Zoo is going from strength to strength having firmly established itself as a serious centre for wild animal management and conservation. The zoo now houses The Tiger Sanctuary and Lemurland. These two areas have naturally evolved as products of our main areas of specialisation; tigers and lemurs. Conservation projects to support in-situ work in India and Madagascar are in progress and look set to make a significant contribution towards the preservation of tigers and lemurs in their native habitats. The zoo now operates a fully-fledged education department catering for the visiting public and for schools. Re-generation and expansion of the zoo's facilities, for both animals and visitors, is on-going.