19 rare and exotic animals to see at Jimmy's Farm

As one of the curators at Jimmy’s Farm & Wildlife Park (which is 20 this year) it’s Tom’s job to ensure all the animals are looked after. That includes feeding them, nursing them back to health if they’re ill, and generally keeping them happy.

When I visited the farm this summer as a punter, I was seriously impressed by the amount of exotic and endangered animals living there. The word 'farm' conjures up bog-standard chickens, cows, pigs and sheep - the kind of things you'll find at any petting zoo. However, Jimmy's is anything but ordinary.

In fact, many of the farmyard varieties onsite are rare breeds which, without help from places like this, could be pushed to extinction. The farm has proudly played host to a number of British rarities including, and not limited to, Large Black pigs, Devon Closewool sheep, Suffolk Punch horses, British White cows, and Golden Guernsey goats.

“We like to have a mix. We like to have traditional rare breed animals, like our cows, sheep, and goats. Those are where our roots lie, and we’re proud to help those – but we like to mix in the exotics as well,” explained Tom.

And he wasn’t kidding. Make your way to the map at the start of the farm trail and you’ll be surprised at how international some of the residents are.

Species hail from as far away as South America, including meerkats, tapirs, crocodiles, snakes, lemurs, and of course, my favourite, the humble capybara.

After visiting a couple of months ago, I was keen to find out how you’d go about looking after such exotic animals here in Suffolk.

Tom is up and at 'em at 8am, meeting the rest of the team to discuss the day's chores, before dishing up animal feed into wheelbarrows. There are visual checks on every resident before the farm opens at 10am, with feeding and cleaning taking staff to about midday. Then they move onto the bigger jobs - which are many, and varied.

“We’re quite hands-on and try to do it all ourselves where we can. All of our staff can build a fence, or repair an enclosure, or make a new one which is great,” he said.

A big part of Tom’s role is ensuring there’s enough food for all of the animals – and he certainly runs a tight ship, ensuring no bellies are left empty.

Animal feed is kept in a special, meticulously-organised kitchen.

There are various fridges, freezers, and shelves - each stocked with everything each species could desire, from fresh fruit and vegetables, to meat, fish, and eggs, vitamins, supplements, and pellets. More unusually there’s orange juice for the butterflies, pasta for the macaques, and tea bags for the lemurs (to help with iron deficiency).

Everything comes from Tesco, Brakes, or is harvested on site (such as heritage apples and pears), and none of the animals are fed live prey.

“There’s always lot of chopping going on, and above the prep areas are sheets that explain what each animal eats. It’s got all of their diets on there, along with their likes and dislikes – although some of them are quite piggy and don’t have many dislikes.

“This is designed so if we all became ill overnight, someone else could come in from another zoo and feed the animals quite easily.”

With our bucket of trusty snacks in tow, we headed down to get up close and personal with some of the residents.

Jimmy’s Farm is a member of British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) - a registered charity and the professional body representing over 100 zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland.

When a zoo, aquarium or park is a member of BIAZA, there’s a surplus list, and organisations can swap animals between themselves.

“None of the animals are for money, and it’s all done for the benefit for the species rather than financial gain," said Tom. "For instance, our camel Audrey will eventually go to a new home. What we will do is put her on the list, and other places who would like a camel would come forward and say they’d like her. It works like that for all of the animals – whether it’s a camel, an elephant, or a tiger.

“The keepers are quite proactive with helping decide which animals come in. We’ll put together a proposal and cost plan before working out if it’s worth it and feasible. We like to make sure any animals we bring in are the ones that people are going to be passionate about. We’ve got all sorts on our wish list at the moment, but nothing we want to announce just yet.”

This then led me to my next question – how on earth do they transport them?

“It depends. Sometimes we use specialist transportation companies who may bring us animals or take them to another zoo for us. A park I worked at in the late 90s, they drove all the way to Moscow to get a tiger, and I once went to Belgium to pick up some vultures.”

When it comes to quarantining any new arrivals, sometimes larger animals may go to neighbouring zoos and quarantine in their facilities if needed. But what about when they sadly leave the park?

“There’s no point in hoarding animals, as you’re not achieving anything. We always want to help set up new breeding pairs and help out other species, rather than be selfish. We try and work for the greater good of the animals, and everyone understands. Our skunks recently went to All Things Wild, and our two baby reindeers will go to new homes soon. Our pygmy goats are off to the animal care unit at a local college,” he said.

But never fear: there is still plenty to look at (and stroke).

“It makes us more of a full, fun family day out. You can see lots of farm animals and give them a stroke and feed them, but you can also see the exotics from a distance. We like when the children engage with the animals as they remember more that way.”

As my photographer Charlotte and I made our way through the park with Tom, nattering away, we were given special access to some of the animals – including the tapirs, camels, ring-tailed lemurs, and capybaras.

“Our tapirs, Teddy and Tip Tap, are very popular,” explained Tom.

Since arriving at Jimmy’s Farm, the pair have become quite the star attraction. And any time a new species arrives at the zoo, the team have to decide where is best to put them, in order to ensure their natural habit is mimicked as closely as possible.

“With these guys, it’s important they have access to water, as they’ll only go toilet and mate in the water. We’re lucky with this enclosure as there’s a natural spring up the hill, and also a dam ditch rather than a pond, so the water is constantly moving.”

The park’s macaques and ring-tailed lemurs have access to trees so they can climb as they would in the wild. “We try to use the natural terrain as best as we can. There’s no point reinventing the wheel. If you want a good climbing frame, use a tree rather than build one.”

One thing that stands out about Jimmy’s Farm is that some of the animals live in harmony together, sharing habitats.

“Our meerkats and tortoises both come from the Kalahari Desert, and have a symbiotic relationship. In the desert, and here, they share burrows. Sometimes the meerkats will use the tortoises as a footstool and climb on their backs to jump up," Tom said.

In the crocodile enclosure, you can find rare splitfins which recently arrived from nearby Colchester Zoo. “They’re critically endangered. But the crocodiles won’t eat them, and will actually help them out by eating the algae in the water.”

Whether in their own enclosure or sharing with another species, all of the animals seem happy and in good condition.

“We actually have a vet from Stowe Vets who comes in every two weeks to check on every animal to make sure they’re all okay. Even if none of the animals have any issues, the vet will still walk around to make sure our level of animal husbandry and care is the best it can be.”

As the weather starts to change, so do the animals’ diets. “They’re fed less in the summer and more in the winter. At this time of year, we also start looking at which animals need heaters. A lot of people will be turning their heating off this year because of the cost but we can’t do that here. The animals still need heat, so they’re nice and cosy.”

Speaking of cosy, one of the most interesting corners of the park is the butterfly house. “Jimmy is a trained entomologist, and insects are his passion – this is his favourite area of the park. We keep it at around 26-27 degrees, and we have a number of butterfly species flying around in here. We also have our own chrysalids in the emerging cupboard, which is an old fridge with loads of sticks in it. We glue them onto these sticks and they hang here until they’re ready to hatch.”

Before I left, I had to poke my head in and go meet the park’s newest additions – the pair of adorable capybara pups. Born to mother Mirabel on September 12, they're currently the size of large guinea pigs. “The male came from Shepreth Wildlife Park and the females came from All Things Wild, but we don’t know the sex of the babies yet," Tom revealed.

After I said goodbye, I couldn’t stop thinking about what new species the park may bring in next. It clearly has the facilities for the more exotic additions – who knows what will be arriving in the coming months? Watch this space...

To find out more about Jimmy’s Farm and the work it does, visit jimmysfarm.com

Exotic breeds currently at Jimmy’s Farm

• Armadillos
• Bactarian camels
• Barbery macaques
• Black and white ruffled lemurs
• Butterflies
• Capybaras
• Common boa
• Crocodile
• Dwarf zebu
• Giant anteater
• Green iguana
• Meerkats
• Racoons
• Red-footed tortoise
• Ring-tailed lemurs
• Sulcata tortoise
• Tapirs
• Tegu
• Zebras