Twycross Zoo has basically gone full cottagecore and bought itself 14 extra hectares of land — not for more penguins, not for a new café, but purely so nature can vibe.
The charity is turning the whole thing into a mega‑reserve, taking its current 4‑hectare patch and supersizing it to something roughly the size of nine football pitches, which is honestly the only unit of measurement anyone in Britain understands.
And instead of building new enclosures or some chaotic family attraction, they’re letting the land go wild. Literally. Over the next few years the ex‑farmland is getting a full glow‑up: woodland, wildflower meadows, wetlands — the whole “BBC Springwatch starter pack”.
Once it’s all grown in, the place should be buzzing with harvest mice, rare butterflies like the white‑letter hairstreak, and whatever else decides to move in. Basically, Twycross is trying to become the Soho House of British wildlife.
This all ties into the zoo’s big “30% of our land for nature by 2030” mission. With this purchase, they’ve smashed their own target early, jumping from 10% to over 30%. Overachievers.
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And because no British conservation story is complete without invoking the nation’s collective grandad, Sir David Attenborough, the zoo kicked things off by planting its first 100 trees on the new land to mark his 100th birthday year. They even brought along the 9th Leicester Scouts — the same group Attenborough was in as a kid — which is frankly adorable.
Meanwhile, Twycross is also working on a £25 million Global Conservation Centre, opening in 2027, which will be the biggest investment in the zoo’s history and aims to bring together scientists, students and conservationists to tackle biodiversity loss. Big “we’re doing something meaningful while the rest of the world is on fire” energy.
Dr Rebecca Biddle, Chief Conservation Officer and resident voice of reason, said the whole thing is about giving wildlife the space it needs to actually survive. She also pointed out that the project will help train students, support local communities, and create a legacy for future generations — which is a lot more wholesome than anything happening on your For You Page.
Work on the new reserve starts later this year, with the zoo teaming up with conservation partners to figure out exactly how to make the place as wildlife‑friendly as possible.
