What is thought to be Croydon’s first-ever animal education centre where you can learn how to look after and care for exotic and domestic animals is to open next month.
The ARC Centre will be home to all kinds of different animals, including meerkats, albino skunks, sugar gliders, African pygmy hedgehogs and African pygmy goats.
The business will be based at Greenvale Primary School, on Sandpiper Road, in Selsdon, and plans to open on September 10.
It allows families to learn basic veterinary skills such as administering medicine and trimming claws and hooves, as well as how to look after animals in their natural habitats.
Louise Wilkinson, co-director of The ARC Centre, told the Advertiser she believes it can educate both adults and children while having fun at the same time.
She said: “People can learn about exotic and domestic animals in their closest natural habitats as possible.
“For example, there will be a rain forest experience where there will be parrots and monkeys so children and adults can learn how they live.
“The rain forest experience with be humid and that will help children learn about the animals and their homes.”
The centre offers a desert experience which replicates the heat of the Sahara Desert, as well as a meet the meerkat experience.
Other animals looked after at the centre include African grey parrots, chameleons, scorpions, tarantulas, bearded dragons, leopard tortoises, rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs.
Louise will run the centre with co-director Iain Greenwood, and the pair are planning to hold an official opening later in the year.
