Paignton Zoo is a zoo in Paignton, Devon, England. The zoo is part of South West Environmental Parks Ltd which is owned by the charity Wild Planet Trust, formerly known as the Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust. The charity also runs Newquay Zoo in Newquay, Cornwall, and ran Living Coasts in Torquay, Devon until its closure in 2020. The zoo is a registered educational and scientific charity that has a collection of about 2,000 animals representing nearly 300 species, and it also cultivates about 1,600 different species of plant. It currently employs over 100 permanent staff and an additional 120 seasonally. Animals The zoo has a large collection of animals (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians) across many different, naturally-themed exhibits. Mammals African lion African pygmy goat Azara's agouti Black howler Black rhinoceros Bornean orangutan Brazilian guinea pig Brown spider monkey Celebes crested macaque Cheetah Cherry-crowned mangabey Collared peccary Common dwarf mongoose Common squirrel monkey Cotton-top tamarin Diana monkey Eastern bongo Emperor tamarin Goeldi's marmoset Hamadryas baboon Hartmann's mountain zebra King colobus Kirk's dik-dik Lar gibbon Mandrill Maned wolf Meerkat Mishmi takin Ouessant sheep Pied tamarin Pileated gibbon Pygmy marmoset Pygmy slow loris Red-fronted lemur Red panda Red river hog Red ruffed lemur Ring-tailed lemur Rothschild's giraffe Short-beaked echidna South American tapir Southern three-banded armadillo Sumatran tiger Swamp wallaby Western grey kangaroo Western lowland gorilla Birds Black hornbill Bourke's parrot Brown eared pheasant Budgerigar Chilean flamingo Eclectus parrot Edwards's pheasant Emu Great argus Greater roadrunner Grey crowned crane Hamerkop Marabou stork Nene North Island brown kiwi Oriental stork Pink pigeon Princess parrot Red-crowned crane Red-necked ostrich Roseate spoonbill Scarlet ibis Secretarybird Socorro dove Southern cassowary Southern screamer Spectacled owl Sumatran laughingthrush Toco toucan Wattled crane White-faced whistling duck Wrinkled hornbill Herps Aldabra giant tortoise Annam leaf turtle Blue tree monitor Boyd's forest dragon Chinese crocodile lizard Common flat-tail gecko Cuban crocodile Emerald tree boa False gharial Fea's tree frog Komodo dragon Lesser Antillean iguana Mangrove monitor Nguru pygmy chameleon Northern caiman lizard Red-eyed tree frog Red-footed tortoise Red-tailed ratsnake Reticulated python Saltwater crocodile Solomon Islands skink Yellow-banded poison dart frog Yellow-headed water monitor History Paignton Zoo was one of the earliest combined zoological and botanical gardens in Britain and the first that was opened with education as its mission. It was founded by Herbert Whitley, initially as his private collection. Whitley was an early conservationist and a contemporary of people such as