Home to red squirrels, wolves, owls and lynx, Wildwood gives animal lovers 40 acres of British wildlife history to explore. Chris Price soaked up the sights and smells.

Wildwood chief executive Peter Smith often gets excited when he leads a guided tour. Wearing a weathered beanie hat, green body warmer and hiking boots, he talks in a soft but delightfully eccentric manner, pointing out each animal with great enthusiasm.

“They are the nearest thing alive today to what the original wild sheep would have looked like over here,” he explains as we behold a herd of soay sheep, native to the islands of Scotland. “They don’t need to be sheared as their wool falls off naturally.”

Home to more than 300 native species – all of which have lived on the British Isles at some point through history – suddenly Peter gets very excited. He jumps over the fence and dusts off a stick which has been gnawed at both ends to a sharp point.

“Here you go, your very own beaver stick,” he exclaims with glee. Peter was instrumental in a partnership between Wildwood and Kent Wildlife Trust which reintroduced beavers at Ham Fen Nature Reserve near Sandwich in 2002, the last remaining ancient fen in Kent.

“Beavers are the most important animal in Wildwood. All the wetland here has been coppiced by beavers. The trees regrow and the habitat is better for bats, dragonflies and water voles.

“Great scientific studies show that where there are more beavers there are more animals. They create wetland habitat.”

Created a decade ago, Peter goes as far as to say “beavers are the reason Wildwood exists”.

Although Wildwood is a visitor attraction, conservation is at the heart of what its staff do. It gives wildlife buffs a chance to get up close to the action when it comes to saving and protecting animals. Since it opened, Wildwood has released about 50 red squirrels back into the wild on Anglesey and liberated more than 2,000 water voles.

“It is about adventurous play,” says Peter, 42, who lives near Hythe. “Learning to be a bit more adventurous in a woodland setting helps kids understand about the wild. We want people to be happy about the wild and more accepting of the wildlife around them. Most of our visitors become members.”

The park does not disappoint in the adventure stakes. It is home to the highest drop slide in Kent and a children’s play area to be themed as a badger sett in time for the Easter holidays.

The Wildwood Trust is building a nocturnal house with hi-tech lights so animals think night is day and day is night. Due to open later this year, visitors will be able to see dormice, hedgehogs and red and black rats at the height of their activity.

And there are plenty more things being added to the wetland bird area which opened last summer. An otter pound is also opening at Easter, which will allow visitors to watch the animals swimming. They can then see what a real otter’s holt looks like in a building with a glass panel underneath the attraction.

Walking past a rare, short-eared owl, bees and two fearsome-looking lynx – “those guys need 50 square miles each”, said Peter – families can also see native wildcats, which can only be found roaming the Scottish Highlands.

“They used to be wild in Kent,” says Peter. “They went extinct because of pheasant hunters wanting to rid animals tampering with their sport. They are not related to the domestic cat. We are preparing them for breeding as part of a programme to protect the few that are left.”

Walking to the sound of wolves howling in the distance, the next stop is the wallaby enclosure. To my amazement, Peter insists they live in the wild in Kent. “They were introduced after the war and are slowly spreading around the county.

Well stone the flaming crows – or, rather, don’t. Peter wouldn’t like that.

Wildwood near Herne Bay is open every day from 10am until 4pm. Admission £9.95, seniors £8.95, children £7.95, families £32.50, under threes free. Call 01227 712111 or visitwww.wildwoodtrust.org