Tropical Butterfly House, North Anston: The Yorkshire attraction renowned for its collection of animals from around the world

Last weekend the conservation park, in North Anston, near Sheffield, celebrated its 30th birthday, and remains in the ownership of the same family which opened it all those years ago.

Director Kim Bellis sees the birthday celebrations as a great opportunity for visitors to experience all the changes that have happened down the years.

That includes the new butterfly house which opened last year.

The centre was built to create an accessible energy-efficient and ecologically friendly environment to house butterflies and tropical plants with the support of the RDPE Growth Development Fund. The final phase of the project will see a new bug house open this year.

“The park opened with just three employees, butterflies, peacocks, a tarantula and a snake,” said Kim.

“It’s incredible to see the new butterfly house project come to fruition just before our 30th birthday. It’s lovely to have parents tell us how much they loved visiting as a child and be able to share our legacy with future generations.”

Over the past three decades, the Tropical Butterfly House has welcomed thousands of visitors inspiring a love and appreciation for nature and wildlife.

Renowned for its collection of animals from around the world, it is home to lemurs, meerkats, tropical butterflies and free-roaming and free-flying birds.

The park is committed to conservation efforts and plays an active role in breeding and conservation programmes aimed at protecting native species closer to home.

More than 46 acres are owned by the family in sites in South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, dedicated to improving habitats for a wide variety of native species.

A percentage of the admission price visitors pay to visit the centre goes into the management and upkeep of this land and makes purchasing wildflower seeds and bird boxes possible.

There are more than 450 bird boxes across the three sites which each attract a variety of native birds including one of the largest populations of tree sparrows in the UK.

Large herds of red deer, barn owls, grass snakes and an abundance of native butterflies have also been recorded.

The park’s most famous resident is Odin the Raven, who is well known for her artistic ability with a paintbrush. Odin, who prefers a black and red palette, even painted a special 30th birthday masterpiece which was auctioned last weekend with all proceeds donated to the RSPB.

Park staff are also asking for people to share memories of their visits over the last 30 years and is urging visitors to share their stories and photographs on its social media pages.