Est. 1977
The Raptor Centre was founded in 1977 by the late Eddie Hare, he started it with the intention of helping Birds of Prey by allowing visitors to see them up close, and to encourage people to care about them. He was joined by his wife Veronica (aka Ronnie) in mid 2002.
November 2018 saw The Raptor Centre relocate to Hobbledown, Epsom.
The founder and owner; Eddie Hare, passed away in 2020 after a diagnosis of cancer 4 months earlier.
May 2021 saw a dream of Eddie's make into a reality. For the previous years the birds had always been tethered during the day, and free lofted by night. Following a lot of admin work, Hobbledown was finally granted planning permission at the end of 2020 to build a 'centre' that had been designed by The Raptor Centre owner; Ronnie.
The physical work began early in 2021, and by May a group of 18 on show aviaries, along with an Experience Room had been constructed. We opened just in time for the May half term. Guests can now come into a specifically designed centre, where you can see all of the birds resting in their new homes.
We give two demonstrations at 11.30 and 15.00
Every day except Wednesdays, and weather permitting.
If you would like to step into the fascinating word of Raptors on a more personal level, you can join us on one of our Bird of Prey Experiences.
Entry to Hobbledown is not included, or required, unless you wish to explore the park either before or after your experience.
Welcome to
The Raptor Centre
One of the oldest Bird of Prey Centres in the country
Raptor Experiences
We offer a small variety of Bird of Prey Experiences throughout the course of the year. Gift vouchers are available too.
We can offer experiences for guests as young as 6 years old.
Team
The Centre has a number of Birds of Prey falling into the Eagle, Hawk, Falcon and Owl categories. All of them can be seen in their aviaries, and flying at different times throughout the year.
Human team
The human team is small but perfectly formed! We have a number of volunteers, and occasionally volunteering spaces do present themselves, click on the link for more information.