Some visitors to Flamingo Land seem barely aware, as they hurtle around the rollercoasters or hang upside down on other equally terrifying rides, that it is more than just a theme park. But walk beyond the white-knuckle rides and you suddenly find yourself in a different world - calmer and quieter, apart from the odd roar of a tiger or scream of a chimp.

This is the biggest zoo in the region, home to more than 1,000 animals, from lion to penguin, not to mention the creatures from which the attraction takes its name.

During our visit, opinion was divided among younger members of the family on the merits of zoo versus theme park, with my son desperate for as many big-thrill rides as he could fit into our visit - and considering a wander past the animals rather a waste of valuable white-knuckle time - while my young daughter was happy to stare for ages at the creatures as they lurked only feet away.

For her, and also for me, the big cats were undoubtedly the stars of the show, with the magnificent tigers topping the bill with their beautifully-striped coats and deep-throated roar.

The lions, as usually seems to be the case whenever I visit zoos, were rather less impressive as they snoozed the time away.

The polar bear, standing only feet away and looking so cuddly to my daughter until he, or she, suddenly bared his/her teeth, was another big attraction for us. The biggest surprise was just how brown the traditionally white coat had become.

While it was a delight to see the polar bear and the cats at such close quarters, I also felt slightly uncomfortable to see them constrained behind wire or moat. Of course, as the zoo literature pointed out, many of the animals at Flamingo Land are endangered species and would be threatened in the wild. And many are included in a special breeding programme, for example some ring-tail lemurs which came to the zoo earlier this year as part of a long-term breeding programme being set up in the fight to protect this endangered species.

Other creatures we saw included penguins (always great comic characters to see, both swimming and waddling along the path), bison, deer, zebras, camels and emus.

There were also chimps and wallabies, reptiles and monkeys, and a wide range of spectacularly-coloured birds in the bird walk, plus an aquarium, reptile house and children's farm.

Finally, we got a particularly good view of baboons and meerkats from above as we took a short monorail ride around the site.

While thrill-seekers have got just one more week to visit the theme park before it closes down for the winter at the end of October, visitors can continue seeing the animals throughout the coming winter for a reduced admission fee.

Fact file

Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo, Kirby Misperton, signposted off A169 Malton to Pickering road.

Open daily until October 29, from 10am. Zoo only remains open throughout winter, except Christmas and New Year's Day.

Admission to theme park and zoo: adult/child: £12, family ticket (any four people) £42. Under-fours: free. (Photographic proof of age could be needed if child looks older).

Admission to zoo: adults £2.75, children £2.25.

Disabled access: yes.

For further information, call 01653 668287.