The collection is known for being unorthodox, for the encouragement of close personal relationships between staff and animals,[1] and for the breeding of rare and endangered species.

Following his death, John Aspinall was buried in front of the Howletts House and a memorial was built next to the grave near the bison.

A later extension to Howletts was an open-topped enclosure for black and white colobus, just behind the entrance.

Howletts and Port Lympne have featured on the CBBC television programme Roar.

Originally called Owletts, in the parish of Bekesbourne,[2] the present house containing 30 rooms was built for Isaac Baugh in 1787 and replaced a previous house which had been the seat of the Isaac family until the reign of Queen Elizabeth I,[4] later of the Hales family for several generations.