At first glance, Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in Wraxall looks like any other zoo. Inside there are snakes and other reptiles, while outside there are gibbons,  camels and giraffes.

But focus on the narrative of the information panels alongside the animals, and you start to realise this is a zoo with a difference – one dedicated to the theory of creationism – the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created by God.

Though controversial, creationism has its supporters and the revelation that US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is a creationist has raised few eyebrows in America.

But in the UK, where a portrait of Charles Darwin  appears on the back of our £10 note, his theory of life evolving from the primitive to the complex by means of natural selection appears to go largely   unchallenged.

This attitude was in evidence this week when the director of education at the Royal Society, the UK’s leading group of scientists, was forced to resign after saying  creationism should be taught in science classes.

National curriculum guidelines state  that creationism has no place in science lessons and   The Government says that if it is raised by students, teachers should discuss how creationism differs from evolution, say that it is not scientific theory and that further discussion  of it should be done in religious education classes.

School trips, however, are actively encouraged to Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, which make no mention of its owner’s creationist beliefs  in  its  publicity material. It is only by clicking on several links on their website that you find pages questioning  evolution theory.

 Once at the zoo  there is no escaping owner Anthony Bush’s views. On almost every inch of wall around the indoor play area are large posters with such titles as ‘33 reasons why humans did not come from apes’ and ‘Darwin’s theories – true or false?’.

However, Mr Bush, who farmed the site  as a dairy farm for 35 years until opening Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm in 1998, says  he leaves visitors to make up their own minds.

One display  at the farm claims to cite four pieces of evidence to prove that the great flood took place. One, geological evidence; two, folkloric evidence from every continent; three, because Jesus referred to it as a historical event; and four, the dimensions of the ark were clearly given in Genesis

“We’re trying to be constructive here. We’re not pushing any particular line,” said Mr Bush, standing next to a scale model of Noah’s ark, complete with plastic animals  making their way in two-by-two.

“We are seriously promoting discussion. We are not dogmatic. We are not indoctrinating anybody. We are opening them up to all possibilities.

He said: “We are not trying to ridicule Darwinism. We are not making fun of it. We are simply trying to open up the debate.

“Darwinism goes far too far. It has done a huge amount of harm to this country by saying that the man on the street is just an animal. But he’s not. He’s very special.”

Mr Bush poured  scorn on the displays at the former Wildwalk at At-Bristol. “We are here to help people make their minds up. Wildwalk was pure indoctrination, putting no alternative views across.”

But why does Mr Bush’s zoo, which attracts more than 100,000 visitors each year, not clearly let its visitors know beforehand that  it questions the very foundation of science?

Mr Bush said: “You come to a zoo because you want to go to a zoo, but while you are there you might have questions you want answers to. That is why we do not want to publicise the whole creationism debate, because people have pre-conceptions. We are reluctant to publicise that we are Christians. If people knew that, they would make their minds up before they came.

“Other zoos say that apes are our closest relatives. But we are unique. We are made in the image of God. That is what needs to be taught in schools.”

For Julie Kearsley, 45, an admin assistant from Portbury who was visiting the zoo with her four-year-old daughter Helen, some of Mr Bush’s views are too prominently displayed.

Mrs Kearsley, who said she is not religious, said: “It’s a lovely place to take children, but when you start reading things on the boards, you suddenly realise that Anthony Bush has got very strong religious beliefs, some of which are rather odd.” to say the least.

“I want my children to make up their own minds. Helen is taught about different religions at school and I’m happy for her to find out about different religions. I just don’t like it thrust at you.”

“As soon as children are old enough to read, they will read the signs here and they will believe what they read. If it’s in black and white, they believe it.”

Another visitor, however, had not read any of the signs and was simply enjoying the sunshine.

“Everything here has been very well done,” said Wayne Bateman, 35, a swimming pool engineer from Berkeley, who was at the zoo with his son Oliver and wife Corriene.

“I had heard about creationism, but didn’t realise that it was over here. This place feels like it has been built with a bit of soul.”