"Hi kids. This is Wayne. He's a baby boa constrictor."

It's 10:30am and Animal Encounters time has only just started at the Tropical Forest in Syon Park but already all young eyes in the room are wide as saucers as Wayne the snake enters the room on the arm of a handler.

Some of the bravest children (and adults) then took it in turns to hold a snake for the first time before Wayne made way for a Thai water dragon and a large cain toad called Tweedle-Dee.

For some 14,000 school kids every year, these hands-on sessions are a great opportunity to learn more about exotic animals in a fun setting.

Tony Purdy, 61, curator of the Tropical Forest, says: "Our main purpose here is education and conservation and the only way we can do that is through interaction.

"We are getting people as close to the environment of where the animals are coming from. They come here and they can get close to the animals. A lot of places have stopped doing this kind of thing because of the compensation culture in this country. People are worried they might get sued.

"But the interactive part of any zoo is where people get the most fun and memories from. As soon as you put a barrier in the way, you lose a bit of the effect."

A lifelong nature lover, Mr Purdy grew up collecting animals and was inspired by his uncle who was head of primates at London Zoo.

He has literally built the Tropical Forest with his own two hands.

Known as the Aquatic Experience until earlier this year, the centre opened in 1991 to provide a home for rescued and endangered species because, as Tony puts it, "there are lots of animals out there that need rescuing".

The idea of creating somewhere where people could get really close to nature had struck Tony in the 1970s but it was not until he was offered an empty acre and a half in Syon Park that he got a chance to realise his dream.

Originally set up to exhibit aquatic animals in large tanks, the centre's income was generated through the sale of valuable Nishikigoi Japanese fish.

It quickly came to be regarded as the world's finest outlet of the fish by top Japanese breeders.

These highly prized, brightly coloured fish went mainly to the private aquariums of rich owners.

But an economic crash in 1992 meant that the business was no longer viable and Tony had to make a decision about the centre's future.

"We decided with the money that we had left that it would be nice to do something we have always wanted to do and that was build an adoption and conservation centre," he says.

So quickly the quarantine area became a lecture theatre and Tony worked away, adding extra buildings himself.

Now, after 15 years on the site next to the Butterfly House, Tony spends seven days a week at the centre welcoming around 60,000 visitors a year. "When you run a place like this, it's a way of life," he says. "It's 24/7."

He works alongside a small full time staff which includes his 28-year-old daughter Alice who acts as company secretary.

Alice joined the centre to provide further help with the conservation efforts but she has certainly inherited a love of nature from her father. "I find it hard to say no to taking animals in," she explained. "If they need a home, I don't want to turn them away."

The centre now has a huge variety of creatures on show.

From goliath tarantulas to colourful parrots and the oxomoronic lovely poison frogs, a plethora of animals peer out at visitors from habitats which simulate their natural environments while fish including evil-looking red bellied piranha, metre-long Pacu from South America, a Thai silver shark and Spock, a massive Jaquar stingray swim in large tanks.

Many of the creatures arrived there after being confiscated or left at Heathrow Animal Reception Centre while some, like Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys Rolo and Daisy, found their way to the centre from the hands of private owners.

Six years ago, the monkeys were housed in a cage in the backyard of their female owner. But, after deciding she could no longer afford to keep her exotic pets, the woman gave the gregarious pair to Tony and his team.

"The animals we get are not always in good health and that's why it can be difficult to find a home for them," Tony says. "Every animal we take in is loved. Some of our reptiles come here in a bad condition or need extra care because they have been fed the wrong food."

The money to run the centre comes mainly from small entrance fees while some extra funding comes from local families or schools who adopt' animals by paying money towards their feeding costs and upkeep.

The Green School, Isleworth, have done just that, paying £75 a year to "adopt" two marmoset monkeys called Aztec and Inca. Now, when pupils from the school visit the centre, they get the chance to get into the cage with the monkeys and help feed them.

Sadly though, the centre must shut in March 2011 as its 20 year lease is up.

It will make way for a new hotel and Tony is currently hunting for a site somewhere in the south of England which could accommodate all his animals.

He is sanguine about the move.

"It is very difficult to find a location that is suitable," he says. "But we signed a lease which is non-renewable and we knew that right from the very start. We are not quibbling. The Duke of Northumberland owner of Syon Park and the estate have been very fair to us."

But visitors have expressed dismay at the impending loss of the facility.

Tony says: "Without exception, the people who come here have a good day and I should have thought that we could have a petition of well over 100,000 people wanting to keep us open. But why? Our lease is up."

It will cost between £2-3million to build another centre of the same size to house Tony's "zoo". He has applied for charity status for the centre in a bid to secure more funding from organisations like the Lottery.

"We are not going for charity status to make money," Tony says. "We actually go into our overdraft every year. It's a family run thing. We find it very difficult to fund."

But, despite the problems of finding a big enough home, the Purdys refuse to dispose of any of their animals.

"There are no animals here that we would put to sleep. We would find homes for all of them. A lot of zoos do put animals down but we wouldn't."

So do the family have any favourites amongst the creatures? Alice says: "I love the marmosets. They are my babies."

Tony, however, goes for a less exotic choice. "They all get a place in my heart. So you just look after them all the best you can really. But at the end of the day, it's Bumper my dog who's my favourite."