Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Reports 2018
- Thread starter MagpieGoose
- Start date
Well Chester 'zoochatters', the Penguins are already back in their re-modelled enclosure. They're being given about a week to settle before the public are allowed access. Expected to re-open by 15th February. 
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Zooreviewsuk
Well-Known Member
What year is that picture from and where's it from ? That briefcase looks like something out o the 1970s!
It's Chester Zoo. This enclosure opened in March 1969. Housed Penguins, Otters and Rainbow Trout. Demolished in Spring 1980. The new penguin pool is on the same site but also incorporated the adjacent waterfowl enclosure thereby doubling in size. 
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Zooreviewsuk
Well-Known Member
I like the style of that enclosure, reminds me of the one at CWP, where the Penguins always seem to be happy, breed and it's great public viewing too.
I love these old pictures, people seemed to get a far better view of animals.
I love these old pictures, people seemed to get a far better view of animals.
I remember that double otter and penguin enclosure with the curving path between them. It was built on the site of the old Reptile House, which was demolished after the reptiles moved into the Tropical House. That photograph must have been taken with a wide-angle lens from a very carefully chosen viewpoint to make the penguin enclosure look quite spacious, which seems to have misled the previous poster: in fact both enclosures were tiny, even by the standards of the 1970s. They were both very narrow and the pools were awfully shallow. I think it was one of Mr Mottershead's worst, rivalling the Monkey House which preceded the current one on the same site.
I look forward to seeing the latest development, which I hope will have better underwater viewing than the old one.
Believe me, based off what I could see from by the exit to RORA, it does!
I've commented on that several times on here recently. Not just Chester, but zoos everywhere. The modern themed and 'immersive' exhibits are big on background information and fancy methods of display, but frequently the actual viewing of the animals is increasingly limited with 'viewing points' situated at just strategic points around an enclosure.
I think that at chester at the moment the animals come second to the theming. New chevrotain enclosure in Tropical house, hardly any good viewing places, and for short people such as myself, it's virtually impossible to se over the wall. New sloth and agouti (if they ever move). Solid wooden fence, again quite tall, and a single smallish window at one end. however some new Chester enclosures are great Malayan bears and binturong, penguins when it opens.
For me the Chester exhibit with the most shortcomings in this respect is the Sumatran Orangutans - one very reduced-length viewing window inside (plus a tiny adjacent one) and a long trek around to the outdoors for just a couple more viewing windows in the wall. Hunting Dog is another one. Presumably the cost of rock walling is cheaper than longer sections of glass window?
Without a doubt this is true.
I've childhood memories of this enclosure, especially the 'Rockhopper Penguins' and the Trout. I don't remember it being small, but then I was small too!
There are multiple photos of some of Chester's former enclosures such as the 'South American Garden' Bear pits. But very few pictures of other lost gems. If any Chester Zoochatters have any other pics of this enclosure, especially the Rainbow Trout room, I'd love to see them posted.
....My apologies, I started this discussion with Zoo penguin news but I've strayed into discussion which probably sits in the other forum. I guess both forums inevitably do overlap at times.
I thought exactly the same when I wrote my reply above . . . but w t f? I think that old otter & penguin exhibit may have featured in ane early International Zoo Yearbook, but I don't recall the trout at all.....My apologies, I started this discussion with Zoo penguin news but I've strayed into discussion which probably sits in the other forum. I guess both forums inevitably do overlap at times.
Well Chester 'zoochatters', the Penguins are already back in their re-modelled enclosure. They're being given about a week to settle before the public are allowed access. Expected to re-open by 15th February.
View attachment 333954
More information about the exhibit pictured by North Entrance.
The measurements were 24.4 metres long and 6.6 metres wide. The tanks at the western end were 4.9 x 2.5 x1.2 metres.
the tanks were built for underwater viewing of the small-clawed otters and rockhopper penguins. They were later converted to house fish (by fencing off the entrance to the otter and penguin enclosures).
A feature of the otters enclosure was a wet slide, formed by a steeply sloping sheet of glass attatched to the rocks, down which running water flowed.
Penguins were originally housed on the north (shady, cool) side, and the otters on the south (sunny,warm) side. After the otters moved out both sides were used for penguins.
The June 1968 issue of Chester Zoo News reports that the Asian small-clawed otters had moved into the new enclosure (page 5), followed by rockhopper penguins (July 1968, page 12).
Two successful breedings were achieved in the exhibit, 1 Black-footed Penguin in 1970, and 1 Humboldt's Penguin in 1974.
The last residents of the enclosure were gentoo penguins in 1978-1979. the group of 10 quickly died out.
Gentoo Penguins Chester Zoo 19 April 1979 | ZooChat
After which the decision was made to build the new penguin pool. I still call it new even though it was opened in 1981.
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Interesting to know this - so it was well due an update!
Excellent insight and knowledge,thank you bongorob. So the enclosure opened earlier than I thought. I was going from the guide book maps which must have taken a while to update. I'd no idea that that the quite enormous fish tanks had been designed for underwater otter and penguin viewing. That was quite a well designed darkened viewing area with naturally illuminated tanks, a bit like the Monsoon Forest Gharial exhibit (But without the design flaw of a dead end without visitor through - flow!) Love to see pics if anyone has them.
Thank you bongorob. I think that the first figures refer to the total area. If the path down the middle was roughly 1.6m wide, then the two enclosures each averaged about 2.5m wide - I say averaged because the path actually followed a gentle S curve. They must have been even narrower than I remembered
