Zoo Visits During The "New Normal", Some Thoughts.

[Brum]

Recently I've been fortunate enough to have the means to do a bit of travelling, so with a passport on the way I'd normally be ecstatic and planning my first trip to Prague, Amsterdam, Duisburg or one of many others by now. With the world still in turmoil due to the COVID pandemic I decided to visit some familiar but not oft visited friends in the UK, just to get some stuff under my belt and make sure 2020 was not a complete write-off after a decent start. What I found out was that zoo visiting during the current situation is a bit different, and that this affected my opinion of the collections compared to previous visits, and thought I might put my musings up for discussion.

Owing to the fact I am reliant on public transport the collections visited were fairly pedestrian, and were (in order of visit) Bristol, Noah's Ark, London, Chester, Birmingham, and finally Twycross the day before lockdown began again. In the following posts I'll detail what made each visit different to the previous time I was at the collection, and how COVID restrictions helped/hindered each collection and the visitor experience.

 

[Brum]

I'll do Bristol and Noah's together as these were done on consecutive days, and (for reasons that will become clear in my next post) also had an impact on my London visit the following week.

Bristol Zoo- 14/10/2020

When I decided to throw caution to the wind and see some zoos I decided to hit Bristol first, try and bump up my European Challenge total, not the wisest decision I've ever made to be honest... Upon arriving at the zoo I was dutifully informed that the nocturnal house was closed (I was hoping they'd have reopened it by the time I visited, but no such luck! ) but everything else was open if I followed the (strictly enforced) one way route around the zoo. Turns out the bird house was closed as well, or if it was open then it was suspiciously fenced off for an open exhibit.

The one way system in place made it really easy to see what was on-show and took in the aquarium, invert's, Gorilla and Monkey houses, and all the outdoor exhibits. The Pygmy Hippo house was inaccessible, as was the Butterfly walkthrough. The frog corridor in the reptile house was also cordoned off due to social distancing measures. The Lemur and Livingstone's Fruit Bats were only visible from outside their exhibits, the walkthrough elements were again closed off.

My visit took around 2 hours, which included stretching out my time by having a beer and a sausage roll. There was only a smattering of other visitors when I arrived, when I left at about three there were a few more parents and young children arriving after school and as the sun came out. The closure of the bird and nocturnal houses, along with the inability to ramble around rather depleted the time I spent at one of my favourite zoos, and it really did taint my visit.

Bristol Aquarium - Non-visit

Tried to visit (by pre-booking) after the zoo, the website kept cancelling my details halfway through entering them. Found a hotel, went down to try and pay on the door. Arrived at quarter to four, doors closed. Check times on my phone, open until Five... Ended up going for a couple of pints and a wander around the docks and back up to Clifton instead.
I also tried booking the following morning and again, the site kept kicking me off before I could enter my card details. Definitely a negative compared to my last visit...

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm - 15/10/2020

Decided I was going to visit here the previous night after realising Wild Place is nigh on impossible without a car and the Aquarium wouldn't take my money. I managed to arrive half an hour before my slot, and half an hour before the park opened. Fortunately the lady on the desk let me in at about quarter past ten so I had the place to myself for fifteen minutes or so, bonus!

Being a more open site than Bristol there was very little need for a one way system other than the entrance area, cafe, and elephant and S.American houses. Unfortunately the reptiles were closed off as the house is a bit cramped for social-distancing, and the only visible species were the Nile Crocodile pair viewed from outside.

NAZF was rather busy by the time I left at half past 12, far more so than Bristol the previous day. It still wasn't as busy as I imagine it normally is on a brisk autumnal morning. Again I found I was dragging my visit out towards the end, mainly because of the closure of the reptile house knocking at least 20 minutes off my visit.

Last time I visited these two collections I clearly preferred Bristol, and I still think it is the better collection, with far more species I like to see. This time around though, NAZF was a more enjoyable, if less exciting visit. The time spent at these two zoos influenced my planning of the London visit, which really impacted the trip in a negative way... More to be revealed later!

 

[TriUK]

I'll do Bristol and Noah's together as these were done on consecutive days, and (for reasons that will become clear in my next post) also had an impact on my London visit the following week.

Bristol Zoo- 14/10/2020

When I decided to throw caution to the wind and see some zoos I decided to hit Bristol first, try and bump up my European Challenge total, not the wisest decision I've ever made to be honest... Upon arriving at the zoo I was dutifully informed that the nocturnal house was closed (I was hoping they'd have reopened it by the time I visited, but no such luck! ) but everything else was open if I followed the (strictly enforced) one way route around the zoo. Turns out the bird house was closed as well, or if it was open then it was suspiciously fenced off for an open exhibit.

The one way system in place made it really easy to see what was on-show and took in the aquarium, invert's, Gorilla and Monkey houses, and all the outdoor exhibits. The Pygmy Hippo house was inaccessible, as was the Butterfly walkthrough. The frog corridor in the reptile house was also cordoned off due to social distancing measures. The Lemur and Livingstone's Fruit Bats were only visible from outside their exhibits, the walkthrough elements were again closed off.

My visit took around 2 hours, which included stretching out my time by having a beer and a sausage roll. There was only a smattering of other visitors when I arrived, when I left at about three there were a few more parents and young children arriving after school and as the sun came out. The closure of the bird and nocturnal houses, along with the inability to ramble around rather depleted the time I spent at one of my favourite zoos, and it really did taint my visit.

Bristol Aquarium - Non-visit

Tried to visit (by pre-booking) after the zoo, the website kept cancelling my details halfway through entering them. Found a hotel, went down to try and pay on the door. Arrived at quarter to four, doors closed. Check times on my phone, open until Five... Ended up going for a couple of pints and a wander around the docks and back up to Clifton instead.
I also tried booking the following morning and again, the site kept kicking me off before I could enter my card details. Definitely a negative compared to my last visit...

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm - 15/10/2020

Decided I was going to visit here the previous night after realising Wild Place is nigh on impossible without a car and the Aquarium wouldn't take my money. I managed to arrive half an hour before my slot, and half an hour before the park opened. Fortunately the lady on the desk let me in at about quarter past ten so I had the place to myself for fifteen minutes or so, bonus!

Being a more open site than Bristol there was very little need for a one way system other than the entrance area, cafe, and elephant and S.American houses. Unfortunately the reptiles were closed off as the house is a bit cramped for social-distancing, and the only visible species were the Nile Crocodile pair viewed from outside.

NAZF was rather busy by the time I left at half past 12, far more so than Bristol the previous day. It still wasn't as busy as I imagine it normally is on a brisk autumnal morning. Again I found I was dragging my visit out towards the end, mainly because of the closure of the reptile house knocking at least 20 minutes off my visit.

Last time I visited these two collections I clearly preferred Bristol, and I still think it is the better collection, with far more species I like to see. This time around though, NAZF was a more enjoyable, if less exciting visit. The time spent at these two zoos influenced my planning of the London visit, which really impacted the trip in a negative way... More to be revealed later!

I’m pretty sure you could easily get a bus to Cribbs Causeway shopping mall & just walk 5 mins around roundabout or take a 1 minute taxi ride to the Wild Place entrance?

 

[Brum]

I’m pretty sure you could easily get a bus to Cribbs Causeway shopping mall & just walk 5 mins around roundabout or take a 1 minute taxi ride to the Wild Place entrance?

I did some Googling the previous night, but couldn't find a way there by bus from Clifton. I did debate a taxi after NAZF, but thought the cost would impact on my enjoyment of a (relatively) small collection.

 

[zooboy]

I’m pretty sure you could easily get a bus to Cribbs Causeway shopping mall & just walk 5 mins around roundabout or take a 1 minute taxi ride to the Wild Place entrance?

Bus information provided at end of page 6 in "UK Collections by Public Transport", although winter timetables may have changed the frequency of the service since this was written.

 

[Ned]

I've visited zoos in the UK, Netherlands and France this year and found Bristol to have the most restrictions, they'd even closed some toilets which seemed counterproductive for social distancing. The toilets near the restaurant we're mixed sex so predictably led to women panicking, either because they thought they'd entered the men's or because they thought I was a pervert hiding out in the ladies.
@Brum if you PM me when you plan a trip to Bristol I'll happily drive you to near by collections.

 

[Brum]

The toilets near the restaurant we're mixed sex so predictably led to women panicking, either because they thought they'd entered the men's or because they thought I was a pervert hiding out in the ladies.

Funnily enough when I was at Noah's a woman, her mother and the little girl that was with them came into the gent's and used them instead of the ladies. I had to check the sign to make sure I'd used the right toilet...

@Brum if you PM me when you plan a trip to Bristol I'll happily drive you to near by collections.

Cheers, will PM you when I'm next down your way. Won't be until Bristol is a bit less restricted though.

 

[Brum]

Bus information provided at end of page 6 in "UK Collections by Public Transport", although winter timetables may have changed the frequency of the service since this was written.

Forgot about that thread, but the buses were ridiculous in Bristol. I don't think I waited less than 20 minutes for each bus. 45 minutes I waited outside NAZF before sucking it up and getting a taxi back instead...

 

[Brum]

London Zoo - 22/10/2020

Decided to visit London with a (none-zoo loving) friend so booked the zoo and a trip to The British Museum to keep him happy. Booking tickets for the zoo we got an 11.30 entry slot, then a 2.30 slot for the museum. I thought we'd easily see all the stuff I wanted in two and a half hours, but I was wrong... Unlike Bristol London was pretty much all open and quite busy so sacrifices had to be made. We skipped the Gorillas, B.U.G.S, Bird House, and we didn't even get over to the North Bank, and it still felt rushed.

There's not so much of a rigorous one-way system in place, with suggested routes sprayed on the floor but with no-one strictly enforcing them. It made for a much more interesting visit, being able to roam around.

Only saw one queue to enter anything, and that was for the lemur walkthrough, so we skipped it. Didn't realise that the only possible way to see the Antsangy (my reason for visiting) was to exit the walkthrough, I was wandering around the lobby of The Clore and getting quite confused, much to my mates amusement!

It was nice to have a muggle with me, and with a zoo such as London pretty much every building has a story. I dutifully filled him in on details of the previous inhabitants of The Casson, explained how the Land Of The Lions (God, it really is tacky and over-themed, especially when compared to Tiger Territory!) used to be home to many cat species, toured him along the Cotton Terraces... Don't know if he enjoyed it but I had fun dishing out my pearls of wisdom.

Stretched the zoo out for as close to the museum slot as possible, but still left a fair bit unseen. The museum was nice enough, got to see lots of stuff other countries want us to return, but it wasn't really my thing. Pleasant enough distraction for an hour or two but could've spent the extra time at the zoo. The perils of having to pre-book and not being able to judge how long a COVID restricted collection would take.

Next up Chester and, as a preview, lots of queues there...

 

[Themonkeyguy1]

London Zoo - 22/10/2020

Decided to visit London with a (none-zoo loving) friend so booked the zoo and a trip to The British Museum to keep him happy. Booking tickets for the zoo we got an 11.30 entry slot, then a 2.30 slot for the museum. I thought we'd easily see all the stuff I wanted in two and a half hours, but I was wrong... Unlike Bristol London was pretty much all open and quite busy so sacrifices had to be made. We skipped the Gorillas, B.U.G.S, Bird House, and we didn't even get over to the North Bank, and it still felt rushed.

There's not so much of a rigorous one-way system in place, with suggested routes sprayed on the floor but with no-one strictly enforcing them. It made for a much more interesting visit, being able to roam around.

Only saw one queue to enter anything, and that was for the lemur walkthrough, so we skipped it. Didn't realise that the only possible way to see the Antsangy (my reason for visiting) was to exit the walkthrough, I was wandering around the lobby of The Clore and getting quite confused, much to my mates amusement!

It was nice to have a muggle with me, and with a zoo such as London pretty much every building has a story. I dutifully filled him in on details of the previous inhabitants of The Casson, explained how the Land Of The Lions (God, it really is tacky and over-themed, especially when compared to Tiger Territory!) used to be home to many cat species, toured him along the Cotton Terraces... Don't know if he enjoyed it but I had fun dishing out my pearls of wisdom.

Stretched the zoo out for as close to the museum slot as possible, but still left a fair bit unseen. The museum was nice enough, got to see lots of stuff other countries want us to return, but it wasn't really my thing. Pleasant enough distraction for an hour or two but could've spent the extra time at the zoo. The perils of having to pre-book and not being able to judge how long a COVID restricted collection would take.

Next up Chester and, as a preview, lots of queues there...

Really good review, I really enjoy threads like this, Javan Rhino, TLD and others have posted some very good ones through the years.

 

[Brum]

Chester - 2/11/2020

When it was announced that we'd be going into another mass lockdown I decided to invest my last few days of freedom wisely, and booked myself a trip to Chester for the Monday and Birmingham for the Tuesday.

Setting off from Birmingham (and paying extra for my usual ticket as it was a weekday) was uneventful, but this was the busiest train I'd been on since lockdown restrictions were first relaxed. Even heading into London the train had been emptier. And having visited Gloucester the previous week I was amazed to have a whole carriage to myself, which made my reserved ticket a bit pointless.

The zoo was fairly busy on opening, so being mindful of queues, and after hearing horror stories from friends that queued for half an hour for the Tropical Realm, I elected to head straight to Monson Forest. I waited in line for about 5 minutes and then was in, result. Unfortunately the place didn't really do it for me. The Hornbill enclosure was spectacular, both inside and out, but it's mainly a big primate house with some other stuff. It could be so much more but owing to my disinterest in the Great Apes as a whole and the small viewing sections really getting crowded, despite restrictions, I just didn't fall in love with it. Having to queue to see the False Gharials was annoying as well. A shame really, as I wanted to love it.

Had to queue (there's a fair bit of that in this review, sorry if it gets repetitive, but you weren't there man, you weren't there!) for the Giraffes, really annoying as I could see the Giraffes from the door but wanted to get to the Okapi and, more specifically, the small mammals housed in the house. So I essentially queued to see some Pygmy Mice, an Acacia Rat, and an Elephant Shrew... No wonder my mates think I'm odd!

Tropical Realm next, no queue! Result! I knew the upstairs was closed off but didn't realise that the Tuatara and the big Hornbill aviaries were off show. Pretty brief visit, but re-entered after it started bucketing down as I left. Spent a bit more time in there then, and realised that "Tropical" is a bit misleading, as I was pretty damn chilly at times! No Aye-aye either, I went three for three for not seeing them this year.

Ambled around for a bit outdoors, no queueing, it was all good. Decided to checkout the Jaguar House, no queue, no Jaguar either. Ambled over to the new Lion extension, decided to not bother seeing the Lions because there was a queue...

Lunchtime arrived, headed to the pub. Turns out you need to pre-book so booked myself in for half bloody two, and went all the way back to the other side of the zoo and checked out more outdoor areas. Killed time, went back and checked Realm Of The Red Ape out. Stood in the queue, a bunch of school children were around, was really grateful for social distancing measures at that point.

I left the zoo at 3.50 hoping to check out the Elephant House, I've only ever seen the Cloud Rat towards the end of the day so thought I'd have a look. Closed due to social distancing. Massive queue in the shop so no souvenir. Got back to Chester, quick pint to kill time whilst waiting the 20 minutes for my train. Home by 7pm, and glad that I did Monsoon Forest first.

I took my mother to Birmingham the following day, mentioned here just for completeness sake, there's more details from an earlier visit in the news thread. The only difference this time was it was even quieter owing to the weather. That night I booked myself a trip to Twycross for Lockdown Eve...

 

[Brum]

Really good review, I really enjoy threads like this, Javan Rhino, TLD and others have posted some very good ones through the years.

Cheers, I wasn't going to do one but I was bored and I'm stuck in the house so thought I'd just do some musing and hope others enjoy it.

 

[Brum]

Twycross - 03/11/2020

So on the eve of Lockdown Eve (Copyright pending*) I decided to do something I've never attempted before, Twycross by public transport. Spoiler - I cheated and used a taxi to get there from the train station, wasn't cheap but I established that I probably wasn't going anywhere else this year so would just enjoy it! I did toy with another trip to London but decided I'd go somewhere new for the year instead. And I didn't want the disappointment of missing Antsangy twice in a month.

Upon entering the zoo the first thing I noticed was the bar was closed! Dry zoo visit for me then... After that crushing blow I was pleased to see that Twycross had a fairly broad one-way system in place. My first port of call, the Children's Zoo and some Gundis after briefly looking at the primates on the way past.

There's been no major developments since I last visited but the zoo is definitely in a better place husbandry-wise than it ever has been before. The species highlights were Gundi, Yellow-Throated Marten, the Langurs, Gibbons, and Bonobos. The new Rhino was quite settled, but he's definitely on the small side for breeding at the moment.

The one-way system was pretty good but fell apart by the Bush Dogs/Penguins/Martens, with arrows all pointing towards each other. The Tapir/Vicuna enclosure is also a bit forgotten about with no arrows pointing to it. One other section that also looks a bit lost and forlorn is the Longhouse aviary, only three species signed, none of them exciting.

Quite enjoyed my visit, this zoo is pretty geared up for social distancing, they were subliminally already putting in the one-way system before the current pandemic by the looks of things... Final post will deal with the subjective business of ranking my visits in comparison to in normal circumstances, should be up later.

 

[Brum]

Summary

Bristol - Under the heavy restrictions I really found it hard to relax and enjoy myself. The lousy weather probably didn't help, but the whole visit I felt rushed following the one way system, and with the closure of the two animal houses it really bumped the visit time down. Won't be heading back until restrictions are lifted. The zoo seems to have stood still apart from the Tree Kangaroo development, but Lord Howe Stick Insects were a nice lifer.

Bristol Aquarium - Clearly didn't want my money, their loss!

Noah's Ark - A fairly pleasant visit, large enough and quiet enough for social distancing to be easily followed. The collection is a bit on the average side but has some nice birds of prey including a pair of Steller's Sea Eagles, and the new Spectacled Bear and surrounding South American exhibits are a proper jewel in the crown. Elephant complex is superb as well, but I do have to ask how often do they use the whole area?

London - Pleasantly surprised by the zoo and city as a whole. I don't really like London but owing to the quietness of the place it made walking around a far more pleasant experience. The zoo was also a lot nicer than I remembered (last visit circa. 2004), and better than a lot of ZooChat would have you believe. The collection has some nice stuff (Potto, Slender Loris, Water Rat, Aye-aye, Narrow-striped Boky... And that's just the mammals). I imagine I will return to London before too long as I feel we have unfinished business. Those bloody Antsangy for a start!!! Social distancing was not a problem, and the place was well laid out with very few closures or queues for anything.

Chester - Queues, queues, more queues, and then some none queueing time! Skipped the Butterfly Walkthrough, skipped the Lions indoor, skipped the Chimp indoor, skipped the Rhino House, and the Bats and Elephant House were closed. Did visit the aquarium twice, walked straight back out the first time, had a proper look later on. Having to book a slot for a beer was a bit unexpected, but I got myself a nice table and a brandy to go with it in a very quiet bar. Was definitely the busiest and least socially distanced zoo I've visited in these uncertain times, also the only place I've personally seen (admittedly very small) school groups.

Birmingham - As I've stated elsewhere on the forum, social distancing and a very complete one-way route make this ideal to visit. I enjoyed dragging my mother around and was particularly pleased she got to see the Ocelot, she'd failed at Folly Farm and was a bit obsessed when she saw the enclosure. Shame the nocturnal buildings are closed, but the plastic flaps are a COVID breeding ground. Reptile House still being worked on as well, so an hour is fine for a visit at the minute.

Twycross - Another zoo that has taken the one-way system and allowed certain flexibility in certain parts. The circuit doesn't impact the visit in the way Bristol does, and is more reminiscent of London instead. The collection is still decent, with some pretty nice stuff in amongst the commoner fare, but it always fills me with nostalgia thinking of species lost since my childhood. Doubt I'll ever see another Uakari or Baikal Seal again unfortunately.

In conclusion Bristol have gone far too over the top with their restrictions, Chester seem a little too unconcerned outside of the main buildings, Noah's is not much different bar the closure of the reptiles and contact barn, and Twycross, London and Birmingham seem to have found a happy balance.

 

[snowleopard]

Great reviews...cheers mate!

 

[Brum]

Great reviews...cheers mate!

No worries, it was a pleasure to find something cerebral to do that wasn't reading or playing computer games. Been bored as Hell, so thought I'd share some thoughts. As I only visited rather popular collections I thought noting the pre-COVID and post-COVID differences would be interesting from a visitor point of view.

Fingers crossed that international travel will be slightly easier next year, then you might even get "Brum In The USA" and "Brum Does Europe"...

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

@Brum great trip reports and interesting to hear what "the new normal" looks like in terms of UK zoos.

Regarding Bristol zoo I'm glad you and your son got to see the Lord Howe stick insect as it is a brilliant little species with such an interesting conservation backstory to it.

However, it sounds like it was a bit of disappointment in terms of the nocturnal house, the Livingstone's fruitbat walkthrough enclosure and lemur walkthrough being closed.

If I was going to Bristol those three features of the zoo (especially the bats, aye-aye and giant jumping rats) would have been my main reason for a visit to the zoo so I wouldn't be very happy about that too.

By the way did you catch a glimpse of the black blue-eyed lemurs ?

 

[Brum]

Regarding Bristol zoo I'm glad you and your son got to see the Lord Howe stick insect as it is a brilliant little species with such an interesting conservation backstory to it.

I don't have a son, I have a daughter... And besides that this trip was solo.

If I was going to Bristol those three features of the zoo (especially the bats, aye-aye and giant jumping rats) would have been my main reason for a visit to the zoo so I wouldn't be very happy about that too.

I'm fortunate to have seen all three species on numerous occasions at a few collections. The joys of being in the UK. I was truly gutted I didn't get to see the Quolls or Kowari properly. A proper blow to my visit, even if not unexpected.

By the way did you catch a glimpse of the black blue-eyed lemurs ?

I didn't, the route doesn't leave a lot of time for lingering if a couple of families come up behind you.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

I don't have a son, I have a daughter... And besides that this trip was solo.


I'm fortunate to have seen all three species on numerous occasions at a few collections. The joys of being in the UK. I was truly gutted I didn't get to see the Quolls or Kowari properly. A proper blow to my visit, even if not unexpected.


I didn't, the route doesn't leave a lot of time for lingering if a couple of families come up behind you.

Oops , sorry I assumed it was a son.

I would be disappointed to not have seen the quolls or kowaris too as these marsupials really intrigue me.

I think I saw a quoll on my one and only visit to Bristol zoo in the early 2000's but have definitely never seen a kowari so that is on my life list for sure.

Sounds a bit hellish if you can't linger and spent time watching a species IMO.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

@Brum By the way was the Clore nocturnal house shut during your visit to ZSL ?