Bristol Zoo Project Wild Place News 2022

Skukuza

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
visited 03.01.22.

Prebooked the tickets before remembering it was a bank holiday! Doh!

It was of course heaving with people and although entirely outdoors with the exception of the giraffe house and meerkat greenhouse the narrow paths around much of the site do not lend themselves well to social distancing.

Same as Jake above no dik diks seen and all signage for the cranes was removed from that exhibit.

Bear woods had no bears on show (Bare woods?) though doors to housing were open. However I think the exhibit is still outstanding, one of the lynx had climbed one of the trees to a height of perhaps 20 or so feet and was eye level with the upper deck, the wolverines were active and a sparrow hawk took something in the bear/wolf enclosure which the wolves then tried to snatch away.

did not see any reindeer on the visit, presumably they are resting after their busy Christmas.

No red river hogs either though it was a cold day so maybe sheltering.

Gelada's fencing near the house feels very low to me?

No sign of any developments, publicity or ground-breaking going on in the preparation of Bristol Zoo closing, though there is clearly lots of space at the site.

Let's hope the exhibits continue in the vein of bear woods and gelada rocks as much of the remainder of the site from its opening iteration is rather uninspiring... it also seems there is quite a lot of infrastructure needed if they are hoping to capture even a small percentage of the city footfall as there are temporary portaloos utilised in many areas, there doesn't seem to be enough covered areas, picnic areas and the giftshop couldnt cope with todays influx let alone when they have moved the gorillas etc. *fingers crossed*
 
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Wild Place's Facebook page have confirmed that the first two female lynx kittens born in 2020 will be moving on to new homes this month. Lox will go to Beale Wildlife Park in Berkshire while Kinsey will go to Randers Tropical Zoo in Denmark.
 
I visited on Sunday 9 Jan, the Red River Hogs were both out and about, briefly in the area the giraffes tend to roam, before they moved back to their own area to forage for food. No sign of the Bears but I think Wild Place have indicated that they are currently hibernating.

At least one of the Lynxes was high up in one of the trees having a snooze at altitude which was quite good to see. I think I could see at least a couple of the other lynxes cuddled together in the undergrowth.

The cheetah brothers were reasonably active, helped by one of the keepers who had to move them briefly to the far right pen so she could clean their main enclosure area and it looked as if they had some rabbit carcasses or something as snacks.

The Walled Garden area is lacking the Cranes and the aviaries are a bit depleted but whilst I was there the signage was swapped between the last two aviaries which I think was the Pink pigeons and the laughing thrushes effectively swapping places. No sign of the Dik Diks but I assume that may just have been due to it being a chilly Sunday and them choosing to remain warm in their inside enclosure?

As per the recent earlier posts I couldn’t see any signs of any development going on. The former okapi area and original red river hog enclosures were all empty; that area is in need of redevelopment given it occupies a reasonable amount of space. I didn’t go past the former Wolf Wood exhibit but I imagine that also continues to sit empty.

I remain hopeful that some signs of progress will become apparent in the coming months, if nothing else but to help ensure visitor numbers don’t decline and impact the revenue they need to help develop the new Bristol Zoo. Overall though a very enjoyable visit, particularly Bear Wood which is always a highlight.
 
Looking at a Facebook posting by Wild Place earlier it looks as if the Red River Hogs have moved to the area previously occupied by the Okapi into what is called Secret Congo. Ironic in a way as they were originally in that last pen near the children's play area but it does give them a lot more space. Presumably it is a permanent move to at least helpfully spread the collection around the site pending the arrival of any of the Bristol Zoo species they are retaining or new species. The site map seems to have been updated to show this change.

Our pair of red river hogs in their new home in our Secret Congo Exhibit.
Plan your visit - Wild Place
 
. Presumably it is a permanent move to at least helpfully spread the collection around the site pending the arrival of any of the Bristol Zoo species they are retaining or new species. The site map seems to have been updated to show this change.

Our pair of red river hogs in their new home in our Secret Congo Exhibit.
Plan your visit - Wild Place

My only misgiving is if this means Okapi will not be returning, though I thought somewhere they said that they would. But in the meantime they wouldn't want there to be an empty larger exhibit which is perhaps the real reason behind this move.
 
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Looking at a Facebook posting by Wild Place earlier it looks as if the Red River Hogs have moved to the area previously occupied by the Okapi into what is called Secret Congo. Ironic in a way as they were originally in that last pen near the children's play area but it does give them a lot more space. Presumably it is a permanent move to at least helpfully spread the collection around the site pending the arrival of any of the Bristol Zoo species they are retaining or new species. The site map seems to have been updated to show this change.

Our pair of red river hogs in their new home in our Secret Congo Exhibit.
Plan your visit - Wild Place
I also noticed this yesterday - I wonder if the hardstanding and house previously used by the hogs will be used by a new species... Otherwise, I think this is a great move, and a much better environment for the hogs :)
 
I also noticed this yesterday - I wonder if the hardstanding and house previously used by the hogs will be used by a new species... Otherwise, I think this is a great move, and a much better environment for the hogs :)
But, ‘Bristol Zoo’ without Okapi…..dreadful:(
 
South Gloucester Council planning website - Further development of Wild Place, planning application docs

I did a quick search out of interest on the South Gloucester council planning site and there's a single document available which seems to give a bit more information on the first phase of development for Wild Place (see section 3), within the environmental impact assessment document. It only seems to reference a priority build for the accommodation needed to house the gorillas that I could see, any other exhibits are not really covered in terms of what they may be other than part of a 'zone'. It's worth taking a quick look, hopefully more documents may be added to the planning application in time.

P22/001/SCO | Further development of the Wld Place | Wild Place Blackhorse Hill Easter Compton South Gloucestershire BS10 7TP
 
Bristol Zoo Gardens announces its closure date - Wild Place
I'm not sure if this link is working properly but there's more information about the rhinos on the website.
Additional species mentioned:
"The new Bristol Zoo will also include endangered African grey parrots and critically endangered slender-snouted crocodiles. There will also be extremely rare species of West African fish which visitors will be able to see in a new underwater viewing area."
 
Local press reporting today that Wild Place will add 2 Black Rhino at some point in the future as part of their plans to develop into Bristol Zoo
..Nice!
As well as being an endangered species, rhinos are also charismatic, and hence will help in bring money not just for rhinos, but also other lesser-known endangered species in the zoo..
 
Wild Place seem to favour mixed exhibits so I wonder what else they might include with the Rhino?

in other news I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Red Panda will move from BZ to WP.
 
Local press reporting today that Wild Place will add 2 Black Rhino at some point in the future as part of their plans to develop into Bristol Zoo
This almost has a ring to it that the animal collection planning under the old(er) Masterplan does yet bear some weight in any future developments at Wild Place.
I remember under the old document it was a Tanzania bush savannah - black rhino of sorts and f.i. Indonesian rainforest Sumatra - tiger.

Red pandas are always a nice addition, especially for the zoo visitor. It would be great if they could be exhibited along a Himalaya trail of sorts.


NOTA BENE: QUOTE: "Since the preparation of the WPP Masterplan in October 2020, the Design Team brief has evolved to focus only on the delivery of Phase 1 to enable the relocation of all the Bristol Zoo activities to the WPP. Therefore, the Phase 1 components are the subject of this proposal. Completion of the longer term masterplan vision for the WPP Site would be the subject of a future application."UNQOUTE

Any idea for the time frame and completion of the EIA scoping application and EIA assessment requirements?


AMBITIOUS GOAL: "663,000 visitors on the completion of Phase 1 in early 2024". Current annual attendance hovered under 300,000 (pre Covid).
 
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This almost has a ring to it that the animal collection planning under the old(er) Masterplan does yet bear some weight in any future developments at Wild Place.
I remember under the old document it was a Tanzania bush savannah - black rhino of sorts and f.i. Indonesian rainforest Sumatra - tiger.

Yes, Black Rhino was in the original masterplan. Good to hear they will return, this is a bit more like it...
 
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