Colchester Zoo Colchester Zoo News 2023

Rajang21 said:
That is quite the logical leap.
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I wouldn't quite say that, I can see the connection. But given a lot of zoos housing only pygmy hippos tend to refer to them as just hippos, and as previously mentioned they seem to be going for a Congo basin collection, I have a feeling it's a pygmy exhibit. There was brief jubilation followed by the crushing disappointment of reality when I saw the news, given how much rarer common hippos are in zoos. If it was common hippo I'd suspect them to mention in the article.

As an aside the plans look fantastic. If all goes as planned Colchester will become one of the true greats in Europe, let alone the UK. You can never have enough okapis, afterall
 
cerperal said:
I wouldn't quite say that, I can see the connection. But given a lot of zoos housing only pygmy hippos tend to refer to them as just hippos, and as previously mentioned they seem to be going for a Congo basin collection, I have a feeling it's a pygmy exhibit. There was brief jubilation followed by the crushing disappointment of reality when I saw the news, given how much rarer common hippos are in zoos. If it was common hippo I'd suspect them to mention in the article.
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The article states that they’re not adding many new species, and they already hold Pygmy hippo. Given that in these plans the hippo exhibit is adjacent to gorillas, and okapis are planned, it’s probably a safe bet that they will continue with Pygmy hippo in an African rainforest themed area.
 
Two male Warthogs have been born:

Reported on socials:

Our Warthog family has expanded once again with the arrival of two adorable male hoglets! On the 8th March, our Animal Care Team were delighted to discover that our female Warthog, Hermione, had given birth to two healthy piglets.
 
Having spent a good part of yesterday pouring over the map for anything interesting, these are some of my thoughts:

I too now think they will be pygmy hippos in the new zone - not least because the dimensions for the new enclosure are not massive. I struggle to imagine Colchester getting common hippos and keeping them in a smaller area than the vultures or flamingos.

However, that area does have a lot of potential interest. Looking closely, there are a number of unlabelled spaces, that seem to also be enclosures. I counted anything up to seven in that area - I am currently working under the assumption that these fenced spaces, if they have an adjacent building, are planned animal enclosures:
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As well as this, the things I am most excited by are:
1. The nocturnal house (something I don't think Colchester has had since the 1970s)
2. The flamingo aviary (if nothing else, there might be potential for new birds with the flamingos) 3. The new orangutan house (which looks like it might be roughly where the wolves and World of Wings currently is). The map seems to show two outdoor enclosures on either side - one on the hill sloping down towards the lake, and the other going out into what is currently the car park.
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I've never been to Colchester myself .. I think mainly because there wasn't very much incentive really to go. Though, seeing this nice megalomaniac structure they intend, I think maybe I will pay a visit some time in the future ...
And nice to hear also on the new Society!
 
dillotest0 said:
I've never been to Colchester myself .. I think mainly because there wasn't very much incentive really to go. Though, seeing this nice megalomaniac structure they intend, I think maybe I will pay a visit some time in the future ...
And nice to hear also on the new Society!
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I’d recommend visiting anyway - it’s got some interesting animals and it’s a good day out. All this new stuff looks great though.
 
dillotest0 said:
I've never been to Colchester myself .. I think mainly because there wasn't very much incentive really to go. Though, seeing this nice megalomaniac structure they intend, I think maybe I will pay a visit some time in the future ...
And nice to hear also on the new Society!
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Colchester will always have the draw (at least for me) of having the UK's only reasonably large herd of bush elephants... that aren't being shipped back to Africa. It's got a great ABC collection and some equally great rarities - one of the handful to hold komodo dragons for example. But at the same time from what I've heard Chester does a lot of what it does well and then some, somewhere like Whipsnade has all the big hitters, London has location and most people have a more local zoo anyway. I've never been, mainly due to location, but I must admit these developments would take it from my must visit list to my priority list.
 
Zoofan15 said:
Two male Warthogs have been born:

Reported on socials:

Our Warthog family has expanded once again with the arrival of two adorable male hoglets! On the 8th March, our Animal Care Team were delighted to discover that our female Warthog, Hermione, had given birth to two healthy piglets.
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This is great news, according to zootierliste these are the only subspecific warthogs in the UK (P. a. africanus). Does anyone know how accurate this is, if the rest of UK warthogs are truly generic or are they likely to also belong to this subspecies?
 
How exciting! I hope we don't lose some of my favourite elements of the existing Colchester (an enormous family of Mandrills, the country's only Guianan Bearded Sakis and Northern Rufous Hornbills, a breeding group of Komodo Dragons etc) in all the new developments (I couldn't find any of them on the map, but I suspect which it is only showing the additions), but otherwise this plan seems wonderful!

It is a shame not to see more bird species incorporated, as the lack of great bird displays is the only thing holding Colchester back from becoming one of the country's greatest zoos, but the Flamingo Exhibit may solve that to an extent.

Bonobos would be excellent, as one of my most long-overdue target species, given that Twycross is too far away while Colchester is an (admittedly quite challenging) day trip from where I live. The nocturnal exhibit is very exciting (it is brilliant to see more of this, my favourite exhibit type, spring up across the country, especially with the unfortunate closure of Bristol), even if it is somewhat lesser in scale (I suspect the Aardvarks will be moved there, given that they state that redesigning current enclosures is a higher priority than acquiring new species entirely).

I cannot wait to see these plans come to fruition!
 
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Great news about the plans, Colchester has long been a zoo that I believe is slightly underrated objectively speaking in the UK zoo scene, though I do understand people who prefer places with perhaps a bit more character. Having said this, these plans are very promising, some lovely additions and will be very excited to return in five years or so when things are a bit further along. Having said that:
cerperal said:
If all goes as planned Colchester will become one of the true greats in Europe, let alone the UK.
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I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves as these are just plans - fairly advanced ones - but the same things were said of talk in Beauval of whale sharks and gerenuks etc. Lots can change in five-ten years, which is the timeframe we're talking in here. Even if these plans do come to fruition, I don't see Colchester being up there with the best in Europe, nor up there with Chester. The true giants of Europe (Prague, the Berlins etc.) have plans of their own which will doubtless massively improve their own offerings respectively.
dillotest0 said:
seeing this nice megalomaniac structure
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Might want to check the definition of megalomaniac - not sure it's what you meant :p.
 
amur leopard said:
I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves as these are just plans - fairly advanced ones - but the same things were said of talk in Beauval of whale sharks and gerenuks etc. Lots can change in five-ten years, which is the timeframe we're talking in here
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The difference here is this is a zoo adding species that aren't particularly big news in the UK, except for bonobos. Adding okapis and gorillas is nowhere near as big a leap as claiming to get whale sharks, or even komodo dragons as in Berlin Tierpark. For a major rebuild from my perspective this is a realistic and achievable one

amur leopard said:
I don't see Colchester being up there with the best in Europe, nor up there with Chester. The true giants of Europe (Prague, the Berlins etc.) have plans of their own which will doubtless massively improve their own offerings respectively.
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I doubt it will be on par with Chester, Berlin, Prague, Vienna etc but three of those are capitals. Chester will always be the best zoo in the UK as far as I can see, but Colchester will probably end up with better enclosures, a finer African collection (even with Grasslands) and more modern facilities. This can (and will) change, of course, but let's not meet over optimism with the opposite. Berlin has nowhere near as big developments occuring in the future - once the rhino house opens, it's mainly just the big cat extensions and various enclosure rearranging to happen. Once the African section of the Tierpark is finished, it remains to be seen whether the plans for the Americas will go ahead.

Colchester will never match these zoos with their variety, history, location etc. But I do think that it will hopefully make up for this with modern enclosures and the general experience.

I dunno, I fully expect to be wrong. And I'm probably biased because these are all species that I love. And the plans only came out yesterday.

In fact the more I think about it the more I may have perhaps overused hyperbole.
 
cerperal said:
Adding okapis and gorillas is nowhere near as big a leap as claiming to get whale sharks, or even komodo dragons as in Berlin Tierpark. For a major rebuild from my perspective this is a realistic and achievable one
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If you've been following Beauval, I'd suggest gerenuks really weren't that much of a leap - either way, my point was mostly tongue-in-cheek with regards to whale sharks but the underlying truth remains that plans are, after all, just plans and things might not pan out as shown above, much as I and everyone else here I'd assume would.
cerperal said:
Chester will always be the best zoo in the UK as far as I can see, but Colchester will probably end up with better enclosures,
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I wouldn't go there - whether or not Colchester makes these developments, that still leaves a good portion as the zoo as it is. If we're looking purely at what Colchester has right now versus what Chester has for the same (or very comparable species), it doesn't hold a candle to its northerly neighbour I'm afraid. Chester has far superior exhibits in pretty much every domain that they have in common for now, and I doubt that will change. While Chester isn't my favourite zoo by any stretch of the imagination, it is very consistent in the high quality of its enclosures.
cerperal said:
Berlin has nowhere near as big developments occuring in the future - once the rhino house opens, it's mainly just the big cat extensions and various enclosure rearranging to happen. Once the African section of the Tierpark is finished, it remains to be seen whether the plans for the Americas will go ahead.
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I wouldn't agree. Looking at the zoo, a 14,000 sqm rhino, warty pig and tapir area, 3,000 sqm worth of new big cat outdoor exhibits, 7,000 sqm gorilla complex, refurbishments of both the aquarium and primate buildings (both pretty large undertakings), brand new Okapi exhibits (2100 sqm) and a 7000 sqm bear and wolf area. The Tierpark is no slacker either but I won't get into it for fear of derailing the thread. Either way, big developments in a period that is very likely considerably shorter than that taken to complete Colchester's proposals. But just to be clear, this is absolutely understandable for so many reasons - no one expects Colchester to have the same output as these juggernauts, but that is quite my point; it isn't on par with these sorts of zoos and, much as I'd like to have a Prague or Berlin a short train ride away, won't be even after this is all wrapped up.

I am however very much looking forward to the developments, as Colchester is a zoo I really like and it has a lot going for it - can't wait to see what they come up with when it gets closer to the time :).
 
amur leopard said:
If you've been following Beauval, I'd suggest gerenuks really weren't that much of a leap - either way, my point was mostly tongue-in-cheek with regards to whale sharks but the underlying truth remains that plans are, after all, just plans and things might not pan out as shown above, much as I and everyone else here I'd assume would.


I wouldn't go there - whether or not Colchester makes these developments, that still leaves a good portion as the zoo as it is. If we're looking purely at what Colchester has right now versus what Chester has for the same (or very comparable species), it doesn't hold a candle to its northerly neighbour I'm afraid. Chester has far superior exhibits in pretty much every domain that they have in common for now, and I doubt that will change. While Chester isn't my favourite zoo by any stretch of the imagination, it is very consistent in the high quality of its enclosures.


I wouldn't agree. Looking at the zoo, a 14,000 sqm rhino, warty pig and tapir area, 3,000 sqm worth of new big cat outdoor exhibits, 7,000 sqm gorilla complex, refurbishments of both the aquarium and primate buildings (both pretty large undertakings), brand new Okapi exhibits (2100 sqm) and a 7000 sqm bear and wolf area. The Tierpark is no slacker either but I won't get into it for fear of derailing the thread. Either way, big developments in a period that is very likely considerably shorter than that taken to complete Colchester's proposals. But just to be clear, this is absolutely understandable for so many reasons - no one expects Colchester to have the same output as these juggernauts, but that is quite my point; it isn't on par with these sorts of zoos and, much as I'd like to have a Prague or Berlin a short train ride away, won't be even after this is all wrapped up.

I am however very much looking forward to the developments, as Colchester is a zoo I really like and it has a lot going for it - can't wait to see what they come up with when it gets closer to the time :).
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I agree with the grand majority of what you've said, and I would have perhaps explained myself more but I also feared derailing the thread. Though I think you're misrepresenting the Berlin developments as they are less developments and more much-needed upgrades for existing species (especially the cats and okapi) agree that Colchester isn't going to be comparable in any state to the others we've mentioned.

However I firmly believe that regardless of if the charity follows through with their plans fully it will end up in a collection that will stand out. They state in the initial release they will upgrade the existing exhibits as well, likely ending up with a very different looking zoo. Either way I look forward to seeing what happens too - no doubt we'll get more news closer the time.
 
Went for a morning visit to Colchester Zoo today. There wasn't much that was obviously new, but this is what I noted:

1. The former bird display will be becoming an area for dinosaur statues. There are definitely much better uses for the space, but I think I do prefer it to the idea of a high-ropes course.

2. The development by the old hunting dog area has continued, with the elevated platform over the right-hand enclosure mostly complete, including an overhead awning, and work now starting on developing the viewing area over the left-hand enclosure.

3. There is now a surplus dik-dik on display in the giant anteater enclosure opposite the red pandas (where a surplus blue duiker was kept recently).

I also purchased a copy of the 60th anniversary guidebook. It isn't a massive tome (to be expected, as it only costs £3) but does pack a fair amount of information about the past and present animals of the zoo. There isn't much about the future of the zoo beyond what has already been released.

There was one thing I noticed in the book that I didn't see while walking around the zoo - the Wilds of Asia building has (or will) be renamed as Rivers Edge. Makes sense really, as now it is not really an Asian building anymore with the addition of green tree monitors and green anacondas.
 
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