Chester Zoo Chester Zoo discussion and questions 2025

Oh and a follow-up question! I know Chester Zoo had Eastern Bongos at one point, are they going back on display when Heart of Africa opens, or are they off display for the foreseeable future?
 
LTigert said:
Hello everyone

I am a Canadian planning on a large cross-UK trip for the summer of 2026, with the goal of visiting many UK Zoos, and Chester Zoo is one of the zoos I am most interested in visiting.
Chester Zoo has many species not commonly kept in Canadian Zoos, and I have a few questions about some of the species and the Zoo.

1. Bush Dogs are listed on the Chester Zoos website, but their location is not listed in the zoo? Are they still on display, or have they been moved off-display?

2. Are the Onagers still on habitat with the Camels?

3. How easy is it to see the Tuataras? Are they usually in the open? Or are they hiding most of the time?

4. Similarly, how easy is it to see the Goodfellow's Tree-Kangaroo? In NA we only have Matschie's Tree-Kangaroos, so I would be excited to see this species.

5. What are the species you find most interesting to see at the Chester Zoo? What are some tips and tricks you have for a day visit here?

6. And finally, are there any major construction plans for 2026, similar to how the Heart of Africa area has been closed for renovations? Or will most of the Zoo be accessible in 2026?

Thanks in advance!
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At this time of year, the tuataras will be just peeking out their burrows, so just look out for any holes and you'll probably see them.
 
LTigert said:
Oh and a follow-up question! I know Chester Zoo had Eastern Bongos at one point, are they going back on display when Heart of Africa opens, or are they off display for the foreseeable future?
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I believe they are off display right now until they start work on the rainforest section however they'll fit in there... and they are not involved with HoA. The same with Bush Dogs I think. Camels are now temporarily in old giraffe yard. Everything is worth seeing but I recommend being at Spirit of The Jaguar for the Sloth talk. I'm not sure when they start construction on the rainforest section, but hopefully not when you visit!
 
derek said:
I think the enclosure that you are talking about is for the verreaux eagle owl. This will be the aviary next to the wart hog enclosure. From what I have heard the vulture aviary is still the same size as the plans.
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Have you seen the members video? The vulture aviary is, as others have commented, half the size as originally planned. The owl aviary is on a different part of HOA.
 
I'd be very surprised if there's any major construction in progress in summer 2026 - the zoo won't be rushing in to another major capital investment quite that quickly after the amount spent on Heart of Africa.

If anything new opens for 2026 it will be something relatively modest and almost certainly done and dusted by Easter. :)
 
Maguari said:
I'd be very surprised if there's any major construction in progress in summer 2026 - the zoo won't be rushing in to another major capital investment quite that quickly after the amount spent on Heart of Africa.

If anything new opens for 2026 it will be something relatively modest and almost certainly done and dusted by Easter. :)
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Yes this is my understanding too. I heard that the African forest area is getting done in phases unlike heart of africa which is obviously opening all at once. I think this is probably to spread the cost out and allow for all the inhabitants of tropical realm to be rehoused properly. I’d imagine the chimps would be first to get their new area on the footprint of the old giraffe (camel) enclosure, and then it would be a knock on effect of their old enclosure being turned into something new etc.

It’s been mentioned before that the plan is to turn dragons in danger and the shop/food outlet next to it into a much expanded Madagascar area housing the entire Madagascan collection in one location. There’s quite a lot of species in tropical realm that would move here (aye aye , jumping rat, a lot of reptiles / amphibians and a few birds etc) and the Komodo’s and other SE Asian species will therefore need to move. So I think in preparation for the next big africa forest project we will see a few smaller but strategically significant projects happen to facilitate it all in the years running up to this.
 
Ed123 said:
Yes this is my understanding too. I heard that the African forest area is getting done in phases unlike heart of africa which is obviously opening all at once. I think this is probably to spread the cost out and allow for all the inhabitants of tropical realm to be rehoused properly. I’d imagine the chimps would be first to get their new area on the footprint of the old giraffe (camel) enclosure, and then it would be a knock on effect of their old enclosure being turned into something new etc.

It’s been mentioned before that the plan is to turn dragons in danger and the shop/food outlet next to it into a much expanded Madagascar area housing the entire Madagascan collection in one location. There’s quite a lot of species in tropical realm that would move here (aye aye , jumping rat, a lot of reptiles / amphibians and a few birds etc) and the Komodo’s and other SE Asian species will therefore need to move. So I think in preparation for the next big africa forest project we will see a few smaller but strategically significant projects happen to facilitate it all in the years running up to this.
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I hope Tropical Realm is open when I go! The tuataras are in that building, correct? They are definitely a major reason I want to visit!
 
Ed123 said:
Yes this is my understanding too. I heard that the African forest area is getting done in phases unlike heart of africa which is obviously opening all at once. I think this is probably to spread the cost out and allow for all the inhabitants of tropical realm to be rehoused properly. I’d imagine the chimps would be first to get their new area on the footprint of the old giraffe (camel) enclosure, and then it would be a knock on effect of their old enclosure being turned into something new etc.

It’s been mentioned before that the plan is to turn dragons in danger and the shop/food outlet next to it into a much expanded Madagascar area housing the entire Madagascan collection in one location. There’s quite a lot of species in tropical realm that would move here (aye aye , jumping rat, a lot of reptiles / amphibians and a few birds etc) and the Komodo’s and other SE Asian species will therefore need to move. So I think in preparation for the next big africa forest project we will see a few smaller but strategically significant projects happen to facilitate it all in the years running up to this.
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I believe that according to the zonal plan for 2030, that they will be working working there way through the rainforest a piece at a time, starting with the African Forest. I'm still not sure if there will be any actual construction in the South American bit or if it's just slight repurposing of areas.
 
A few things I picked out:
. The zoo no longer holds Antigua Anole, Mangrove Cat Snake, Panther Chameleon, Pink-toed Tarantula, Discula polymorpha Snail, Brazilian Giant Blonde Tarantula, Violet-winged Grasshopper or Leafcutter Ants (among others).
. The zoos male Caiman Lizard died.
. The zoo reacquired Montserrat Tarantulas at some point :)
 
First breedings at Chester were Gery's Spiny-tailed Lizard, Middle-eastern Short-fingered Gecko, Keyserling's Wonder Gecko, Greater Flaimngo, Roloway Monkey and South African Spiny Mouse. I haven't checked fish and invertebrates yet,

Species not previously kept at Chester are Turquoise Dwarf Gecko, Lepten's Spiny-tailed Lizard, Middle-eastern Short-fingered Gecko, Keyserling's Wonder Gecko, Blue-tailed Monitor, Taiwan Beauty Snake, Lemon Dove, and Snow Leopard. Again I havent checked fish and inverts.
 
Typhlonectes said:
A few things I picked out:
. The zoo no longer holds Antigua Anole, Mangrove Cat Snake, Panther Chameleon, Pink-toed Tarantula, Discula polymorpha Snail, Brazilian Giant Blonde Tarantula, Violet-winged Grasshopper or Leafcutter Ants (among others).
. The zoos male Caiman Lizard died.
. The zoo reacquired Montserrat Tarantulas at some point :)
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A few other noteworthy mentions;

  • The fossa offspring born in 2022 look to have all left, one has gone to Port Lympne, no indication where the others have gone.
  • Blesbok have had 0,2 born last year.
  • It would appear that one of the female okapi died in 2024.
  • Malayan tapir as mentioned in another thread are down to just one male.
  • Six chimpanzee deaths.
 
Embu said:
Any idea which Chimps have died?
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Jambo said:
I'm very surprised to see six chimps have died - that's quite a lot within the span of a year, although Chester did have an 'older' group.

Boris was the only death publicly confirmed, he passed last July aged 58.

Also does anyone know whether a name has been given to Alice's recent son?
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The deaths were 4.1.1 (i.e. one was of unknown sex).

From that we can conclude one of the deaths was an infant that was stillborn or died as a neonate (before gender could be ascertained). Female chimpanzees are often allowed to retain the body of their infant to allow them to grieve, during which time the body can decompose to a state where gender can’t be determined through visual analysis. Some zoos have also reported partial cannibalism of infants in this species, which is a another example (albeit less common) of where gender is never confirmed.
 
bongorob said:
2024 animal inventory on line

https://www.chesterzoo.org/footer/corporate-information/animal-inventory
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In addition to the chimps (which is certainly news to me as there were two more births and two more deaths than I was aware of), there are a few other points that I found interesting mammals wise in the stock list:
  • Only 1:1 Buffy-headed capuchins left, presumably the reason they are no longer on show in the monkey house/islands. It is very reassuring however to see 12 Black-headed spider monkeys, 5 Roloway monkeys, 10 Lion-tailed macaques and 16 Mandrills.
  • It appears all of the Fossa born a couple years back left last year (they were 2:3 at the start of the year, 1:1 by the end of it)
  • The zoo has quite a large number of mongoose species, at least compared to what I remember seeing 2 years ago!
  • African wild dogs down to 3:2 and 1:2 for the Bush Dogs, quite depleted numbers.
  • One male Andean bear left last year, was this the twin born in 2020? Now the zoo has 1:2, would I be right in thinking this is newish breeding male Oberon, the previous breeding female Lima and the female cub Pacha born in 2020 (her daughter)?
  • Giant Otters were at 0:1 last year and 1:1 now, seems pretty low considering it doesn't feel like they bred an awful long time ago.
  • Warthogs should be at 0:5 as 3 young females born in March 2024 arrived in January from Colchester.
  • Banteng dropped from 0:10 to 0:4 as one female died and 5 others left the zoo (to Whipsnade?)
 
Rajang-GOAT said:
In addition to the chimps (which is certainly news to me as there were two more births and two more deaths than I was aware of), there are a few other points that I found interesting mammals wise in the stock list:
  • Only 1:1 Buffy-headed capuchins left, presumably the reason they are no longer on show in the monkey house/islands. It is very reassuring however to see 12 Black-headed spider monkeys, 5 Roloway monkeys, 10 Lion-tailed macaques and 16 Mandrills.
  • It appears all of the Fossa born a couple years back left last year (they were 2:3 at the start of the year, 1:1 by the end of it)
  • The zoo has quite a large number of mongoose species, at least compared to what I remember seeing 2 years ago!
  • African wild dogs down to 3:2 and 1:2 for the Bush Dogs, quite depleted numbers.
  • One male Andean bear left last year, was this the twin born in 2020? Now the zoo has 1:2, would I be right in thinking this is newish breeding male Oberon, the previous breeding female Lima and the female cub Pacha born in 2020 (her daughter)?
  • Giant Otters were at 0:1 last year and 1:1 now, seems pretty low considering it doesn't feel like they bred an awful long time ago.
  • Warthogs should be at 0:5 as 3 young females born in March 2024 arrived in January from Colchester.
  • Banteng dropped from 0:10 to 0:4 as one female died and 5 others left the zoo (to Whipsnade?)
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Re. Andean bears:

1.0 Mateo (2020) went to Port Lympne Reserve in Kent in 2023
1.0 Bernie (2010) was scheduled for be sent to Germany in 2024

This would leave them with 1.2 (Obe, Lima and Pacha)
 
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