Chester Zoo Chester Zoo discussion and questions 2025

Typhlonectes said:
If you’re not too interested in seeing the Lions, bypassing that area of the zoo should save you a lot of time
Click to expand...

It's just lion now. :p Doing this will result in missing Blue Peafowl and Brahminy Starling.

The zoo gates open at 0930 but visitors are held near the elephants and entrance to Heart of Africa until 1000.

If you like fish go to the aquarium, it is closing at the end of the year. It will be your last chance to see it.
 
Don't miss the tuatara, they're easy to see near the entrance of the Tropical House. It's frustratingly hard to see the aye-ayes at the exit at the far end, as the exhibits and the public area are very dark indeed. Don't miss the new Hidden Savannah House near the aardvarks.
 
Scottish Wildcat said:
Please forgive and redirect me if a similar question has been asked earlier in the thread (or if there's a better one) but, I'm planning my first Chester Zoo trip in 18+ years! If there's any general 'pro' advice on what to prioritise and what to see at what times of the day, please let me know! I've only allocated one day for myself (which I'm a little worried about) but I'm planning to be there for gates open till gates close, and also planning on using my Edinburgh membership to get in. Should I still book in advance? Is this feasible? Any advice appreciated!
Click to expand...
Last spring, before Heart of Africa opened, I did everything in one day except the Giraffe and Okapi Houses (I saw the exterior habitats but didn't think to go inside) and the Snow Leopard habitat (it opened that week and was crowded) so it's definitely possible to do the majority of the zoo in one day. Heart of Africa will obviously take away some of the time I spent around though.
 
Hidden Savannah House has Ethiopian Mountain Viper and South African Spiny Mouse, both uncommon in U.K. zoos.
 
Over the years from around 2009 I have visited Chester, but I haven’t visited over the last few years so it’s time to put that right.
I have a Thursday to Monday booked in September (after the children go back to school) and was wandering if anyone as a current list of Bird species held within the collection.
I have had great responses over the years and was wandering which areas the species are held within.
I know they will probably change some locations as most collections do over the year.
So, any help would be great.
 
Jambo said:
Thanks - it appears Sarah is the missing female. She would have been forty this year.

Hopefully Jeff is still alive and well - especially as it seems his mother has passed.

I found a video of him that appears to be recent;

From that Youtube channel, it does seem like ZeeZee has passed sometime earlier this year. A video shows her with Jeff from a few months back. The most recent videos however show Jeff spending his time with Sally, who appears to have adopted him.
Click to expand...
Sorry late to the discussion. The video was filmed end of April and Zee Zee was still alive and well! Sally hasn't adopted him. Sally is like a second mother who cares for Jeff with Zee Zee together. So I do hope nothing has happened to her or Jeff since then.
 
Scottish Wildcat said:
Please forgive and redirect me if a similar question has been asked earlier in the thread (or if there's a better one) but, I'm planning my first Chester Zoo trip in 18+ years! If there's any general 'pro' advice on what to prioritise and what to see at what times of the day, please let me know! I've only allocated one day for myself (which I'm a little worried about) but I'm planning to be there for gates open till gates close, and also planning on using my Edinburgh membership to get in. Should I still book in advance? Is this feasible? Any advice appreciated!
Click to expand...

Hope you have a lovely day! I am not a regular just go a few times a year. I have to say I do struggle to see everything in a single day so make a note of what I really want to spend time in and see and target that vs doing the ‘100%’ thing but it does depend how much you like to linger - I am a semi professional lingerer.

I would say try and avoid going back and forth between the areas unless you really want to check something out that didn’t appear as it’s quite a way between them.

It will depend on how you like to view but I’d say definitely check out the new Heart of Africa area first and work from there as there’s lots to see in it and if you miss something there it is closest to the entrance for a revisit before you leave compared to some other things (also neat the entrance and easy to ‘pop back to’ are the elephants and the primate house).
 
Thank you all for the advice! I visited two days ago, and just about managed to do everything, plus some time to revisit no-shows at the end of the day (successfully!). Sure, I didn't eat and barely sat down all day but, worth it!

I hit Islands first thing in the morning and got the boat ride all to myself. Being so early it doesn't seem like much was out and about yet, but pretty much everything there I can see at my home zoo in Edinburgh whenever anyways, so it was more about seeing the exhibits and the cool theming than the animals themselves.Those were the only major no-shows (other than the jaguars, but I saw the black one at the end of the day)!

My 'must-see' list was: Both orangutans, tuatara, sifaka (got right up close!), great hornbills, aye-aye, jaguar, Komodo dragon, reticulated python, okapi, giant otter, forest buffalo, gharial, tree kangaroo, electric blue day gecko, and bush dog. And with the exception of the last two, managed to see them all! Thank you all again for the tips!
 
Scottish Wildcat said:
Thank you all for the advice! I visited two days ago, and just about managed to do everything, plus some time to revisit no-shows at the end of the day (successfully!). Sure, I didn't eat and barely sat down all day but, worth it!

I hit Islands first thing in the morning and got the boat ride all to myself. Being so early it doesn't seem like much was out and about yet, but pretty much everything there I can see at my home zoo in Edinburgh whenever anyways, so it was more about seeing the exhibits and the cool theming than the animals themselves.Those were the only major no-shows (other than the jaguars, but I saw the black one at the end of the day)!

My 'must-see' list was: Both orangutans, tuatara, sifaka (got right up close!), great hornbills, aye-aye, jaguar, Komodo dragon, reticulated python, okapi, giant otter, forest buffalo, gharial, tree kangaroo, electric blue day gecko, and bush dog. And with the exception of the last two, managed to see them all! Thank you all again for the tips!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear it was great! Sorry for missing the date you were going and posting the above!
 
Furthermore to my earlier question about current avian species held within the collection.

I am now looking for the location of the following species as all the others I have seen either at this collection or other collections.

Black naped oriole
Greater Brazilian teal
Lemon dove
Malay crestless fireback
Mindanao lorikeet
Orange-breasted waxbill
Passerini’s tanager
Siamese white crested laughing thrush
Sumbawa forsten’s lorikeet
Tricolor parrotfinch
White-headed munia.
 
AdrianW1963 said:
Furthermore to my earlier question about current avian species held within the collection.

I am now looking for the location of the following species as all the others I have seen either at this collection or other collections.

Black naped oriole
Greater Brazilian teal
Lemon dove
Malay crestless fireback
Mindanao lorikeet
Orange-breasted waxbill
Passerini’s tanager
Siamese white crested laughing thrush
Sumbawa forsten’s lorikeet
Tricolor parrotfinch
White-headed munia.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about some of these but as of my visit last October:
-Black-Naped Oriole: Tropical Realm
-White-Crested Laughingthrush: Aviary to the left of the front doors to Tropical Realm and one of the aviaries marked as "Owls"
-Malay Crestless Fireback, Mindanao Lorikeet: Dragons in Danger
-Tricoloured Parrotfinch, White-Headed Munia: RoTRA
-Passerini's Tanager: Off Show
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top