Belfast Zoo Belfast Zoo News 2025

Jaiden said:
Wouldn’t the Exhibit be to big to see them. A around 2 years ago Perth Zoo moved there 2 Ring Tailed Lemurs into the old Baboon habitat which was to big compared to the Lemurs and now I barely see them. I know big space is good but not really big spaces for smaller animals.
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I know. And to be honest, I too feel the enclosure would have been better suited to something larger than a bush dog. Tigers would have been nice, as the zoo has been without them for 7 years now.
 
Jaiden said:
Wouldn’t the Exhibit be to big to see them. A around 2 years ago Perth Zoo moved there 2 Ring Tailed Lemurs into the old Baboon habitat which was to big compared to the Lemurs and now I barely see them. I know big space is good but not really big spaces for smaller animals.
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They are a highly active species. I don’t imagine it will be too difficult to spot them.
 
Babyrousa said:
I know. And to be honest, I too feel the enclosure would have been better suited to something larger than a bush dog. Tigers would have been nice, as the zoo has been without them for 7 years now.
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Maybe the could of made exhibit 37 a Tiger habitat and 36 a over head Tiger crossing to exhibit 37 it would not be the biggest Tiger exhibit out there but it could be used for 2 Brothers or two sisters.
 
Tombe, one of the male chimpanzees recently transferred to Belfast from Colchester Zoo, died on Friday 28th March. While a full postmortem will be carried out soon, initial findings suggest a probable heart attack. The other male, Tumba, continues to integrate well with the wider chimpanzee troop at Belfast.

An article about Tombe has been released on the Colchester Zoo website.
 
It would be sad if the only council funded zoo in Britain moved to a new model, but I've long thought this would be a risk. Whatever happens, whatever happens, I hope the next chapter at Belfast Zoo is beneficial to the zoo, its residents and visitors, regardless of what model it follows.
 
Cat-Man said:
It would be sad if the only council funded zoo in Britain moved to a new model, but I've long thought this would be a risk. Whatever happens, whatever happens, I hope the next chapter at Belfast Zoo is beneficial to the zoo, its residents and visitors, regardless of what model it follows.
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Belfast is probably the biggest council owned zoo but not the only one. Birmingham, Tilgate and Hanwell are 3 others and I'm sure there are a few more smaller council owned zoos in parks around the country
 
Belfast was my home zoo growing up in the 90s and I remember the real optimism from then until maybe the early 2010s, with new exhibits and species including the likes of sifakas and tree kangaroos. It really pains me to see the state of it now, and while the councillor in question is a longstanding critic of the zoo, I think it’s getting to the point where serious questions need to be asked about sustainability. At the moment, it seems like the zoo is in decline, with reviews showing things like multiple coins in the sealion pool (I remember a pup dying from ingestion of these in the 90s?) and the ruined Floral Hall as an absolute eyesore and one of the first things you see. This really pains me to say, but if there isn’t a prospect of serious investment to bring the zoo back up to standard, radical decisions need to be made. Otherwise it just looks like a slow puncture.
 
pipaluk said:
Belfast is probably the biggest council owned zoo but not the only one. Birmingham, Tilgate and Hanwell are 3 others and I'm sure there are a few more smaller council owned zoos in parks around the country
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Incredible, I never knew that!
 
I thought it was worth sharing that the zoo's 38th Annual Photography Competition is now open.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but is this the first photography competition the zoo has held post-Covid?
 
I look forward to seeing what the next chapter of Belfast zoo brings. The zoo really has declined under the last leadership with a complete loss of its identity. The zoo was once known for its unique collection and this has all been decimated over the last decade. Financial issues, serious health and safety concerns and a very high staff turnover are all things that are quite often glazed over.

Species such as the colobus which had one of the largest open topped enclosures have been moved permanently to an enclosure built for puma in the 80’s much much smaller over the fear of the odd escape. The same for the red pandas who have been relegated to an old small cat enclosure.

Enclosures have been replaced with larger garish cages. When elephants and sun bear left, the enclosures remained the same with wallabies and bush dogs added. No thought, no vision, no development just a sign of a zoo with no direction.

The touted state of the art lion enclosure, really is just the one tiger enclosure with a window to the house and the moat filled in with a pile of massive viewing windows and a concrete slab for the ancient ‘Barbary’ lions to live out their days.

I really do hope they hire or promote someone with a real understanding of what makes a modern zoo and that the council actually let that person take the zoo forward. Too much time is spent from management blaming the council for not enough support and the council struggling to understand why the zoo isn’t performing. They just need a good manager and to let them root out the issues and make serious changes to its operating model.
 
Very much agree Al - would you say there are prospects for improvement? The dinosaurs were a particular low point for me.
 
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