Chester Zoo American review of Chester

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Chester claims to be the #1 zoo in the UK, and as far as traditional zoos go, I think this is likely true. By British standards it is excellent, but let's be brutally honest - British zoo standards are nowhere near American zoo standards. In America, Chester would never make anyone's top ten list, although it could make a top 25 list. Considering how many multi-million dollar immersion exhibits we have, top 25 is actually not bad.

I certainly enjoyed my visit and would certainly recommend it to anyone. A couple exhibits are outstanding, namely the cheetah and spectacled bear. I have never seen such a lush bear exhibit and I can only guess that the reason the bears don't demolish the foliage (as they do everywhere else) is because it is so much bigger than most other bear exhibits. I think there is a lesson here for zoo designers elsewhere. The fact that coatis share the exhibit only adds to its value.

The jaguar exhibit is also good and is of course one of their landmark exhibits. There are two exhibit sides, the left being a savannah exhibit and the right being a rainforest exhibit. Any zoo that has more than one exhibit for a given cat species is going to rate favorably with me. Each of the two exhibits has both an indoor and outdoor area. Since the cats on each side can go in or out as they please, it can make it difficult for visitors to find them. This is my only criticism. Also the indoor section of the savanna exhibit does not really work - it is a mud floor with a bunch of small dead plants and looks more like an area that was just devastated by a hurricane. The indoor exhibit for the rainforest, however, is unbelievably lush and would make a dream photo if the cat had been inside (but it was always outside during the time I was there).

The other standout exhibit are two marmoset exhibits. These use existing trees with a low fence around the bottom area. It is so thick and tall that it is hard to find any monkeys - I actually did not see them, but I did not linger long enough to look hard. If spotted, this natural area would be fantastic and a great photo opportunity.

Many of the other exhibits are typical yards - all good sized and many nicely planted. Nothing fancy, nothing elaborate, but nothing bad either. A couple of the indoor buildings I did not have time to go in (would have required a second day visit), so I cannot comment. Seeing baby visayan piglets was a nice surprise, since we have an all female group at my zoo and will not have babies any time soon. The philippine spotted deer was a great surprise too. I had just read a chapter about them and with their spotted coats and dark face they are certainly one of the most beautiful deer in the world (and there are none in the U.S.).

I enjoy zoo monorails, so that was nice too. But I have two criticisms. First, the plexiglass windows are scuffed up and obstruct the view somewhat (and there is no way to open the windows). Second, you can only do half a circuit. If you want to do the second half (to end up where you started), you have to get off and get back in line and pay again. Kind of a ripoff. Otherwise, it is a pleasant ride and I like the fact that it goes slow. Our resident monorail operator from Dallas will be interested to know there are no ride operators on the Chester monorail - it runs on its own once the station operator releases it.

Overall quite a nice zoo. Not a world class knockout, but nice. (If the Natural Vision plans are completed, then it likely will be world class). I would definitely recommend it and first time visitors should plan a full day, perhaps even two days.
 
Nice to see an up-to-date review of Chester, and an unbiased one as well
:). I'm glad you enjoyed your visit, and yes, the Jags are fascinating. I think, however, the two spotted ones on the waterfall side don't have access to the rainforest area indoors. Likewise, Pele (the melanistic Jaguar whom is painfully difficult to spot, and more so to photograph) lives in the rainforest indoor bit with no access to the outdoor enclosure (unless they rotate, but if they do I think this is out of hours since I've never seen either type in the other exhibit.
 
Let`s be brutally honest, multi-million immersion exhibits are mainly built to please the visitor`s eyes, and are often far away from being ideal from the animal`s point of view. British standards may be very different then US standards, but have the strong feeling that US standards underrate the most important thing, animal welfare.

I guess the Bronx zoo makes it into most US zoo fan top list, but I liked Chester way better then Bronx, because I take animal welfare into consideration. I was shocked to see that the highly-rated Bronx zoo has so many terrible, small indoor-only exhibits for large mammals like tapirs, fossas, leopards, langurs, sifakas, really large crocs ect. Chester may have a lot of enclosures that are not "spectactlar immersion exhibits", but they are all spacious and very well equipped with vegetation, climbing/hiding structures ect. You need to search long to find another zoo with so few "dark points" like Chester and such a high overall standard.

Not to forget that Chester has a fantastic collection not only incl. the charismatic megafauna (2 species od rhinos, 2 species of orang utans in breeding groups, elephants, numerous ungulates, giraffes, okapis, lots of rare monkey species, great chimp groups, many rare species of smaller animals....), but also a great collection of birds and reptiles incl. many very rare species and with good breeding sucess.
 
Javan Rhino said:
Likewise, Pele (the melanistic Jaguar whom is painfully difficult to spot, and more so to photograph) lives in the rainforest indoor bit with no access to the outdoor enclosure...
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I was told by a regular zoo visitor that the black jaguar had died. And I was told by a keeper they had access to both parts (indoor and outdoor). When I was there, there was one jag in the rainforest side and two on the savanna side (although it is possible there was another on the rainforest side that I never saw).
 
I can see how this will go as people have strong feelings about the immersion versus traditional British zoos debate but I agree completely with Yassa:

You need to search long to find another zoo with so few "dark points" like Chester and such a high overall standard.
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You can't really compare US and British zoos. Funding structures, zoo cultures, attitudes and expectations and priorities are completely different.

I can't accept that British standards are nowhere near American ones.

They are simply different.
 
Shirokuma said:
You can't really compare US and British zoos. Funding structures, zoo cultures, attitudes and expectations and priorities are completely different.

I can't accept that British standards are nowhere near American ones.

They are simply different.
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I quite agree

Furthermore,
There are many fantastic animal enjoyment moments at Chester: Orangs and chimps come to mind. Certainly a different exhibit aesthetic from what we expect in America, but no less exciting for animal lovers. If you let go of assumptions about exhibitry and just take in what is there at Chester, you'll be quite impressed. (I marveled at so many cool bird species!)

On a different point, I don't so easily buy these assumptions of what is better for the animals. We can apply human standards to what might be kinder to animals but that doesn't make it so. Are Chester's tapirs healthier and in better condition than the ones at the Bronx? I can't have a way to know that. I can appreciate one saying that they prefer the sort of enclosures common at the best UK zoos, but this moral high ground thing is just frosting on a bias
 
Arizona Docent said:
Chester claims to be the #1 zoo in the UK, and as far as traditional zoos go, I think this is likely true. By British standards it is excellent, but let's be brutally honest - British zoo standards are nowhere near American zoo standards.
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I'd lay good money UK animal welfare standards are as high as the U.S., if not higher. I'm slightly offended by the idea that having 'multi-million dollar' exhibits is thought to be the most important criteria.

Most of the remainder of your review is pretty fair, though.


Arizona Docent said:
I certainly enjoyed my visit and would certainly recommend it to anyone. A couple exhibits are outstanding, namely the cheetah and spectacled bear. I have never seen such a lush bear exhibit and I can only guess that the reason the bears don't demolish the foliage (as they do everywhere else) is because it is so much bigger than most other bear exhibits. I think there is a lesson here for zoo designers elsewhere. The fact that coatis share the exhibit only adds to its value.
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The bear exhibit draws heavily on the superb one at Zurich. It's certainly one of the best things at Chester.


Arizona Docent said:
The jaguar exhibit is also good and is of course one of their landmark exhibits. There are two exhibit sides, the left being a savannah exhibit and the right being a rainforest exhibit. Any zoo that has more than one exhibit for a given cat species is going to rate favorably with me. Each of the two exhibits has both an indoor and outdoor area. Since the cats on each side can go in or out as they please, it can make it difficult for visitors to find them. This is my only criticism. Also the indoor section of the savanna exhibit does not really work - it is a mud floor with a bunch of small dead plants and looks more like an area that was just devastated by a hurricane. The indoor exhibit for the rainforest, however, is unbelievably lush and would make a dream photo if the cat had been inside (but it was always outside during the time I was there).
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The savannah half has never quite worked as the zoo had hoped - it was supposed to be a sea of grass. Which it isn't! It's generally the most reliable place to spot a jaguar, though.


Arizona Docent said:
Seeing baby visayan piglets was a nice surprise, since we have an all female group at my zoo and will not have babies any time soon.
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Yours will be different to the Chester ones - the U.S. population is Sus cebifrons cebifrons and the European Sus cebifrons negrinus.


Arizona Docent said:
The philippine spotted deer was a great surprise too. I had just read a chapter about them and with their spotted coats and dark face they are certainly one of the most beautiful deer in the world (and there are none in the U.S.).
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Love 'PSD's. Cracking animals.

Arizona Docent said:
I enjoy zoo monorails, so that was nice too. But I have two criticisms. First, the plexiglass windows are scuffed up and obstruct the view somewhat (and there is no way to open the windows). Second, you can only do half a circuit. If you want to do the second half (to end up where you started), you have to get off and get back in line and pay again. Kind of a ripoff. Otherwise, it is a pleasant ride and I like the fact that it goes slow. Our resident monorail operator from Dallas will be interested to know there are no ride operators on the Chester monorail - it runs on its own once the station operator releases it.
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You don't have to pay twice - the ticket covers two 'half' journeys - you just have to get off to let other passengers get on. No rip-off.
 
It's interesting to get a fresh perspective and I can't disagree with your overall judgements. I think that the jaguars and Realm of the Red Ape are Chester's only multi-million dollar immersion exhibits, and I share your reservations about the jags. Did you visit RotRA?

Alan
 
Yassa said:
Let`s be brutally honest, multi-million immersion exhibits are mainly built to please the visitor`s eyes, and are often far away from being ideal from the animal`s point of view.
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I'm inclined to agree with this.


Yassa said:
You need to search long to find another zoo with so few "dark points" like Chester and such a high overall standard.
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I'd certainly agree with this. There are hardly any exhibits left at Chester that are not at least adequate. It's very hard to come up with a bad one.
 
Zooplantman said:
If you let go of assumptions about exhibitry and just take in what is there at Chester, you'll be quite impressed.
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I think this is the most important point - the best UK (and European) zoos are not like the best U.S. zoos for the simple reason that they're not trying to be! The 'zoo culture', as Shirokuma rightly says, is very different.
 
Thanks for posting your review, as I've written enough of them on this site to truly appreciate it when others do the same. It was nice to read a review of Chester Zoo from an American, as of course that made for a slightly different viewpoint in regards to the rating of the animal exhibits. It seems as if 95% of the Brits on this forum would agree that Chester is the #1 zoo in the U.K., and from photos it appears to be excellent, and so the review was extremely intriguing and informative due to the fact that it was written by a non-Brit.
 
For the Jaguars as I understand it(I am a Chester Zoo Member) from info that I know and have been told the savannah has both indoor and outdoor enclosures that can be seen by the public, the other indoor enclosure(Home of Pele the Melanistic Jagaur, I have not heard any news of him dieing or any problems with him) which also has an outdoor enclosure but its behind the building out of site of any visitors(Was told by one of the presenters) and the waterfall enclosure do have an inside but as far as I am aware this is just a den type area for them.
 
Cheetah fan said:
For the Jaguars as I understand it(I am a Chester Zoo Member) from info that I know and have been told the savannah has both indoor and outdoor enclosures that can be seen by the public, the other indoor enclosure(Home of Pele the Melanistic Jagaur, I have not heard any news of him dieing or any problems with him) which also has an outdoor enclosure but its behind the building out of site of any visitors(Was told by one of the presenters) and the waterfall enclosure do have an inside but as far as I am aware this is just a den type area for them.
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Ahool, I didn't know that. I know I've never seen a spotted one inside, likewise pele outside so that would explain that. As for Pele beinhg dead, I wonder if the visitor was thinking of Ebony?

On a side note, I was going to do a review as well, but decided it would be too biased :D. I might still do a full review soon, since Arizona Docent has missed quite a few parts off (not his fault, you need a few visits to get to know everything and see everything properly). What does everybody think? (Also, if I do it please still use this if after an unbiased view :p)
 
perspectives and priorities

I read the review of Chester Zoo and the subsequent comments with interest. I agree with most of what was said in Chester and the British zoo community's defence, but I would go further. With the exception of WCS (Bronx Zoo and others), the Smithsonian and a couple of others, I would wager that the average British collection, and this would most certainly include Chester, punches way above their weight when it comes to active support of conservation in the field and a more focused approach to species selection within their collections that are in real need of being managed in captivity.

On the subject of immersion exhibits, particularly those in American zoos, some are very good, the Bronx Zoo's Congo being one of the best and I have always had a very soft spot for their Aquatic Bird House, possibly the first of this kind of exhibit technique. But most are indeed, as has been noted within this thread, compromised on space for the animals and because of the need to maintain the illusion of nature, the range of enrichment items that can be provided to the animals is also generally limited to what looks natural. And on a specific point that one finds in most immersion exhibits, do most species live on or with their backs to a cliff face? The curse of gunnite.
 
Arizona Docent said:
A couple exhibits are outstanding, namely the cheetah and spectacled bear. I have never seen such a lush bear exhibit and I can only guess that the reason the bears don't demolish the foliage (as they do everywhere else) is because it is so much bigger than most other bear exhibits.
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I've only seen Chester's Bear exhibit once- it had literally just opened and was still quite bare(pun not intentional) at that stage but I was impressed by its potential, even then. I think one reason it has become lush is not only its size but also that there have only ever been two Bears using it, and sometimes only one. So its never suffered from overuse.
 
Cheetah fan said:
...the other indoor enclosure(Home of Pele the Melanistic Jagaur, I have not heard any news of him dieing or any problems with him) which also has an outdoor enclosure but its behind the building out of site of any visitors(Was told by one of the presenters)...
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In my experience (having walked around the building more than once) that isn't correct. There are only two outdoor enclosures.
 
An interesting review of Chester, I guess we'll never see eye to eye on the imersion exhibit thing, I visited Woodland Park 4 weeks ago, and if thats the level of window dressing and 'imersion' you like then your welcome to it.
A handful of great exhibits, some good exhibits and the rest woeful!!!!!
 
SMR said:
In my experience (having walked around the building more than once) that isn't correct. There are only two outdoor enclosures.
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Two outside enclosures, two indoor enclosures and two offshow dens. There is limited viewing to the northern outside enclosure, most of it is behind the indoor savannah enclosure.

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