Chester Zoo American review of Chester
- Thread starter Arizona Docent
- Start date
Well if I had known that, I probably would have parked myself in front of the exhibit all day, because a photo of a black jaguar in that thick foliage would be unbelievable. However, I also would have missed the rest of the zoo, so maybe it is better I did not know.
You could have been waiting hours, I've almost given up trying to photograph him. My best effort is attached:
Also A.D, would you mind if I did do a full review at some point? I don't know if you saw everything, or just picked up on the highlights but you missed some great exhibits off (Elephants, Tsavo, Realm of the Red Ape etc).
I never figured out why they made the outdoor 'Savanah' enclosure like this- its almost an afterthought, as if they had run out of steam with the building work by that stage. The outdoor rainforest enclosure is lavish but the other one is just a flat grass field at the back of the building.
I believe it was originally intended it would be completely off-show for breeding purposes, with no viewing at all (only the indoor savannah area would be visible). As such, it wasn't made so pretty!
That might explain why it looks a bit like an overgrown football pitch...
Arizona Docent,
I agree that if you rate zoos by artifical habitats, then indeed Chester and Britain in general is the bad place to go. This country strikes me with zero interest in landscape design - paddocks are rectangles, in full view are buildings, fences, doors, other visitors etc. For immension exhibits, some zoos in Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany are better.
On the other hands, Chester can be in many ways more interesting for a layman than eg. Bronx. Elephants are breeding herd and seen well, not for 30 seconds on a tour ride. Chester has more apes than in Congo Gorilla Forest and you don't have to pay extra to see them. Conservation education is done differently, but is always-present, I would say pushy. So in many ways, that is the difference of philosophy.
I agree that if you rate zoos by artifical habitats, then indeed Chester and Britain in general is the bad place to go. This country strikes me with zero interest in landscape design - paddocks are rectangles, in full view are buildings, fences, doors, other visitors etc. For immension exhibits, some zoos in Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany are better.
On the other hands, Chester can be in many ways more interesting for a layman than eg. Bronx. Elephants are breeding herd and seen well, not for 30 seconds on a tour ride. Chester has more apes than in Congo Gorilla Forest and you don't have to pay extra to see them. Conservation education is done differently, but is always-present, I would say pushy. So in many ways, that is the difference of philosophy.
Of course I do not mind and in fact I did not see everything. Did not go to realm of red ape, did not go to rhinos, did not go to elephants (other than passing by on monorail and on way out). I think there was also some kind of indoor tropics building I did not get to.
OK... maybe it would help put things in perspective if you could mention which buildings you did see? Islands in Danger (Komodo dragons etc), giraffe/okapi, butterflies, bats?
Take note Chester; "some kind of indoor tropics building" would be a perfect slogan for Heart of Africa.
Thanks for the review, although the fact that you seem to have missed out some of the zoo's major and recent developments does undermine it somewhat.
'Some kind of indoor tropics building' would be the trail-blazing Tropical House, now dubbed 'Tropical Realm', one of the very first free-flight bird exhibits anywhere and still among the largest in Britain, with a great bird collection including half-a-dozen hornbill species, Brown-breasted Barbets, Socorro Doves and Montserrat Orioles, and reptiles including Philippine Croc, Tuatara, Rhinoceros Ratsnake, Caiman Lizard, Galapagos Tortoise...
And that's after the stock's been reduced greatly in recent years!
Missing the orangs, rhinos and elephants - they're the showpieces of Chester in many ways. It's like going to San Diego WAP and not bothering to look at the field exhibits. And the orang exhibit is the newest major building - it's hard to take note of a reveiw of the zoo that misses it's biggest new development out completely.
I'd be interested to know this too. It does seem you missed an awful lot out, AD. I really hope you didn't skip Fruit Bat Forest - it's superb.
MARK
Well-Known Member
It's a shame you missed the best parts of Chester zoo before you wrote your review
To be honest, I don't rate this review any differently knowing that so much was missed. At the end of the day, he is just writing about his experience at the zoo, and I know how much AD likes the cats, so I can imagine alot of time was spent at the Jaga/lions/cheetahs/tigers.
I'll make a start today on a review and (hopefully) guide, so I'll try and cover everything there
.
I'll make a start today on a review and (hopefully) guide, so I'll try and cover everything there
.Dicerorhinus
Well-Known Member
Personally. I think the Orang exhibit is terrible. The indoor enclosures in particular and thats without mentioning the god awful avian exhibits. On a busy day with a constant stream of visitors it's even worse.
I'm also not a huge fan of the elephant exhibit.
I certainly wouldnt compare missing the exhibits you did to missing the feild exhibits at SDWAP. The "Tropical Realm" is ineed of renovation or demolition. Some of the aviaries in there are abysmal.
I agree with you Arizona Docent. I am an Englishman but I have Worked in the US and visited 20+ zoos there (when I was 20 I backpacked across the USA). I can't help but feel the Chester defense force are out in full on this one! (I know its your local zoo but thats no reason to be blind to its shortcomings)
I don't hate the place but I wouldnt call it the best Zoo in the UK even and certainly wouldn't call the majority of Chester "World Class" (dont get me wrong there are some good exhibits: Callitrichids, Bears and Giant Otters spring to mind though its a shame there is no underwater viewing window in a filtered pool).
In my opinion of the 80 or so zoos I have visited in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore; Chester is somewhere in the middle. I agree with your closing statement Arizona Docent and I hope you enjoyed your trip to Europe!
If you need to see a good Orang enclosure go to Paignton (or better still Sepilok)!
I'm also not a huge fan of the elephant exhibit.
I certainly wouldnt compare missing the exhibits you did to missing the feild exhibits at SDWAP. The "Tropical Realm" is ineed of renovation or demolition. Some of the aviaries in there are abysmal.
I agree with you Arizona Docent. I am an Englishman but I have Worked in the US and visited 20+ zoos there (when I was 20 I backpacked across the USA). I can't help but feel the Chester defense force are out in full on this one! (I know its your local zoo but thats no reason to be blind to its shortcomings)
I don't hate the place but I wouldnt call it the best Zoo in the UK even and certainly wouldn't call the majority of Chester "World Class" (dont get me wrong there are some good exhibits: Callitrichids, Bears and Giant Otters spring to mind though its a shame there is no underwater viewing window in a filtered pool).
In my opinion of the 80 or so zoos I have visited in Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore; Chester is somewhere in the middle. I agree with your closing statement Arizona Docent and I hope you enjoyed your trip to Europe!
If you need to see a good Orang enclosure go to Paignton (or better still Sepilok)!
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Realm of the Red Ape is hit and miss in my opinion. The outdoor exhibits are brilliant for the animals, as are the netted enclosures for the borneans. The indoor sumatrans are visually horrid, but they do provide alot of enrichment for the animals in my opinion.
I think that it is split, on a visitor level I know a lot of people that don't rate Chester highly (I have a family member that says there are no animals and one that says Chester has the 'small, boring version of everything [spectacled bears instead of polars or brown, asian elephants instead of african etc] though he does appreciate it is for conservation). However, the reason a family member says there are no animals is because they have plenty of hiding space. The animals certainly come before visitor happiness.
I think that it is split, on a visitor level I know a lot of people that don't rate Chester highly (I have a family member that says there are no animals and one that says Chester has the 'small, boring version of everything [spectacled bears instead of polars or brown, asian elephants instead of african etc] though he does appreciate it is for conservation). However, the reason a family member says there are no animals is because they have plenty of hiding space. The animals certainly come before visitor happiness.
Chester v Paignton?
It is really difficult to provide really good enclosures for Orangutans, perhaps harder than for any other larger mammal, given their combination of specialist climbing needs, coupled with their strength, and cunning and destructive natures. I think Chester has the best on offer in the UK as far as indoor housing is concerned, as this time around, though the interior design is similar to the previous house, they have made a real attempt to provide proper and extensive climbing facilities in the enclosures, and the Sumatrans(at least) certainly make full use of them.
Outdoors I think Paignton definately scores over Chester as they have an almost entirely natural enclosure, but their indoors is just a duplicate of the Gorillas next door and has no special modifications or climbing extras to differentiate it for the Orangutans.
It is really difficult to provide really good enclosures for Orangutans, perhaps harder than for any other larger mammal, given their combination of specialist climbing needs, coupled with their strength, and cunning and destructive natures. I think Chester has the best on offer in the UK as far as indoor housing is concerned, as this time around, though the interior design is similar to the previous house, they have made a real attempt to provide proper and extensive climbing facilities in the enclosures, and the Sumatrans(at least) certainly make full use of them.
Outdoors I think Paignton definately scores over Chester as they have an almost entirely natural enclosure, but their indoors is just a duplicate of the Gorillas next door and has no special modifications or climbing extras to differentiate it for the Orangutans.
I agree that the aviaries are too small, particularly as they are indeed in a very busy corridor. What do you dislike about the orang indoor exhibits? In terms of allowing natural behaviour I would contend they're the best in the UK - the height and capacity for climbing are unrivalled.
For what reasons?
My point regarding SDWAP was that if you're reviewing a zoo you need to see it's showpiece exhibits, whether you ultimately like them or not. A revies of SDWAP without the field exhibits, of Leipzig without Pongoland, or of Zurich without Masoala does not to my mind give a appropriate overall impression of the zoo.
Again, please explain what is so wrong with the aviaires - I can only think you're referring to the narrow upstairs aviaries but I certainly wouldn't call them 'abysmal'.
No, absolutely. The RotRA corridor is too narrow. Too much of the animal collection is off-show for my liking. The Chimp House is very dark. I could list more. But I still think it's the best zoo in the UK (and it's not really my local zoo, for what it's worth, but it's my 'home' zoo because I think it's the best (in the UK!).
I've always found Paignton's ape house rather gloomy, although the islands are very good.
Why do they find Asian Elephants more 'boring' than African? How strange!
Though I'd agree it'd be nice to see Polar Bears back - ah, I can dream...
I've not seen the one at Paignton, so can't compare. However, it must be good because I think the outdoor enclosures are the best part of Realm (plenty of planting), plus they have retained the enrichment with the ropes, poles and hammocks. I'l have a look at some pics of the outdoor Paignton exhibit now, if it is better than Chester's then I think I am in need of a visit