Should zoos and safari parks open later in summer

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
I brought this up in the Whipsnade Rip off thread and decided to make it thread of it's own because it was off the original topic.
I would love to be able to visit a collection after the normal times of 10am till 5pm as in most places.
As the nights are shorter during August then why don't the collections use this daylight to give the visitors a different experience as most animals would either be feeding or lively at this time of day.
Imagine driving round a safgari park just before the sunsets or walking round a zoo as the sun goes down.
As most collections now have CCTV around this should not be a problem, imagine the money it could make if it was planned correctly it would give the zoos a possible extra 4 hours of earnings and more funds for the looking after the animals.
 
I think this question depends on if the zoo actually wants to have its staff working double shifts(ie 2 shifts 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon/evening),as if they did it would mean that the wages would go up for those staff that work on the double shifts,which would increase the zoo`s operating costs!!Would they get enough visitors through the gates to pay for the increase in cost,personnaly I would say No they wouldn`t.
 
LOndon are opening till 10 every Friday in June and July and Whipsnade is opening till 10 on one Friday to! They are also advertising sleepovers for kids at London and camping at Whipsnade too......although it might be a bit scary being surrounded by weird animals noise all night!
 
I'm all for later opening - there's nothing worse than having to leave a largely child-free zoo in beautiful bright sunshine at 5:30pm - provided it is done in an organised way and not completely at random or at a moment's notice (mentioning no names here). It's hard to gauge visitor take-up if the date is a moving target and only announced a week or two before, so kudos to ZSL for thinking ahead.

Once people know about the extended hours, I would imagine zoos gaining visitors from different demographics, such as people visiting after work, couples on evening dates and/or out for meals.

Shifts are an issue as Zoogiraffe mentioned because most animal/keeping staff start work at 8am, but it looks like Chester will be forced to make changes as extended opening hours were one of the requirements placed upon the zoo by the planning committee, when/if certain developments go ahead.
 
ooo I don't know what you mean - who on earth could lose track of time in a fabulous new exhibit and almost spend the night there? who....who ?

I LOVE the Lazy summer evenings they do at Chester Zoo, the light for photography is normally superb - as long as it's not raining of course - and like SMR says it's normally more peaceful too.
I'd be all in favour of a few late events in the summer - I understand that staff hours etc are a problem and as you get nothing for nothing in this world our win would be the expense of the staff having to do extended hours - but again like it's been said here, if you can off set the costs with increased benefits then maybe just maybe it's worth it.
I love popping into the zoo after work in the summer so it'd just mean I didn't have to hurtle along in the batmobile quite so fast maybe - not that I'd condone breaking traffic laws or anything obviously.
 
Shorts said:
Have you seen the prices:eek:

Given your recent remarks on costs/rip-offs I wouldn't have thought you'd want to give them any publicity on this:)
Click to expand...

Obviously i'm never likely to be in a position to enjoy it, but i'm sure others could. Also i'll happily give the Aspinal parks publicity, there's no way i'd want to lose my annual visit to the parks. Their Gorillas, in my opinion are one of the things all Brits should do/see before they die.
 
Johnny Morris. said:
Obviously i'm never likely to be in a position to enjoy it, but i'm sure others could. Also i'll happily give the Aspinal parks publicity, there's no way i'd want to lose my annual visit to the parks. Their Gorillas, in my opinion are one of the things all Brits should do/see before they die.
Click to expand...

Whilst I fully agree that the Aspinall parks are great places I'm struggling with the consistency of your logic here.

You started another thread, basically, to give bad publicity to a zoo that was once revolutionary in its husbandry approach and continues to shows rare and unique (in UK captivity) species but has prices that seem a little disproportionate but now you're happy to give positive publicity to another collection with, arguably, a very similar profile.

Port Lympne charges £22.95 (including safari) you know? And £18.95 for children (which is at odds with a second thread you started). The argument that you get an annual pass is irrelevant if you don't live in the area (or do you want to start a thread on that type of discrimination:D).

Basically both are good collections, perhaps a little overpriced (and possibly in need of a little more transparency of said prices) but not worthy of setting up a thread trying to rain bad publicity on one of them. Personally I visit both as often as I can, have a little grumble about the price, and come away conceding they're great places.
 
I would certainly be sold on this idea of opening hours being extended and I fully understand it would only be for a few weeks a year, but I can see it benefiting all parties.

Us, the public will get to see the zoo or park in a 'new light' and I am sure see some different behaviour from certain species too.
Keepers, generally on low wages will have the opportunity for some overtime.
The Management, always looking for more income will have more income for development or research opportunities.

I know some places offer this now, but I certainly believe that some of those that don’t could really benefit from the long light nights of summer, even on a 2 or 3 day a week basis.
 
For years I've argued for zoos opening later in summer, with reduced entrance fees after say 5 o'clock. Looking at 1970s guides to British zoos quite a few seemed to be open until later then. Things are looking dire at our small local zoo Sewerby this year. Until a few years ago it was open until 9 o'clock in summer via a coin operated turnstile. That was removed after a blameless career as it was "dangerous":eek:. Since then the zoo has closed at the ludicrously early time of 5 o'clock and this year the park's leaflet says it closes at 4.30!! It's madness.
 
As I have stated elsewhere on ZooChat, I LOVE when zoos stay open late in summer. Thankfully, this seems to be an increasing trend here in the states. I mean, most animals are active at dusk and dawn and sleep in the middle of the day. So why are almost all zoos open only in the middle of the day? Makes no sense.

Of course it does mean a second shift of keepers, so it would have to draw enough visitors to make it pay for itself. But people do seem to enjoy it. San Diego Zoo is open for the second half of summer every night until 10pm. I have gone the last couple years and it is very crowded, especially in August. My local Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is open until 10pm on Saturdays in summer (with reduced admission after 5pm as suggested above) and it is also extremely crowded. My other local Reid Park Zoo has done Friday nights late with music or an outdoor movie for the last three or four years, but I have not heard yet if it will resume this summer. Phoenix Zoo is doing one night a month in summer. I missed it last year but definitely plan to go at least once this year. I think a few other U.S. zoos do one night a month also. Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium has the aquarium side of their facility open until either 9 or 10pm all year long.

Here in Arizona where of course it is hot in the summer, the other consideration is what time to open in the morning. By 9am it can already be nearing 100 degrees farenheit. Some here now open earlier and close after lunch. Phoenix Zoo is 7am (and since members always get in one hour early, 6am for us). Arizona Sonora Desert Museum used to be 7:30am and recently moved it to 7am. Reid Park Zoo, for the first time this year, will move summer opening up from our regular 9am to 8am. The Living Desert (in the California desert) I believe also changes from 9am to 8am in the summer.
 
I could understand the smaller zoo not opening longer in the summer. It wouldn't be profitable for them at all. However, I would think the larger collections - Chester, Whipsnade, London, Colchester etc - could easily manage to do so and still cover costs and then some.

Or offer specific nights during the summer weeks. These larger collections have many animals that show different behaviour as the dusk approaches, it would be lovely to be able to see them.
 
London Zoo is open till 6 pm for six weeks during the summer. And there are to be eight "Zoo Lates" on June and July Fridays this year. But it takes a huge number of staff to run – not just keepers but catering and explainers and volunteers to supervise the walkthroughs and generally keep visitors informed. It's not the tranquil dusk stroll you might imagine either – last year it sold out and was very busy indeed, more so than during the day, and with the amount of alcohol around it tended to be very high-spirited! I think it will be adults only this year too, which seems a shame. It's not my cup of tea, I find the mix of boisterous after-work visitors, booze, and animals uncomfortable, but obviously it's very popular and a good source of income for the zoo.
 
volvox said:
London Zoo is open till 6 pm for six weeks during the summer. And there are to be eight "Zoo Lates" on June and July Fridays this year. But it takes a huge number of staff to run – not just keepers but catering and explainers and volunteers to supervise the walkthroughs and generally keep visitors informed. It's not the tranquil dusk stroll you might imagine either – last year it sold out and was very busy indeed, more so than during the day, and with the amount of alcohol around it tended to be very high-spirited! I think it will be adults only this year too, which seems a shame. It's not my cup of tea, I find the mix of boisterous after-work visitors, booze, and animals uncomfortable, but obviously it's very popular and a good source of income for the zoo.
Click to expand...

Alcohol ? - What's going on :confused:
Are these people turning up at the zoo after a skinful and being boisterous or are they even drinking in and around the Zoo?
It certainly sounds like one to avoid.
 
There are several food and drinks outlets around the zoo during the evening on Zoo Lates; on top of which people can bring their own picnics with whatever drinks they fancy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top