Chester Zoo Islands display

Hi Adrian,

Regarding feeding at zoos...I have a couple of simple points about this that just about cover all zoos I think..

However as this is a Chester thread, in my opinion Chester currently has some excellent signage around the zoo as to what they will do to anyone caught feeding the animals, it is clear and concise and other zoos I believe could follow suit, if you don’t want something to happen at your zoo if you are in charge then make it impossible for all the visitors to miss the information stating so.

As for visitors feeding animals at zoos, I have nothing against it and believe many visitors will find it a rewarding experience, as long as

1. All food for animals is provided by the zoo
2. Always under the supervision of a suitable zoo member of staff
3. All HS&E risks are taken into consideration by the zoo

If the above criteria is not met then the visiting public should not feed animals at zoos.

Regarding the Islands project itself, I am looking forwards to watching the whole thing being built and put together and seeing it develop into a finished exhibit.
 
Re: Original Natural Vision plans: Clearly they will never be brought to life as per the original planning document. However, I still was under the impression that there is a definite desire by the Zoo to create geographical zones - as illustrated by Islands itself! I can't see the dogs or Rhinos moving so would seem to make sense to create a Savannah exhibit around them. I would still like to see this at some time in the future, although the extent to which this happens may now be limited. I would be really keen to see the Giraffes move asap though. I think there is still enough room to have a mixed grass/hard standing area for hooved stock to run alongside the Rhino and Dogs as originally planned in Natural Vision...

Re: Tigers: I know that the Zoo are really keen to have mutilpe pairs. There was talk of the ability to have 3 pairs at one point, which looks viable from the plans although may not be a spare enclosure if this is the case, although there looks to be a small off show area that could be used for separating animals if required. Not certain though.

Re: Feeding Lorikeets: I mentioned in my previous thread that this is something I was suprised to see from chester. I too have my reservations about feeding. However, I do agree that if it is done appropriatley it will add value to the visitor experience. I think Lorikeet feeding is a good idea as it will engage the public and create a memorable experience! The zoo already has a significant number of controlled feeding opportunities available e.g. Giraffe feeding station / Lemur Island / Penguins and of course keeper for a day allows very close feeding opportunities. These do come with a hefty price tag though and are likely to appeal to Zoo and animal enthusiasts. On the other hand the Zoo withdrew public feeding of the Chimps a while back as it was considered totally inappropriate for general public viewing - too close to the Chimp tea parties of yester year I believe.
 
ChesterZooFan said:
Re: Original Natural Vision plans: Clearly they will never be brought to life as per the original planning document. However, I still was under the impression that there is a definite desire by the Zoo to create geographical zones - as illustrated by Islands itself! I can't see the dogs or Rhinos moving so would seem to make sense to create a Savannah exhibit around them. I would still like to see this at some time in the future, although the extent to which this happens may now be limited. I would be really keen to see the Giraffes move asap though. I think there is still enough room to have a mixed grass/hard standing area for hooved stock to run alongside the Rhino and Dogs as originally planned in Natural Vision...
Click to expand...

The only building or enclosure that is safe in what is the current zoo area,is the Oakfield House any of the rest could go including the Hunting Dogs and the Rhinos even Realm of the Red Ape isn't safe!!
 
zoogiraffe said:
The only building or enclosure that is safe in what is the current zoo area,is the Oakfield House any of the rest could go including the Hunting Dogs and the Rhinos even Realm of the Red Ape isn't safe!!
Click to expand...

But I guess most of us will be long gone before all the current buildings are gone, unless the winner of the US lottery 2nite is a big Chester Zoo fan. on another note, as the Komodos are moving, I'd like Islands in Danger become a Galapogos exhibit, with tortoises and also marine iguanas :-)

The area with the deer in now, would be a good savannah exhibit, except for the monerrail, the giraffes would have to keep ducking down
 
jde7582 said:
But I guess most of us will be long gone before all the current buildings are gone, unless the winner of the US lottery 2nite is a big Chester Zoo fan. on another note, as the Komodos are moving, I'd like Islands in Danger become a Galapogos exhibit, with tortoises and also marine iguanas :-)

The area with the deer in now, would be a good savannah exhibit, except for the monerrail, the giraffes would have to keep ducking down
Click to expand...
I like the idea for Islands in Danger but I doubt that any zoo will get Marine Iguanas in my life time.

As for the area for the deer and Indian Rhino making a good savannah,I couldn't agree less having seen the size of the likes af the ones at Leipzig and Burgers,it would just be a very poor substandard type of savannah exhibit,that we produce in this country!!
 
zoogiraffe said:
I like the idea for Islands in Danger but I doubt that any zoo will get Marine Iguanas in my life time.

As for the area for the deer and Indian Rhino making a good savannah,I couldn't agree less having seen the size of the likes af the ones at Leipzig and Burgers,it would just be a very poor substandard type of savannah exhibit,that we produce in this country!!
Click to expand...

Sorry I meant the area between the dogs and bears, large area, but crossed by the monerrail.
 
Pootle said:
However as this is a Chester thread, in my opinion Chester currently has some excellent signage around the zoo as to what they will do to anyone caught feeding the animals, it is clear and concise and other zoos I believe could follow suit, if you don’t want something to happen at your zoo if you are in charge then make it impossible for all the visitors to miss the information stating so.
Click to expand...

What exactly do the signs say?
 
I am aware the the map on the website isn't to scale but I was thinking if they took the area currently occupied by the the sitatunga, ostrich, roan, lechwe, gemsbok, cranes and waterfowl then they might have enough room for a decent savannah exhibit. I agree the monorail could be a problem but its route could be altered or the whole thing withdrawn altogether.
 
Mr T said:
I am aware the the map on the website isn't to scale but I was thinking if they took the area currently occupied by the the sitatunga, ostrich, roan, lechwe, gemsbok, cranes and waterfowl then they might have enough room for a decent savannah exhibit. I agree the monorail could be a problem but its route could be altered or the whole thing withdrawn altogether.
Click to expand...
The are you give is a decent size but even that area is far smaller than the examples I gave of a decent,African Savannah exhibit.Also what Lechwe??
 
zoogiraffe said:
The are you give is a decent size but even that area is far smaller than the examples I gave of a decent,African Savannah exhibit.Also what Lechwe??
Click to expand...

The Lechwe are marked on the Chester zoo map in with the roan. You say the area is smaller than the examples you have given of decent sized African savannah you have given. How big are those exactly and which species do they hold?
 
Mr T said:
The Lechwe are marked on the Chester zoo map in with the roan. You say the area is smaller than the examples you have given of decent sized African savannah you have given. How big are those exactly and which species do they hold?
Click to expand...
There are plenty of pictures of the 2 I have mentioned in the gallery on here,just for example Arnhems has had a herd of 16 Rothschilds Giraffe and atleast 6 White Rhino,when I last visited,and still didn't look as if they were been packed on to the exhibit.
Yes indeed the Lechwe are marked on the map with the Roan,just I thought but the map could be wrong,and I'm willing to bet that no Chester regular has seen them for about 3 weeks and the signs have been removed from the exhibit for them!Just remember this is probably the same map that says Kangaroos on it as well,so it is very much wrong and out of date!
 
I am aware the map is not up to date as I have previously posted a comment about the kangaroos still being on the map. I was using the map as a basis for looking at the area it covers and so that others could see what I meant. I have not visited the zoo for several years although I will hopefully getting the opportunity to visit soon, so I am unaware of where all the species are exhibited, although I do pick up some of the major movements through the comments people post on this forum. I think the zoo would struggle to recreate an exhibit anywhere in the zoo that would be capable of holding 16 giraffes along with other species. Obviously a huge mixed savannah exhibit would be great but they only have a certain amount of room to work in.
 
Are you forgetting the land that was going to be used,for Heart of Africa as that area very nearily takes them to the Blue Planet Aquarium,think that migh make a decent sized Savannah!!
 
On the attached maps there is a strike off mark for direction towards gorillas and Bornean orangs et al. (well away from the former HoA area ...).
 
zoogiraffe said:
Are you forgetting the land that was going to be used,for Heart of Africa as that area very nearily takes them to the Blue Planet Aquarium,think that migh make a decent sized Savannah!!
Click to expand...

I agree that if they went that far it would be a decent size, but they would have to do an awful lot of re-jigging and moving exhibits that they have invested quite a lot into.
 
Mr T said:
I agree that if they went that far it would be a decent size, but they would have to do an awful lot of re-jigging and moving exhibits that they have invested quite a lot into.
Click to expand...
Yes and as I have said before I will say it again at the expense of repeating myself, "The only building or exhibit that is safe from been knocked down is The Oakfield House within the current area of the zoo."That means that anything else within the current area could be got rid of,and replaced you have to remember that many plans on what is going where within the zoo have changed,from any plans that any of us have seen,the only people that know what is going where within the future plans of the zoo are now the senior mangement team within the zoo.
 
zoogiraffe said:
. . . the only people that know what is going where within the future plans of the zoo are now the senior mangement team within the zoo.
Click to expand...

They know and we know (only too well) that any part of any plan may change at any time. The longer the timescale involved in any particular plan the more likely it is to change.

On a very different note, I wonder what will happen to the tip. It's the only elevated landscape feature in the Zoo and it adjoins the Islands layout.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
On a very different note, I wonder what will happen to the tip. It's the only elevated landscape feature in the Zoo and it adjoins the Islands layout.
Click to expand...

Hasn't the tip had building restrictions placed on it and will therefore remain untouched for the foreseeable future?

I'd imagine it will just be built around, the current islands plans don't impact on it at all. Indeed, the access path to islands from the current zoo very deliberately follows the boundary of the tip area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top