Chester Zoo Islands - Opening and impressions

[SMR]

You should have tried 5.15 pm, no queue at all

Typical.

I was less than impressed by our guide: he announced Papua before we passed the second warty pig beach. Then one of the passengers (not me) asked if Papua meant New Guinea. He announced that Papua is quite a different island, a long way from New Guinea. I make no apology for giving him a brief lesson in geography and zoogeography in a respectful stage whisper. He told me that his briefing had not included this information.

The guide on our boat didn't say a thing. At one point I looked around to see if we had one, but she was just sitting silently, which wasn't broken even when we ground to a halt.

As I wandered around Islands I thought that all the little changes since the first preview day had brought it into the state that it should have been on that day.

I too felt that it was more "finished" (toilets, shops, food outlets) although there are huge areas still to be completed.

However, the thoughts of my companion were that there weren't enough animals, even in areas where all the animals are present. Indeed, there is a lot of "unused" space, and to many people the current exhibits are pigs, cows, birds (uh, boring) and more cows. Add some sheep and it's a £40M zoo farm.

 

[bongorob]

More trouble, the website has underpriced zoo tickets and Chester are cancelling them.

The result is annoyed customers, I would have thought that since the zoo are responsible for the mess the tickets should be honoured. It's called goodwill.

The zoo need a lot of that at the moment.

 

[SMR]

More trouble, the website has underpriced zoo tickets and Chester are cancelling them.

Not exactly Islands-related, but I thought that unless it is an obvious error retailers had to honour incorrectly-priced items, so I wonder if that also relates to advance tickets.

 

[Chinchin]

I made my second visit to Islands yesterday and was pleased to see the developments already described above. The pigs look very settled, good views of the cassowary, the banteng bull was separated from the rest of the herd but I didn't see the anoa.

The guides on the boats could be a good idea but the zoo needs to make sure they are fully trained and giving correct information - we were told that 'the keepers would walk the tigers over to their new enclosure tomorrow if they could'.

 

[zooboy28]

Does anyone have any photos of the Banteng in Islands yet? I'm keen to see how this exhibit looks when inhabited.

 

[jde7582]

The guides on the boats could be a good idea but the zoo needs to make sure they are fully trained and giving correct information - we were told that 'the keepers would walk the tigers over to their new enclosure tomorrow if they could'.

I am guessing this was just a term used to express how eager everyone is to have islands complete and all the animals in there nice new enclosures.

 

[adrian1963]

Just a quick question and not having a go do people on here think Islands was opened a year to early given the problems they have had with the building of the project.

If they had opened a year later perhaps the whole of islands would have been ready with ALL the exhibits completed and they would have had time to trail run everything over and over again to make sure everything was right for the opening.

Or do you think finance was a reason for opening this year?

 

[SHAVINGTONZOO]

Just a quick question and not having a go do people on here think Islands was opened a year to early given the problems they have had with the building of the project.

If they had opened a year later perhaps the whole of islands would have been ready with ALL the exhibits completed and they would have had time to trail run everything over and over again to make sure everything was right for the opening.

Or do you think finance was a reason for opening this year?

The problem is that if the schedule had been put back I suspect there would have been further slippage!

 

[SHAVINGTONZOO]

So we have guides who think the zoo can "buy" new Orangs; that Papua and New Guinea are nowhere near each other; and that the tigers can be walked across.

But that's the thing about zoos - they're educational.




[I'm prepared to accept that the tigers comment may have been a joke]

 

[adrian1963]

If the contractors were given a completion date for example that date say was April 2015 surely they would have had a penalty clause in the contract if they didn't complete by that date.

If they had opened next year for example and say the completion date was April 2015 then ALL the small problems (boats breaking down/no animals in exhibits, guides not giving correct information to the general public, and so on) that are currently happening would have had time to be sorted before the general public would have entered the area.

Why where the guides not fully informed of the project and given all the correct information about the zones/animals within the project as they have had a good couple of years to train them IMO this is bad management and there are no excuses for this to have happened under any circumstances.

Not trying to have a go but just wondering as to why it was opened when it was

 

[taun]

If the contractors were given a completion date for example that date say was April 2015 surely they would have had a penalty clause in the contract if they didn't complete by that date.

Construction work should have been finished a while ago and then there was time set aside for the plants to establish and to move animals.

It has not happened like this, time was set aside for tinkering before opening. But like everything in life, it has not gone to plan.

 

[bongorob]

Adrian it has already opened later than planned.

The guide who talked about walking the tigers over may have been the one I had last week who said they would be replaced by velociraptors.

 

[Panthera1981]

Have to say there's an element of "Twenty-Twelve" to all this (is Hugh Bonneville one of the boat guides?). Maybe certain individuals higher up should have been more honest,bit the bullet and hung back on the opening until there were only small glitches remaining.

Of course , Hindsight's a wonderful thing!

 

[SHAVINGTONZOO]

If the contractors were given a completion date for example that date say was April 2015 surely they would have had a penalty clause in the contract if they didn't complete by that date.

Depends on the reason for late completion.

If it was because they failed to put enough staff on the job or provided the wrong equipment then the contractor would have a liability.

But if, for example, it was because after work started they found that the ground conditions were not as expected (so that additional works were required) or because weather conditions delayed work, or because the client changed the spec then they would not be liable.

 

[gentle lemur]

One of the major causes of the delay was changing contractors. I am sure that in a project as complex as this there will have been many others - possibly including problems with the site, as SZ suggests, with design changes, with materials and specifications, all sorts of technical difficulties (just think of all the different systems for heating, lighting, ventilation, water supply, filtration and drainage) not forgetting our old favourites - the weather and those great crested newts.

Alan

 

[redstarsmith]

Review 23rd July 2015-

I had long suspected that the projected opening of Islands was not achievable in the time frame Chester Zoo projected to the public. I have not been surprised by the delays. Today I helped lead a school trip of 80 students from the Isle of Man to Chester Zoo and to be quite frank Chester Zoo should be ashamed of how whey have handled this opening and what they are presenting.

They have bitten off way more than they can chew in this current mouthful. Again to be frank they must have known months ago that there would be seriously long delays on this project and yet they still arranged the previews and phased opening. That is an absolute disgrace.

At the moment Islands is a glorified Garden a festival. It reminds me of the Liverpool garden festivals in 1983. Now don't get me wrong garden festivals are great and Chesters is fine. But it is a Zoo, a place that I pay money to hope to see animals and contribute to their upkeep and potential survival. What I saw in Islands was completed commercial buildings with work still going on to clad the food quater. I saw thirty staff milling about when the Lazy Water boat ride broke down. My students had been turned away from using the boat, at the time it was working, after paying a hefty price to see very few animals today. Which is surely one of the main points! They have also left Chester Zoo with a very poor impression.

I would agree that a balance in work approach to complete islands is sensible but what I see is a focus to compete the things that bring in more revenue whilst neglecting the animals living spaces. For my money and opinion they really should be completed first.

I really could go on but I'm so disappointed in Chester Zoo right now. I know that they will pull this around but at the moment Islands is like a pizza that has been pulled out of the oven too quickly. All the ingredients are there but it is far too soft and under cooked to serve.

In the words of Ian Malcolm- knock knocks on glass, blows on the glass 'Do you intend having animals on your animal ride?'

 

[bongorob]

Very well put, why were your students not allowed onto the boat ride?

 

[Maguari]

I'm sorry you had a bad day, and I'll always feel well-disposed to a post with a Jurassic Park allusion, but I had to comment on this bit...

paying a hefty price to see very few animals today.

The pre-existing 110 acres of zoo are still there - I checked! And almost all the big animals that will be in Islands are on show in the zoo today.

It's clearly not been terribly well-handled, but 'absolute disgrace' is a bit extreme.

I can't wait for the rest of Islands to open, partly for the exhibit itself, but increasingly so that people can hopefully start just enjoying the exhibit (or at least criticising it on its own terms) instead of it always coming back to timescales and degrees of completion.

 

[prawnie1975]

its one thing that really annoys me has though people visiting the zoo simply forget that there is the other part of the zoo to visit with plenty of animals to see so really your not wasting your money ... i can understand that the Islands are not finished but its been mentioned on here quite a few times and also on the Facebook page that they are not finished so people should know what to expect

 

[redstarsmith]

Did either of you Maguari or Prawnie1975 visit the Zoo yesterday? Are you speaking from knowledge or guessing what my students experience was? I have been to Chester Zoo 100's of times and have never had an experience like that. I really don't feel that my comments are extreme. Chester Zoo obviously is trying to position itself amongst the elite Zoos in the world and the experience has to match that. Yesterday Chester Zoo did not act like they are the Elite they acted arrogantly.

Walking from the Elephants past Monkey Islands through to the South American area my students saw a total of 8 animals 7 of which included the Elephants themselves and after a lot of searching a Tapir. The old Anona paddock was empty. One Orang on display. Jags as usual missing. In Islands only 2 animals on view the Warty Pigs. Asian paddock empty. Giraffes locked in so Okapis not on view as well. I could go on and on and on. Paddock after paddock was completely empty. I understand the complex nature of animal behavior more than my students but 12 year olds who have travelled over on a ferry and by by coach for over 5 hours do not understand how they can walk for hours and hours and see very few animals.

I think the Zoo is a disgrace on this issue because my students have payed their money to see animals but the Zoo has seen them as a group to exploit for more money. How many staff not taking photos do you really need? Did they really need 30 staff milling about doing nothing when the ride had broken down? Surely getting them into the Zoo talking to the thousands of kids there and explaining why they couldn't see many of the animals or explaining what they could do to get a better view would be be a better use of their time. But they are far more concerned with getting the commercial operations up and running and up to speed rather than the welfare of the animals because again quite frankly I pay my money for the animals first and expect the exhibits to be done first rather than the cladding on the Food court. We have 80 kids many of which would quite frankly not wish to go back to the Zoo again. That is unacceptable. If education is the barometer then it fails on that as well.

As for the ride the kids have paid their money and as far as I am concerned have been discriminated against by being refused entry. They are good kids who walk away with negative attitudes with the place.

I am a long time supporter of the Zoo but I will call a spade a spade and it simply isn't good enough. The sad thing is Chester Zoo didn't need to spend a lot of money to sort this out it is merely a matter of communication.