July 12th, 2014: 12 African Spurred Tortoises are staying at the zoo this summer, courtesy of Rainforest Reptiles, an organization with reptile shows that are currently featuring at Beardsley.
July 12th, 2014: 12 African Spurred Tortoises are staying at the zoo this summer, courtesy of Rainforest Reptiles, an organization with reptile shows that are currently featuring at Beardsley.
The zoo intends to keep this area as a temporary exhibit space, as far as I'm aware. The enclosure is somewhat small, so it makes me wonder what species that don't require much space yet are somewhat popular could be held in here, besides tortoises.
This is one interesting difference between UK/European zoos and their US equivalents - the concept of the 'temporary exhibit'.
Barring the occasional visiting falconer on busy summer weekends, I don't recall a single temporary, 'one season' live animal exhibit in a UK zoo. Occasionally a temporary display for juveniles, but otherwise live exhibits tend to be at least intended as permanent. The only notable exception that springs to mind are the SeaLife Centre chain - which often have a rotating exhibit space containing different displays that move from centre to centre.
EDIT: Actually, I think one of the blocks of amphibian enclosures at Chester was intended to be temporary, but ended up being permanent!
@Maguari: you make a succinct observation. In the United States there are plenty of temporary exhibits and I've seen at least 3-4 feature penguins, a few with white alligators and a variety of other animals "rented" for the summer season. Also, animatronic dinosaur displays are extremely common as there is probably a list of a dozen companies in America that lease out the dinos each summer at various zoos and museums.
The most extreme example I've seen recently is the temporary exhibit of Patagonian Sea Lions that is doing the rounds (believe it is at Lowry Park currently). The idea of a temporary sea lion pool fair boggles the mind.
The dinos have made it over here (as temporary exhibits) as well.
