mickthecat
New Member
I've just heard that TEJAS is a dad (1 femail). Anyone got anymore information please.
Chester Zoo 2013 #2 from June 2013
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bluetoffeezoo
Well-Known Member
Probably not information you would have been hoping for.
(EDIT: Bluetoffeezoo beat me to it!)
FelidLover
Well-Known Member
That's a massive corner of the zoo! I'm sure we will hear in due course!
There was a fire in some barns owned by the zoo, located near by, I guess it was due to this
Barn fire breaks out near Chester Zoo - Chester Chronicle
Barn fire breaks out near Chester Zoo - Chester Chronicle
Waddi
Well-Known Member
Due to the fore mentioned fire, they pumped water from the canal near the sand lizards through a hose and out of the gate between rotra and what is now the party room.
It was the pathway that runs from sand lizards down past the chimps then takes a left and goes up past rotra entrance that was closed, for h&s issues over the trailing hose.
You could still access jags via the path that runs between the canal and the boundary fence.
It was the pathway that runs from sand lizards down past the chimps then takes a left and goes up past rotra entrance that was closed, for h&s issues over the trailing hose.
You could still access jags via the path that runs between the canal and the boundary fence.
ChesterZooFan
Well-Known Member
Chester announced their millionth visitor yesterday - 10 days earlier than last year - so visitor numbers clearly on the up. I expect a combination of great weather and the baby boom has driven this increase.
So their average weekly visitor numbers so far this year are approx. 29,200 compared to 28,000 last year which is an increase of over 4%. This seems pretty healthy to me? All good news for increasing revenue and supporting future developments (although last year visitor numbers were up but revenue down as there were fewer paying visitors and more member visits).
Islands is expecting to increase visitor numbers by about 10% - so with a 4% uplift already they are almost half way there already! There has been concern about whether the Zoo can cope with this, but I went last Saturday on what must have been one of the busiest days of the year and it was surprisingly bearable!! Islands is so big that additional visitors will be dispersed over a larger area.
So their average weekly visitor numbers so far this year are approx. 29,200 compared to 28,000 last year which is an increase of over 4%. This seems pretty healthy to me? All good news for increasing revenue and supporting future developments (although last year visitor numbers were up but revenue down as there were fewer paying visitors and more member visits).
Islands is expecting to increase visitor numbers by about 10% - so with a 4% uplift already they are almost half way there already! There has been concern about whether the Zoo can cope with this, but I went last Saturday on what must have been one of the busiest days of the year and it was surprisingly bearable!! Islands is so big that additional visitors will be dispersed over a larger area.
I have to say I was impressed by the system they have at the entrance. Only one person has a queue up while the rest of the group can go into the first part of the zoo, have a pee and watch the elephants.
The queue remains orderly and the kids won't get bored. Win-win.
The queue remains orderly and the kids won't get bored. Win-win.
We have been discussing zoo aquaria on another thread recently. Regarding Chester's aquarium, it is not large, but it is interesting, clean, modern and well stocked. As well as Chester's main aquarium they also have other fish related exhibits around the zoo as support species in other houses. One which I took particular notice of recently was the one in Spirit of the Jaguar, a large, circular tank, it must be at least six foot tall in the centre of the house. I had never really took much notice of it in the past but I spent quite a bit of time looking at it on my last visit, it contains, among others, the largest angel fish I have ever seen and also discus fish, one of my favourite tropical fish, I have just noticed on the cover of the zoo map I received that the discus is on the front cover of it!. Quite a contrast to another zoo I recently visited, inside one of their many monkey houses there used to be a pond, always kept immaculate, containing coy carp, the pond is still there, although no longer containing either water or coy carp, not even a couple of little goldfish, it now contains brown bark
We have been discussing zoo aquaria on another thread recently. Regarding Chester's aquarium, it is not large, but it is interesting, clean, modern and well stocked. As well as Chester's main aquarium they also have other fish related exhibits around the zoo as support species in other houses. One which I took particular notice of recently was the one in Spirit of the Jaguar, a large, circular tank, it must be at least six foot tall in the centre of the house. I had never really took much notice of it in the past but I spent quite a bit of time looking at it on my last visit, it contains, among others, the largest angel fish I have ever seen and also discus fish, one of my favourite tropical fish, I have just noticed on the cover of the zoo map I received that the discus is on the front cover of it!. Quite a contrast to another zoo I recently visited, inside one of their many monkey houses there used to be a pond, always kept immaculate, containing coy carp, the pond is still there, although no longer containing either water or coy carp, not even a couple of little goldfish, it now contains brown bark
Whilst I agree the addition in the Jaguar House is great, the main aquarium at the zoo is not in the slightest bit modern. It needs to be closed down. It is too small, you get a family in their with a couple of kids and a pram and you cannot move. It is something you would have seen 20 or 30 years ago.
If you want to see an aquarium and how they should be done. Try and Visit the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth, or even the Blue Planet Aquarium at Cheshire Oaks.
As I posted yesterday in another thread, the aquarium was modernised some years ago. The visitor side is not particularly impressive, but virtually all the tanks and technical equipment are fine (I think that only the Roti Island snake neck turtle tank is an old one). Moreover there is a lot of conservation breeding done off-show. If I were a fish, I would far prefer to live in the Aquarium than in the Jaguar House, where I suspect the stock has not done particularly well - I don't know why they broke the old aquarist's rule that you should never try to keep discus and angel fish together.
Go to Plymouth or the Blue Planet if you want to see sharks and so on, better still go to The Deep in Hull. But don't expect a zoo aquarium to compete with that. There is some overlap with seahorses etc, but you will see far more rare freshwater species at Chester (pin-striped damba, Omani blind cave fish, Anderson's salamanders etc). Likewise the aquariums at Regents Park and Bristol add an extra dimension to those collections too.
Alan
Pootle
Well-Known Member
A very shy fish - (you did well to see them
)As for the aquarium being modern, it is the zoos very own antique exhibit!. Although it is clean and tidy, on a busy day there is sometimes a queue to get in it. I do like the design of the large tank in the Jaguar house, but a part of me suspects that the water is there for the Sloths to use to a certain extent, as they are quite efficient swimmers.
My latest trip was 11th Sept and it was one of those days where you seem to be in the right place at the right time, good views of most things and saw just about everything bar the bear. Being tall even got a good view of the Orangs 'on loan'.
Out of curiosity does anyone know if the Malayan Tapirs have been mating at all?
Chester-raised Sand lizards released :
Wildlife Extra News - One of Britain's rarest reptiles, sand lizards to be released back into the wild
Wildlife Extra News - One of Britain's rarest reptiles, sand lizards to be released back into the wild
This is obviously the season for Sand Lizard releases. A batch of young ones (not from Chester) has just been released on Farnham Common(?) in Surrey, which is an RSPB reserve.
Durrell's Head Vet and Head of Herpetology have both moved to Chester... a lot of species they have developed expertise with have accompanied them.. and rightly so! Very good people, and Chester will no doubt be an even more amazing pace to visit as a result!
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