Bristol Zoo (Closed) Bristol Zoo news 2011

Pertinax said:
It shows Bongo in the existing Okapi area- what happens to the Okapi?

Is this planned redevelopment of part of the ZOO connected in any way to the new Conservation Park plans being pushed further and further back?
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Page 39 of the plan says that it is understood that the okapi will move out of the gorilla house freeing space for extended gorilla accommodation.

Perhaps there is a plan to move the okapi to the Conservation Park but is this realistic? More and more it seems to me that the Park is an unrealistic prospect and perhaps they should focus more on the zoo...
 
Shirokuma said:
Page 39 of the plan says that it is understood that the okapi will move out of the gorilla house freeing space for extended gorilla accommodation.

Perhaps there is a plan to move the okapi to the Conservation Park but is this realistic? More and more it seems to me that the Park is an unrealistic prospect and perhaps they should focus more on the zoo...
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Thanks for that- I found it very hard to read so only managed small parts of it.

Enlarging the Gorilla indoor area does sound like a good idea- its always been rather on the small side(the inside) even for a trio, and currently there are six animals. Maybe the plan is to use both the Okapi's indoor areas for them as well? Bongos could use the existing paddock and the simple stable/shed which is in it.

But it implies the Okapi will go elsewhere though Bristol have an unbroken record of keeping this species since the 1960's- presumably they still view the Conservation Park as a reality then?
 
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Okapi calf-I believe so though not much has been heard about this one. Its probably too young to leave yet.


it seems the timeframe for these developments is;

1.Meerkat exhibit( open this spring?)
2.Mountain area; Barbary/sheep/apes in SW corner.
3 Gorilla House upgrade.
4. Others later and according to funds available

So if the Okapi are to leave this house and well before there is any Conservation Park in sight, I don't see where they will go and it would be a sad loss indeed if they were no longer on display at the Zoo (e.g. moved to the Hollywood Estate)
 
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Especially when one remembers that Bristol have been so famous for their okapi keeping.:)
 
Goretex said:
Especially when one remembers that Bristol have been so famous for their okapi keeping.:)
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well, the conservation park and bristol zoo do not appear to have much of a species overlap and I would not be surprised to see the okapi move out there. Also, there is the issue of sourcing new okapi....Bristol has not maintained more than a pair for some time, with setbacks to boot, and there are not large numbers of okapi ready to form new pairs. Also, there are specific plans for an off-exhibit okapi breeding centre at the conservation park, I wonder if this will be constructed early on. It won't harm Bristol to move in some new larger species as they are planning to do.

The okapi area at Bristol doesn't really have the scope to become the major breeding centre they obviously wish to establish at the NWCP, also the construction work extending the gorilla house would likely mean the okapi being moved from the area to facilitate this.
 
johnstoni said:
The okapi area at Bristol doesn't really have the scope to become the major breeding centre they obviously wish to establish at the NWCP, also the construction work extending the gorilla house would likely mean the okapi being moved from the area to facilitate this.
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It seems its definately planned for the Okapi to leave the Gorilla House- its mentioned in the plans- 'envisaged they will leave'. The most likely scenario as you said is they will go to the country estate- but this would be long before its opened to the public... The fact that Bongo are mentioned as replacing them in their zoo paddock indicates to me the Okapi may go off show- Bongo will replace them as Bristol's 'stripey' ungulate as far as most visitors are concerned. Then the Okapi become visible again if the NWCP becomes reality.

If that happens it would be similar to the 1970's when most of Bristol's Okapis were kept at the Hollywood estate, though then there was always a pair (or occassionally one) on display in the Zoo.
 
The zoo has another okapi enclosure in the form of the current cassowary exhibit (where the okapi were kept after seal and penguin coasts and the new elephant paddock were constructed. However I was under the impression they plan to keep Cassowary in the collection longer term than this, so possibly you are spot on that they will be kept off-exhibit for some years before the NWCP opens.
 
If they weren't planning to replace with Bongo I would be more uncertain, but I can't see any mileage in them keeping two such similar-looking species(to the average visitor) in the zoo at the same time.
 
Some small bits of news from Bristol. The meerkats have now moved to there new enclosure though the outside is not finished the indoor exhibit will be open for half term. The yellow mongooses will be moving back into the night zone shortly after some development work is completed on the enclosure. The gorilla where also extremely active today.

The site for stage one is now cleared and photos are in the gallery.
 
Well this is very cryptic but i can say that this year [and quite soon] Bristol will be adding a new species to its collection that possibly has not ever been kept in a British zoo before,this is not speculation as the animals exist- but ive recently been working for the zoo so i suppose i shouldnt say just yet.
Just a word to say that the IZES meeting is at Bristol this year,in addition to the usual swap meet of zoo collectors ephemera we have some very rare colour film of the zoo from 1948[!] with former head keeper Don Packham talking about it and a tour of the zoo with hopefully some more behind-the- scenes stuff.This year the entire thing is free to IZES members[www.izes.co.uk] but non-members are welcome with a £10 donation [all proceeds to the zoo].The meet is on sunday 6th march,10.30a.m.in the education building accessed from Guthrie Road.Myself and Alan Ashby have just written a history of Bristol Zoo for the zoos 175th anniversary-all being well it should be available for the meeting.
 
Finally it has been made public! 2 Asiatic Lion cubs 1.1 were born just before Christmas to Shiva and the old boy Kamal. They are now on public display.
 
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Little Lion Man said:
Finally it has been made public! 2 Asiatic Lion cubs 1.1 were born just before Christmas to Shiva and the old boy Kamal. They are now on public display.
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Great news, at last it is out - this will probably be the pair's only litter but let's hope other European collections have similar success!
 
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