Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Discussion, Speculation & Questions 2018

Now that all areas are open again does anyone have a complete list of birds currently present in the first walk through past the Bali Temple area please (this area had Javan green magpies in last year if I remember rightly)

Are the Javan Green Magpies no longer on display then? :-(
 
I don't get chance to visit often so have to rely on SLOTZ and posts on here to keep up. Is Sanyu and my namesake black rhino still there ?
 
It was interesting to watch SLotZ yesterday to see the inside of the warthog barn. I was wondering why it is staff only as it looked like there's a walkway for visitors along one side. I'm used to seeing them outside but just curious...
 
Little note from social media. It would seem the animal template statues outside the main gates now have art on them, well the elephant at least.
 
warthogs are not visible once you enter the zoo, so take a look before you enter,
or leave, or get a hand stamp to allow access back into the zoo.
 
Any particular reason why the rhino / warthog house is closed to the public now?

@bongorob Most visits they are all happily out in the paddock but just wondering what lurked in their house. :p
 
I loved the Rhino House when it was open to the public. The smell and the close contact.

This is something I love about so many animal houses with access (of course, where this doesn't compromise animal welfare). So many places now don't allow access, or use glass barriers, it blocks off so much connection with the animal, that sense of them. And smell, and hearing them move around, is so much a part of that. If London ever close off the giraffe or okapi houses, or Whipsnade their rhino sheds, I would be truly sad to my core.

Sorry, ramble over :rolleyes:
 
When did it actually close and why. I know people say for privacy reasons but surely that would of meant them closing the tsavo house aswell
 
It closed when the Tsavo house opened - presumably they want one Black Rhino house open to the public for visitors and all the others to have privacy. It's not an unusual approach to have multiple enclosures but only one with indoor viewing (or viewing at all). Allows visitors to see rhinos on bad weather days but means only a small number of the individuals are 'exposed' to the potential disturbance of visitors.
 
When did it actually close and why. I know people say for privacy reasons but surely that would of meant them closing the tsavo house aswell
I think the house was closed to visitors about 20 years ago. There were originally 3 paddocks, but they were changed when the new restaurant was built (since renamed as Cafe Bembe) after the Small Mammal House and the Rainbow Cafe were demolished. bongorob will correct me if I have got this wrong.
I think the Tsavo House can be open to the public because there is an off-show area behind the indoor exhibits: the old house does not have one.
Edit Maguari replied as I was writing this, I think we are both basically correct: the zoo made all these changes to hold a larger number of rhinos.
 
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I think the Tsavo House is open to the public because there is an off-show area behind the indoor exhibits: the old house does not have one.

Yes, that's a good point.
 
That is correct GentleLemur,Tsavo house has offshow dens, the original house does not.
 
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