Chester Zoo Chester Zoo Discussion, Speculation & Questions 2018

I’ve personally shop at Booths and M&S for food . I tried Aldi once and found a few things okay, but you just can’t beat M&S or Booths for quality. Booths is like the northern Waitrose for those who don’t live up north.
 
Zooreviewsuk said:
I’ve personally shop at Booths and M&S for food . I tried Aldi once and found a few things okay, but you just can’t beat M&S or Booths for quality. Booths is like the northern Waitrose for those who don’t live up north.
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Couldn’t agree more about M&S. It’s the only place that has a range that really inspires me and makes me excited about eating what I’ve bought! Although a weekly shop there usually costs me about £130, compared to £75 at Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s or Tesco (I get easily carried away) - although maybe when I start my new job I’ll be able to make it a regular thing since my salary is going to increase significantly! There aren’t any Booth’s round by where I live; from what I can tell it’s more of a Lancashire thing, but my Ma lives further that way than I do and she absolutely loves it.
 
HGibbins said:
I think the problem there is more to do with it being a pit than it being viewed from above. Chester's Cheetah and Black Rhino exhibits both include viewing from above, as did the old tiger enclosure, and it seems to work fine (YWP also springs to mind as a collection where much of the viewing is raised).
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I think overhead viewing is fine if there are options for ground level too- but some exhibits you can only view from above. I think it alters the perspective and creates greater distance from the animals too. Not at Chester, but examples are the indoor Giraffe viewing at places like Paignton, Colchester and Noah's Ark. The whole thing about Giraffe is their height, which you don't get a perspective of from looking down on them. Blackpool's has both ground and raised level viewing, but I hear their new elephant house may only have viewing from above. With Orangutans the expectation is that you will view them at the same(higher) level but as discussed, that's often not the reality when they are on the floor a lot of the time.
 
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I reminded of Stephen Fry's remark that he liked Sainsbury's because it kept the riff-raff out of Waitrose :D I am utterly promiscuous with regard to supermarkets; my latest purchases were at Waitrose and Lidl.
On the more important subject of the orang viewing in the Monsoon Forest, I have decided that it could be improved by a few simple steps. I would move the aquarium in front of the window on the right as you enter, so that you could see the orangs instead. I would put the aquarium against the wall where the maps are now, with proper illumination from the top bongorob would see the fish better and I think the fish would do better without light streaming in from the back. Ideally a new tank with rather greater width (front to back) and less depth, set on slightly lower plinth, would suit a wider range of species and make it easier to see the smaller specimens for visitors of average or below average height. I would also reduce the length of the cupboards on the walls beside the main left hand viewing window by 50 cm or so, to give a little more room in front of the glass. At the same time I would replace the ridiculous wires in the cupboard doors with fine black aviary mesh to make it much easier to see the animals in the vivariums.
 
North Entrance said:
Okay, time to put the 'cat amongst the pigeons' again. Assuming of course that the cat and pigeon species both come from the same geographic area or some other loose connection such as both living on an island?

What do Chester zoochatters think? and I guess this will be different according to age?
I refer to the 'Emperors New Clothes' of Chester Zoo. I'm not a fan of geographical / habitat zoning. Call me old fashioned but I'd prefer to see all the cats in the same part of the zoo, all the monkeys in the same part of the zoo, the reptiles in a reptile house etc, etc, etc....

I think it was educationally more beneficial when for example White Rhinos and Black Rhinos, [later Black and Great Indian] were alongside each other in the Rhino House. Visitors including me as a school child could make direct comparisons with size, build, lip shape etc. It was easy to see where they came from, there was a map on a sign.
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From a taxonomic perspective, I'm struggling to see the educational value of a monkey or reptile house ;)
 
gentle lemur said:
I reminded of Stephen Fry's remark that he liked Sainsbury's because it kept the riff-raff out of Waitrose :D I am utterly promiscuous with regard to supermarkets; my latest purchases were at Waitrose and Lidl.
On the more important subject of the orang viewing in the Monsoon Forest, I have decided that it could be improved by a few simple steps. I would move the aquarium in front of the window on the right as you enter, so that you could see the orangs instead. I would put the aquarium against the wall where the maps are now, with proper illumination from the top bongorob would see the fish better and I think the fish would do better without light streaming in from the back. Ideally a new tank with rather greater width (front to back) and less depth, set on slightly lower plinth, would suit a wider range of species and make it easier to see the smaller specimens for visitors of average or below average height. I would also reduce the length of the cupboards on the walls beside the main left hand viewing window by 50 cm or so, to give a little more room in front of the glass. At the same time I would replace the ridiculous wires in the cupboard doors with fine black aviary mesh to make it much easier to see the animals in the vivariums.
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I think I'd just move the Sumatrans into the Sulawesi Macaque enclosure- which by contrast, has excellent indoor viewing..;).
 
Zooreviewsuk said:
I’ve personally shop at Booths and M&S for food . I tried Aldi once and found a few things okay, but you just can’t beat M&S or Booths for quality. Booths is like the northern Waitrose for those who don’t live up north.
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I haven't shopped in seven years, my sister does it for me, far less stressful... :cool:
 
gentle lemur said:
..... I would move the aquarium in front of the window on the right as you enter, so that you could see the orangs instead. I would put the aquarium against the wall where the maps are now, with proper illumination from the top bongorob would see the fish better and I think the fish would do better without light streaming in from the back. Ideally a new tank with rather greater width (front to back) and less depth, set on slightly lower plinth, would suit a wider range of species and make it easier to see the smaller specimens for visitors of average or below average height. I would also reduce the length of the cupboards on the walls beside the main left hand viewing window by 50 cm or so, to give a little more room in front of the glass. At the same time I would replace the ridiculous wires in the cupboard doors with fine black aviary mesh to make it much easier to see the animals in the vivariums.
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I'd move the Aquarium (Contents) into the Aquarium, that's the place where most people would expect to find fish!
 
I preferred old school houses. The Cat House was my favourite place at Chester and I have mentioned my affection for the old reptile corridor in the Tropical Realm.

However, today I much prefer the current dispersion of species into broadly geographical areas. Theming is general done well at Chester and viewing is general well balanced between the needs of the public and the animals.
 
I enjoy the geographical theming at Chester. Being forced to visit in the school holidays makes me despair of the viewing of the Sumatran orangs.
 
North Entrance said:
Okay, time to put the 'cat amongst the pigeons' again. Assuming of course that the cat and pigeon species both come from the same geographic area or some other loose connection such as both living on an island?

What do Chester zoochatters think? and I guess this will be different according to age?
I refer to the 'Emperors New Clothes' of Chester Zoo. I'm not a fan of geographical / habitat zoning. Call me old fashioned but I'd prefer to see all the cats in the same part of the zoo, all the monkeys in the same part of the zoo, the reptiles in a reptile house etc, etc, etc....

I think it was educationally more beneficial when for example White Rhinos and Black Rhinos, [later Black and Great Indian] were alongside each other in the Rhino House. Visitors including me as a school child could make direct comparisons with size, build, lip shape etc. It was easy to see where they came from, there was a map on a sign.

The zoo is now all mixed up!
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Bit of both to be honest - I think a bit of geographic zoning can be helpful, but also some comparative zoology.

I've often thought that Curator of Australasian Fauna would be an interesting role.

But probably not at Chester.

I'm not a fan of hugely expensive immersive exhibits for a tiny number of species (or even just a single species). A row of enclosures for similar, but different, species suits me fine!

Another problem is that if you spend a fortune on an exhibit for Ruritanian Fleetfoot, with authentic Ruritanian architecture, boats and religious imagery ... and your Ruritanian Fleetfoots keel over and die and can't be replaced, what do you do?
 
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