Chester Zoo Chester Zoo: Future of old Orangs House

M

Mckenzie2000

Well-Known Member
Theories for the future of the old orangutan house which currently holds the Native exhibition? Particularly interested in suggestions for repurposing the house for another animal.
 
The exhibtions so far have seem to done quite well, I haven't visited any of them but they are being advertised a lot and considering they have done multiple I wonder how long they will keep doing them.

I'm not sure how fit the building is for animal usage, but it can't be too unsafe if they are letting people in there. ;) If you were to fill in the moat around the island, its a decent sized space. When thinking of a species that would work there my brain instantly went to pygmy hippos, that would be quite nice but it won't happen. :D:p
 
Fallax said:
The exhibtions so far have seem to done quite well, I haven't visited any of them but they are being advertised a lot and considering they have done multiple I wonder how long they will keep doing them.

I'm not sure how fit the building is for animal usage, but it can't be too unsafe if they are letting people in there. ;) If you were to fill in the moat around the island, its a decent sized space. When thinking of a species that would work there my brain instantly went to pygmy hippos, that would be quite nice but it won't happen. :D:p
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Agreed, the exhibitions have been great so far, so long may they continue (supposed to be going in March with uni and am eager to check it out). True, pygmy hippos would be great but probably are a pipe dream. Personally, given the size of the house part of the enclosure, I’d quite like something like Pygmy hogs or Indian boar with Asian water buffalo and for the moat to be filled in and the enclosure be divided up into grass and mud with ample space to wallow. Saying that, not sure if the outdoor space is sufficient to hold two species, let alone a large ungulate like water buffalo.
 
I almost went past the exhibition last summer, we thought it was the Shark experience that you pay for. When we walked in I was very surprised by what they had done. My boys really enjoyed the models of the sharks and the activities. The videos used were fantastic and gave an experience we couldn't get in the Zoo, any zoo. I was fascinated by the displays but blown away to be in side the old Orang's exhibit. Ithey had painted in well so looked different to the old concrete cell it used to be. I was struck at how small the piece of land was that the Orang's used to play on outside. The last time I had seen this open I had to inform a keeper that one of the Orange had fished out a terrain from the moat and was beating it on the floor.

I think that they should continue to use this area for more exits. I'd rather them build new purpose built areas for new animals.
 
Ickbur said:
I almost went past the exhibition last summer, we thought it was the Shark experience that you pay for. When we walked in I was very surprised by what they had done. My boys really enjoyed the models of the sharks and the activities. The videos used were fantastic and gave an experience we couldn't get in the Zoo, any zoo. I was fascinated by the displays but blown away to be in side the old Orang's exhibit. Ithey had painted in well so looked different to the old concrete cell it used to be. I was struck at how small the piece of land was that the Orang's used to play on outside. The last time I had seen this open I had to inform a keeper that one of the Orange had fished out a terrain from the moat and was beating it on the floor.

I think that they should continue to use this area for more exits. I'd rather them build new purpose built areas for new animals.
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Same or if they did house animals in there again, to completely revamp it but I think it’s better housing exhibits at the moment as it’s somewhat outdated for holding large taxa.
 
Jennings said:
It wouldn't make a bad replacement for the current aquarium building.
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It wouldn't but a new purpose built aquarium could be built for the same cost of converting it, so why waste the money on converting an already old building with old buildings problems when you could have a new build
 
Laboratory 7 said:
It wouldn't but a new purpose built aquarium could be built for the same cost of converting it, so why waste the money on converting an already old building with old buildings problems when you could have a new build
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For the very simple reason that with Blue Planet just down the road Chester cannot justify the expense of a new aquarium, and I've had that straight from the horse's mouth. If the old Orang house is structurally sound then there is no reason to suppose that tanks could not be incorporated into it at reasonable cost. I offer you Ilfracombe, in its converted lifeboat house, or Tropiquaria, in its converted BBC transmitting station, as examples of retrofitted buildings now used as public aquaria.
 
Jennings said:
For the very simple reason that with Blue Planet just down the road Chester cannot justify the expense of a new aquarium, and I've had that straight from the horse's mouth. If the old Orang house is structurally sound then there is no reason to suppose that tanks could not be incorporated into it at reasonable cost. I offer you Ilfracombe, in its converted lifeboat house, or Tropiquaria, in its converted BBC transmitting station, as examples of retrofitted buildings now used as public aquaria.
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You make a very good point about the reuse of old buildings, but you have missed the fact that your examples were both built in an era when things were built to last, and as such they are still standing, whilst the orang utan house at Chester was meant to only last 25-30 years and is still standing somehow.
 
Not that I am in disagreement with its current use as an exhibition building, was most impressed with its use for sharks last year as species I could never see them having in an other way. If it was to hold living species again couldn’t it be converted in to an actual reptile house given it seaming large space and what I would assume is a solid building to bring these species together in one house along side having various reptiles dotted around the zoo to fill spaces as is the case now
 
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