Chester Zoo Chester Zoo News 2022

I recently noticed chester posted an image of a goat on their Instagram on the 6th along with 9 other photos. Do they have goats now?
 
On 19th April I made a visit to Chester Zoo.

The Aardvark enclosure is roped off, so is the Wild Dog enclosure. Both species can stil be seen.

A new Insect species in Monsoon Forest is Four-spotted Stick Insect (Mormessoidea quadiguttata).

For the thousands of Zoochatters who like fish (well there's me and Gentle Lemur) African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi) and Green Kribensis (Pelviachromis sacrimentis) are now on show in the Okapi House and the Aquarium.

A new fish species in Monsoon Forest is Tiger Betta (Betta paroti)

A new reptile species in Monsoon Forest is Natalia's Pricklenape (Acanthrosaura nataliae). The label says Horn-heded Lizard but I could not see into the vivs because of the reflection of the sun. I could not see into the other vivs because of people sitting on the walls by the glass. Two design faults in one go here.

Disinfectant mats are placed at the entrances and exits to Monsoon Forest and the Tropical House. All the walk-through aviaries are still closed. I think the other aviaries could also be opened if mats were provided. I also wonder why mats at Monsoon Forest and Tropical House were not used from the start if the epidemic.

The upper level of the Tropical House is still closed. I cannot think of a reason why it is not open.

The Cattle House is still closed.

A new exhibit in the Tropical House is Madagascan Giant Day Gecko (Phelsuma grandis).

The Amazon Tree Boa vivarium is empty and the boas have moved to the Poison Frog vivariums. A small boy was very interested in the blue Poison Frogs which, as he proudly told me, were the same colour as his blue-dyed hair.

Building work is taking place in the former Galapagos Tortoise enclosure. No indication of what is going to be housed there, but there is a drawing of a tortoise on the sign.

The Wrinkled Hornbill aviary is also under repair.

The Green Magpie aviary in Dragons in Danger is roped off and appeared to be empty, The small vivarium formerly housing Montserrat Tarantula and Blue-winged Stick Insect is empty, but looks ready to receive its new occupants.

There was no sign of anything remotely pelican-like in the vicimity of the duck rearing aviary. The label for Brazilian Teal is still showing the scientific name for Lady Amherst Pheasant.

Work on the peafowl aviary is proceeding and the zoo now holds Blue Peafowl, hopefully when the aviary is open access to the mongoose enclosure will be possible. I have yet to see this species.

The lawn occupying the site of the beaver enclosue is fenced off. A few picnic tables are available for visitor use, but thet do not have the capacity that the lawn has. I can't imagine oepole sitting on the tarmac to picnic on a hot summer's day, it will be most uncomfortable.

There generlly seems to be a lot less seatring, either on benches or the grass than there used to be.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of snack and drinks machines.

In Realm of the Red Ape the Black-breasted Turtles have been replaced by Pitcher Plants. A very strange thing to do given the amount of reptiles still offshow.

With the Flamingo Aviary still closed I took a walk around to the western side hoping to see the ibis and spoonbills. There is no view anymore, there is a fence instead. The penguin nursery windows are boarded up but all was quiet and with no fishy smell I don't think anything was in there.

The Lilacine Amazon Parrots were no shows again, much to the disappointment of many visitors.
 
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I can only think of two reasons.

1. It is an old building and is unsafe for the public.

2.It is an expensive building to heat. keeping the entrance door closed could help with the energy costs.
 
On 19th April I made a visit to Chester Zoo.


For the thousands of Zoochatters who like fish (well there's me and Gentle Lemur) African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi) and Green Kribensis (Pelviachromis sacrimentis) are now on show in the Okapi House and the Aquarium.

A new fish species in Monsoon Forest is Tiger Betta (Betta paroti)

As a child, I had a little tropical aquarium in my room, which I was insistent was to be African-themed. For several years the star of the tank was an African butterflyfish, and I adored her. An exquisite little oddball fish that always brings a smile to my face no matter how many times I see them.

Also great to see more of the zoo's work with endangered freshwater fishes highlighted with Betta patoti going on display.
 
On 19th April I made a visit to Chester Zoo.

The Aardvark enclosure is roped off, so is the Wild Dog enclosure. Both species can stil be seen.

A new Insect species in Monsoon Forest is Four-spotted Stick Insect (Mormessoidea quadiguttata).

For the thousands of Zoochatters who like fish (well there's me and Gentle Lemur) African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi) and Green Kribensis (Pelviachromis sacrimentis) are now on show in the Okapi House and the Aquarium.

A new fish species in Monsoon Forest is Tiger Betta (Betta paroti)

A new reptile species in Monsoon Forest is Natalia's Pricklenape (Acanthrosaura nataliae). The label says Horn-heded Lizard but I could not see into the vivs because of the reflection of the sun. I could not see into the other vivs because of people sitting on the walls by the glass. Two design faults in one go here.

Disinfectant mats are placed at the entrances and exits to Monsoon Forest and the Tropical House. All the walk-through aviaries are still closed. I think the other aviaries could also be opened if mats were provided. I also wonder why mats at Monsoon Forest and Tropical House were not used from the start if the epidemic.

The upper level of the Tropical House is still closed. I cannot think of a reason why it is not open.

The Cattle House is still closed.

A new exhibit in the Tropical House is Madagascan Giant Day Gecko (Phelsuma grandis).

The Amazon Tree Boa vivarium is empty and the boas have moved to the Poison Frog vivariums. A small boy was very interested in the blue Poison Frogs which, as he proudly told me, were the same colour as his blue-dyed hair.

Building work is taking place in the former Galapagos Tortoise enclosure. No indication of what is going to be housed there, but there is a drawing of a tortoise on the sign.

The Wrinkled Hornbill aviary is also under repair.

The Green Magpie aviary in Dragons in Danger is roped off and appeared to be empty, The small vivarium formerly housing Montserrat Tarantula and Blue-winged Stick Insect is empty, but looks ready to receive its new occupants.

There was no sign of anything remotely pelican-like in the vicimity of the duck rearing aviary. The label for Brazilian Teal is still showing the scientific name for Lady Amherst Pheasant.

Work on the peafowl aviary is proceeding and the zoo now holds Blue Peafowl, hopefully when the aviary is open access to the mongoose enclosure will be possible. I have yet to see this species.

The lawn occupying the site of the beaver enclosue is fenced off. A few picnic tables are available for visitor use, but thet do not have the capacity that the lawn has. I can't imagine oepole sitting on the tarmac to picnic on a hot summer's day, it will be most uncomfortable.

There generlly seems to be a lot less seatring, either on benches or the grass than there used to be.

Another thing I noticed was the lack of snack and drinks machines.

In Realm of the Red Ape the Black-breasted Turtles have been replaced by Pitcher Plants. A very strange thing to do given the amount of reptiles still offshow.

With the Flamingo Aviary still closed I took a walk around to the western side hoping to see the ibis and spoonbills. There is no view anymore, there is a fence instead. The penguin nursery windows are boarded up but all was quiet and with no fishy smell I don't think anything was in there.

The Lilacine Amazon Parrots were no shows again, much to the disappointment of many visitors.
Beaver enclosure and Galapagos tortoise enclosures we’re are they ???
 
Seems quite a lot is going on at Chester then.

From a vlog I watched a few weeks ago, there looked to be work going on in the Belted Ruffed Lemur enclosure by the Cheetahs. Has that been completed yet?

We were lucky with the Amazon Parrots on our last trip Rob as they are rarely out in view.

I thought the former Galapagos Tortoise enclosure is now home to the Radiated Tortoises?

Shame the Black-breasted Leaf Turtles are no longer on-show in RotRA. Also a big shame there is no Javan Green Magpies unless they have moved back to Islands.

Let's hope Rob the walkthrough aviaries are back open again for our next trip.
 
The javan green magpies were onshow when I last visited
Yes the belted ruffled Lemur enclosure has finished the enclosure just has new mesh on it
 
Beaver enclosure and Galapagos tortoise enclosures we’re are they ???

Sorry, sometimes I just assume everyone knows the zoo as well as I do.

The beaver enclosure was on the site of the big lawn to the east of elephant brudge. For a short time in 1975-76 it held Coscoroba Swans with the beavers, and then later Coatis, sometimes with Red-eared Sliders.

The Galapagos Tortoise enclosure was next to the Radiated Tortoises. The Galapagos Tortoises went to Crocodiles of the World when they outgrew their enclosure. A plan which never materialized was to move the Galapagos Tortoises to the east side of the Cattle House, where they would have had plenty of room to grow.
 
The Wrinkled Hornbill aviary is also under repair.

The Green Magpie aviary in Dragons in Danger is roped off and appeared to be empty, The small vivarium formerly housing Montserrat Tarantula and Blue-winged Stick Insect is empty, but looks ready to receive its new occupants.

Both of these aviaries were back occupied by their respective species today, and the sticks are also back in Dragons in Danger. The magpie aviary still has an additional (temporary-looking) standoff though, so maybe new birds being introduced?

There was no sign of anything remotely pelican-like in the vicimity of the duck rearing aviary.

I also could not drum up anything pelicany - there are some young flamingos in the back aviary currently.

The Lilacine Amazon Parrots were no shows again, much to the disappointment of many visitors.

For what it's worth, three were out and about today.
 
Yes it is iconic but I still have to cover my nose for the buffalo and rhinos but the giraffes I'm OK with the smell in there
 
Not strictly chester news but I've only just heard from the big cat sanctuary that sofia the jaguar has been pts due to old age I am absolutely gutted by this news she was my favourite jaguar in chester I remember meeting her behind the scenes in late 2015 and she was one of the most friendliest animals I've ever met

Rip sofia 2001- 2022
 
Not strictly chester news but I've only just heard from the big cat sanctuary that sofia the jaguar has been pts due to old age I am absolutely gutted by this news she was my favourite jaguar in chester I remember meeting her behind the scenes in late 2015 and she was one of the most friendliest animals I've ever met

Rip sofia 2001- 2022
Yes it was a real shame such a beautiful animal I’ve been lucky enough to have seen her quite a few times
 
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