Chester Zoo Chester Zoo news 2025

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Strathmorezoo

Well-Known Member
The construction of the "Heart of Africa "project has officially been completed. Andrew Durham, of Telford based construction firm McPhillips said that the project was, really, really interesting. The company had a very tight working relationship with all of the animal teams involved and had to be careful not to disturb any animals, which included not using cranes.
 
Strathmorezoo said:
The construction of the "Heart of Africa "project has officially been completed. Andrew Durham, of Telford based construction firm McPhillips said that the project was, really, really interesting. The company had a very tight working relationship with all of the animal teams involved and had to be careful not to disturb any animals, which included not using cranes.
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Construction firm finishes 'really interesting' zoo project - BBC News
Here's the BBC article which I assume you may be referring to, I'm not too familiar with the plans so am unsure how accurate the artistic interpretations are.

If animals are starting to move into their enclosures in Heart of Africa, I wonder if the pair (1:1) of Aardvarks, Koos and Oni, will return from their breeding loan at Colchester Zoo in the near future, as the female Oq has now given birth to a young fathered by Koos (in late November).
 
Is Grasslands just phase one of the heart of Africa ?

I ran across an article saying that rhe big heart of Africa tropical dome is still in the pipeline for over a couple of years. I thought it was completely scrapped. Does anyone know if the article (which i can't find again) is true ?
 
There have been rumours that Chester’s next big project is a new chimp exhibit on the site of the giraffes. I don’t know if this constitutes the previously reported tropical dome or a standalone enclosure. There have also been gorilla rumours for a long time but I can’t see that happening until they’ve sorted new upgraded accommodation for the chimps.
 
Sneeuwpanter said:
Is Grasslands just phase one of the heart of Africa ?

I ran across an article saying that the big heart of Africa tropical dome is still in the pipeline for over a couple of years. I thought it was completely scrapped. Does anyone know if the article (which i can't find again) is true ?
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The 2 parts to Grasslands or Heart of Africa (HoA) as it is now known are the savanah which is due to open Easter 2025 and the overnight lodges due to open Summer 2025. There is no tropical dome associated with HoA.
The next new project is African Forests that represents the Congo. This is to be built in 2028 and will be built in phases. It will cover the chimps, the old giraffe area, the okapi and red river hogs areas and will include the demolition of Tropical Realm. I am not sure of the logistics of the build but the work around the chimps will be the most challenging. Whether they try to build a new area on the previous giraffe area or build a new indoor area for them on the Tropical Realm footprint and leave the islands where they are. However, I did hear that they want 2 outdoor islands so they can separate groups (such as the elderly males) instead of rotating them as at present. There could be possibly a tropical dome associated with this project.
 
A new species for the zoo arrived towards the end of 2024 William's Electric Blue Gecko (Lygodactylus williamsi).

Aardvark (Orycopterus afer) and Black-cheeked Lovebird (Agapornis nigrigensis) have returned to the zoo this month.

Also a new species of fish, Sainthouse's Killifish (Nothobranchus sainthousei) also arrived this month.
 
The new lodges can be booked from 9am tomorrow. Exclusive access to members only for 24 hours with bookings open to non members from Wednesday.
No indication at all of the price yet.

I note they must be 100% confident of the completion date and work must be on (or ahead?) of schedule for them to be opening bookings.

I wonder if they have at least one show lodge that has been fitted out and full decorated so potential visitors can see what they will look like, otherwise people will be booking from an artists impression. Although I imagine a lot of people would be happy to do that as they must have confidence the lodges will be of a high standard.

We will get more info at 9am tomorrow.
 
Dynamic pricing ie varies with demand. A quick look at the presale, for bed and breakfast 2 people it goes from £195 for a winter midweek up to £702 summer weekend. Average around £300 I guess. Other packages available. First bookable date is 18 August on their online calendar.
 
On the 2024 thread, it was reported that the Coquerel’s sifaka had bred again, however, it was deleted by the zoo’s social media. There’s now several images being shared on one of the zoo’s fan pages on social media of a new arrival, so it would appear that another sifaka has now been born at Chester.
 
Quick visit this mornig.

The Camels have now moved into the old giraffe house, the Elephant Shrew have moved, guessing maybe over to HofA. Plus all the solid construction fences are down now. So can get more of a view of the development.

Will the bird flu outbreak hold up or delay bird moves to HofA?
 
jde7582 said:
Quick visit this mornig.

The Camels have now moved into the old giraffe house, the Elephant Shrew have moved, guessing maybe over to HofA. Plus all the solid construction fences are down now. So can get more of a view of the development.

Will the bird flu outbreak hold up or delay bird moves to HofA?
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Are the onager still in the old exhibit?
 
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