Last year Dudley zoo announced a plan to spend £250,000 on one of three newly proposed major projects in 2018. The zoo allowed the public to decide which one of the three options would go ahead first by allowing visitors, who added the 10% voluntary donation to their entrance fee, to vote for which option is their favourite.
The three options for the 2017 vote were, the Chimp project, the Bear project or the Tiger project.
The chimp project was a plan to adapt the outdoor enclosure fencing, which would enable the zoo to introduce males to the all-female group. The plan was also to extend the climbing frame and create additional viewing areas.
The Bear project was a plan to reinstate brown bears back into the Bear Ravine Tecton. A large climbing frame would be built, as well as new separate housing at the far end.
The Tiger project was a plan to extend the Sumatran tiger enclosure across the rear bank, completely demolish the old dens and build new housing with indoor viewing. More climbing frames and platforms would also be built, along with more outdoor viewing areas.
Voting continued for the rest of the year.
Once the December 31st deadline had been reached the votes were counted and the zoo revealed that the public had voted for the Tiger project as their winner.
Work on the Tiger project will start in September 2018.
So that’s it then? End of story?
Nope. Following the success of the token voting system in 2017, the zoo is restarting it again for 2018 and doing another vote. The public will again decide which one of three options is their favourite.
The two losing projects from last year, the Bear project and the Chimp project, will remain as options. However, this time the third option is the Orang project.
The orang project was announced separately last year. They are aiming to raise £800,000, by 2020, to build a brand-new orang enclosure. The large, much needed, new exhibit will replace the entire hunting dog enclosure. The new enclosure will be roughly oval-shaped; 26m at its widest point and 48m at its longest point. It will be a covered enclosure and the orangs will be joined by the lar gibbons, who will be getting a new house. They have so far raised over £215k.
If the orang project wins the 2018 vote then the addition funds will be put into that and the zoo is hopeful they will then be able to reach their £800,000 target a year earlier than the planned 2020, meaning work will start sooner.
So the new options for the 2018 vote are:
Option 1. Adapting the CHIMP enclosure fencing to enable the zoo to introduce males to the current all-female group, as well as extending the climbing frame and creating more viewing areas.
Option 2. Reinstating BROWN BEARS into the restored Bear Ravine Tecton, alongside new dens and climbing frames.
Option 3. Putting the funds into the ORANGUTAN enclosure project (see above), enabling the zoo to reach their £800,000 target a year earlier.
Last year, for the 2017 vote between the chimps, tigers and bears, I did a poll to find out which option us zoochatters would vote for. The chimp and bear options were tied with 41.4% of the vote each. Funnily enough, despite winning the real public vote, the tiger option came a definitive third place with just 17.2% of the vote.
However, many people, including myself, said last year that if there was an option to put all the money straight into the orang enclosure then they’d vote for that. Well now there is. (Although there is still some frustration as to why the zoo is doing another vote and not just putting the money towards the orangs anyway).
Therefore, I’ve decided to create another poll, this time for the 2018 vote between the chimps, tigers and orangs, to see which option zoochatters vote for this time.
The same rules apply as last year…
It would be preferable if only zoochatters who are at least slightly familiar with Dudley Zoo, it's situation and the enclosures concerned were to vote in this poll.
Voters are able to change their mind.
Votes will be displayed publicly.
The poll will close after 7 days.
Once again, happy voting.
The three options for the 2017 vote were, the Chimp project, the Bear project or the Tiger project.
The chimp project was a plan to adapt the outdoor enclosure fencing, which would enable the zoo to introduce males to the all-female group. The plan was also to extend the climbing frame and create additional viewing areas.
The Bear project was a plan to reinstate brown bears back into the Bear Ravine Tecton. A large climbing frame would be built, as well as new separate housing at the far end.
The Tiger project was a plan to extend the Sumatran tiger enclosure across the rear bank, completely demolish the old dens and build new housing with indoor viewing. More climbing frames and platforms would also be built, along with more outdoor viewing areas.
Voting continued for the rest of the year.
Once the December 31st deadline had been reached the votes were counted and the zoo revealed that the public had voted for the Tiger project as their winner.
Work on the Tiger project will start in September 2018.
So that’s it then? End of story?
Nope. Following the success of the token voting system in 2017, the zoo is restarting it again for 2018 and doing another vote. The public will again decide which one of three options is their favourite.
The two losing projects from last year, the Bear project and the Chimp project, will remain as options. However, this time the third option is the Orang project.
The orang project was announced separately last year. They are aiming to raise £800,000, by 2020, to build a brand-new orang enclosure. The large, much needed, new exhibit will replace the entire hunting dog enclosure. The new enclosure will be roughly oval-shaped; 26m at its widest point and 48m at its longest point. It will be a covered enclosure and the orangs will be joined by the lar gibbons, who will be getting a new house. They have so far raised over £215k.
If the orang project wins the 2018 vote then the addition funds will be put into that and the zoo is hopeful they will then be able to reach their £800,000 target a year earlier than the planned 2020, meaning work will start sooner.
So the new options for the 2018 vote are:
Option 1. Adapting the CHIMP enclosure fencing to enable the zoo to introduce males to the current all-female group, as well as extending the climbing frame and creating more viewing areas.
Option 2. Reinstating BROWN BEARS into the restored Bear Ravine Tecton, alongside new dens and climbing frames.
Option 3. Putting the funds into the ORANGUTAN enclosure project (see above), enabling the zoo to reach their £800,000 target a year earlier.
Last year, for the 2017 vote between the chimps, tigers and bears, I did a poll to find out which option us zoochatters would vote for. The chimp and bear options were tied with 41.4% of the vote each. Funnily enough, despite winning the real public vote, the tiger option came a definitive third place with just 17.2% of the vote.
However, many people, including myself, said last year that if there was an option to put all the money straight into the orang enclosure then they’d vote for that. Well now there is. (Although there is still some frustration as to why the zoo is doing another vote and not just putting the money towards the orangs anyway).
Therefore, I’ve decided to create another poll, this time for the 2018 vote between the chimps, tigers and orangs, to see which option zoochatters vote for this time.
The same rules apply as last year…
It would be preferable if only zoochatters who are at least slightly familiar with Dudley Zoo, it's situation and the enclosures concerned were to vote in this poll.
Voters are able to change their mind.
Votes will be displayed publicly.
The poll will close after 7 days.
Once again, happy voting.
Last edited:
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When I saw this enclosure last year, which is perfectly adequate for the existing group, I thought maybe it was already too late and not so important for this ageing group of females anyway, though they are naturally more inactive without males present.