Chester Zoo Evening Events in Chester zoo

[Pamela Glockenschlocker]

I wonder what other people think about holding events such as wedding receptions, movie nights etc. in zoos. I am concerned that they will cause stress to the animals because of noise and also visitors (possibly inebriated wedding guests) roaming around the zoo. Even allowing people to stay on for a couple of hours after closing time while it is still light worries me. I think the animals should have as much peace and quiet as possible. Would welcome comments.

 

[Lafone]

I think the notion of peace and quiet for the animals is rather undermined by having visitors in the first place - let’s face it we all see kids and indeed adults screaming and banging the glass and sometimes behaving as if the ‘cage’ should be the other way around. If the animals should have peace and quiet zoos shouldn’t allow visitors at all.

What worries you about people staying in the zoo when it is still light?

There was some fuss about london zoo events a few years ago (there are some threads about it on here) as people got out of hand. But they still host events and most large zoos also do corporate and private events (Google party in a zoo, most of the large collections in particular do them).

These events offer an income stream which is probably not to be sneezed at and so as long as the zoo handles the whole thing with sensitivity and with the animals welfare at heart they’ll be a fixture. No zoo that values it’s animals and indeed it’s reputation on social media is going to let people just wander off around the zoo in a drunken stupor.

You'd have to give some examples of inebriated wedding guests at a zoo in recent times I think to make it more than a ‘what if’ thing. What if drunken people fell in the penguin pool! What if people high on drugs started riding the elephants! What are the chances of those things really happening and how is it managed by the zoo to avoid it are probably more important questions.

In an ideal world would I prefer a zoo that didn’t host parties and concerts? Yes. It’s not very ‘zoo’. And it’s a bit strange to hear some come back band from the 90s are ‘headlining’ YWP etc. I’m also not a fan however of endless playgrounds, dinosaurs, soft play, bouncy castles and rollercoasters and rides in zoos either. But it’s important to remember zoos are independently funded and they have to find the money to care for all of the animals, the grounds and buildings and pay the keepers and other support staff as well as meeting all the ancillary costs beyond feeding and vet care.

As a result I’m more in the ‘how it is done matters’ camp.

 

[Alwaysevergreen]

I think it depends on the event to be honest. There are some which I find odd, and there's others that appeal.

Last year, I went to London on one of their adult only nights and I thought it would be a lot of people just observing animals and I thought it would be a relaxed event. What it turned out, was a lot of people at pop up bars, listening to music, and a lot of over crowding. I didn't enjoy it, as much as I hoped I would.

However, this week, I visited Howletts and paid to do the after hours tour, where between 6pm and 8pm, a group of 6 of us, got to walk around the Zoo with a couple of the education team, and got to see the animals in a different light, as well as feeding a few around the park, which was thoroughly enjoyable. The animals were not disturbed and it ended at 8pm, so it wasn't late, and for most of the animals, it was only giving them their evening feeds that they would normally get. I found it thoroughly enjoyable, and for me, this was an example of how opening after hours was done right.