Chester Zoo Fire in the Chester Zoo Monsoon Forest habitat

They don’t mention anywhere on the page that the money is for rebuilding/replacing the exhibit (despite other media outlets reporting as much). I think it was more that people were asking where they could donate to support the zoo, and the funds will just go to the charity.

That makes sense, thank you :)

Yep - the Facebook update is now explicit about the involvement of the insurance company (not that it's unexpected):

As a result of the overwhelming numbers of people asking how they can donate to support our work as a conservation charity in light of the fire, a Just Giving page has been set up here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/monsoonforest

Thank you to everyone who has donated. Of course, we will be working with our insurers regarding the building damage but the generosity of our supporters will help us to recover our conservation efforts for threatened species as we fight against extinction.
 
I am not questioning the Just Giving idea (and fully support it because I love the zoo) but a friend has asked why they need to bother, that insurance should cover everything - I don't know enough about these things, so could anyone help me explain?

I would imagine they might be needing extra funds to cover the cost of emergency care for all of the rescued animals.

~Thylo
 
Press conference from the zoo, most animals recovered are doing fine, showing no signs of ill health. Reptiles are far end of the building still there and have heating on again.

Location of the start of the fire known, but not sure yet how exactly it started.

Teams already on site to assess damage and plan the repair work.
 
I am not questioning the Just Giving idea (and fully support it because I love the zoo) but a friend has asked why they need to bother, that insurance should cover everything - I don't know enough about these things, so could anyone help me explain?
One may insure at any level from complete replacement to funds for the roof only and in between. More insurance cost more annually. So do not assume that the zoo was insured sufficiently to rebuild at no actual cost to themselves.
 
I assume EFTE will melt if the air underneath it is hot enough? That is presumably what happened here
Yes, it melts. But unlike other polymers which might actually burn, ETFE resists actual burning. Had another roofing material been used the entire roof may have gone. Had it been glass, the roof would suffer mostly from high heat only.
 
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Chester Zoo 'heartbroken' at death of animals in fire - updates

Sunda Gharials were not evacuated and remained in there pond for the incident. tortoises and turtles were evacuated.

Thanks for posting the link - some other important quotes on there:

“We’re going to get started on rebuilding that building back to what it was before yesterday.”

“A very small number of bird carcasses have been recovered but most of the others recovered are alive and healthy.”

“We lost none of the mammals, none of the primates. We lost none of the gibbons, none of the orangutans. All of these as of today are safe and being looked after.”

“We know some animals have died. The house contained everything from spiders to stick insects, fish, frogs - it was an incredibly complex forest environment.

“Where the fire broke out, we know it was in the vicinity of some fish and insects, and that area has been completely destroyed by fire.”

Specialist staff and agencies are on site today to start the investigation and to start getting the building back to how it was.

The rebuilding of Monsoon Forest is to start immediately
 
Reading a news report on this tragic fire it seems that at its height about 75 firefighters were battling the blaze, which caused significant damage to the entrance area and first floor visitors walkway.
 
I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS CHANCE TO THANK EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE RESCUE OF ALL THE ANIMALS FROM THIS TRAGIC FIRE A WELL ORGANISED AND RUN SITUATION FROM ME AND I SUSPECT MANY MORE THANK YOU.
 
Press Conference very impressive. Looks as though the birds may have done better than many feared. Underlines why many of us feel Chester is a mighty fine zoo!

Yes, just watched the whole thing - very well handled and make me a bit more hopeful about the birds in there.
 
Sky TV reported this morning that all of the mammals had been saved, "orang utans, gibbons and crocodiles."
 
51 primate moves? Any guesses what else is being moved?

51 individuals - this includes 30+ individuals being moved out of Monsoon Forest. It sounds like the Orangs can go back into RORA/the old Orang house, and the Moloch Gibbons shouldn't be too difficult to rehouse, but the fairly large group of Sulawesi Macaques might be a little trickier...
 
51 primate moves? Any guesses what else is being moved?
I imagine they will have to do some rejigging of the monkey house for the macaques. There’s no room for them there currently, they could move the capuchins back to their old island which would be an issue as the bamboo lemurs are still there and the indoor enclosure for them are now the Aye aye enclosure. But I’m sure they’re will be somewhere for them.
 
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