Is it time for a Super Zoo?

SHAVINGTONZOO said:
Very few. In my younger days, when I used to plan my own establishment, I thought a way round this was to build the place so that the general public would make a round tour with the specialisms for the zoo enthusiasts tucked behind e.g. the main route would take people past - say - lion, tiger and leopard, but behind them would be a further loop offering leopard sub-species, jaguarundi, ocelot etc etc.

[Of course, my imaginary books didn't have to balance! ]
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This is exactly the 'natural vision' plan for Chester. Although the plans have changed from the original vision I think the principle remains - that there will be a central main route around the zoo (for a 1 day visit) with additional sub-routes which allow a longer dwell time (for members or 2 day visitors). The hotel on the zoo site, as far as I know, is still part of the master plan allowing the zoo to offer 2 day packages.... Not sure how soon this will ever eventualise but with record visitor numbers in 2014 even before Islands I do see Chester being the only UK collection realising a 'super zoo' status. The financial projections of what Islands will deliver for Chester are very conservative from what I remember, working on average visitor numbers from the last few years. It's pretty unlikely they will see no increase in visitors so I see the expansion happening faster than we might think! Fingers crossed
 
mazfc said:
A super zoo is an interesting idea, but I wonder how many families (the bread and butter of zoo income) would actually plan a 2 day zoo visit?
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if theme parks do it with a hotel on site why not a zoo
 
How big would London Zoo now have to be if it held the same inventory as it did in the 60's? Surely it would be a three or four day visit? Chester Zoo would need to be three times its current size if it had the same species as it had in the mid eighties! It's former, quite extensive small cat collection were kept on a site the size of a postage stamp and would need an area that would cover half if Islands to exhibit them today.

I suppose what I'm saying is a modern super zoo would be classed more on the size of the area than the number of animals.
 
I think the key to developing a bigger zoo is to stop thinking zoo and really trending towards a destination.
Seaworld is a great example, their key attraction is the animals, but they have shows, cinemas, rides, immersive exhibits like the new penguin thing, and then they have hotels, restaurants, evening entertainment, you can have a full holiday without leaving the place. People travel from round the world to visit only seaworld, and I'm sure most of them are not zoo nerds.
If you took their business model and constructed a resort based around all animals, think centrparcs style, safari tours on a jeep, a ski lift ride that takes you through a rainforest at tree height, a waterpark that mixes fish, sea birds, marine mammals, with slides and swimming pools, mixed with accommodation, shows, that would work.
 
Devi said:
I think the key to developing a bigger zoo is to stop thinking zoo and really trending towards a destination.
Seaworld is a great example, their key attraction is the animals, but they have shows, cinemas, rides, immersive exhibits like the new penguin thing, and then they have hotels, restaurants, evening entertainment, you can have a full holiday without leaving the place. People travel from round the world to visit only seaworld, and I'm sure most of them are not zoo nerds.
If you took their business model and constructed a resort based around all animals, think centrparcs style, safari tours on a jeep, a ski lift ride that takes you through a rainforest at tree height, a waterpark that mixes fish, sea birds, marine mammals, with slides and swimming pools, mixed with accommodation, shows, that would work.
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I think the majority of these ideas would be the absolute opposite that any credible UK zoo would consider. As much as I can I see the attraction of this kind of destination for the public, it would not fit into the mission statement and vision of any major UK zoo.
 
ChesterZooFan said:
I think the majority of these ideas would be the absolute opposite that any credible UK zoo would consider. As much as I can I see the attraction of this kind of destination for the public, it would not fit into the mission statement and vision of any major UK zoo.
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I think you could have a mix of the two - why not a hotel on site most zoos offer stay overs , why not something else attached one thing we dont have like the states is the weather
 
ChesterZooFan said:
I think the majority of these ideas would be the absolute opposite that any credible UK zoo would consider. As much as I can I see the attraction of this kind of destination for the public, it would not fit into the mission statement and vision of any major UK zoo.
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There's more than one way to crack an egg. ZSLs vision statement for example is "a world where animals are valued, and their conservation assured". Sure looking at an animal in an enclosure is fine, but it doesn't really fulfill the vision. However, a short 3d film about the plight of the animal in the wild, followed by an interactive display of their abilities would do the job much better. Look at the POV video of empire of the penguins on YouTube and tell me that doesn't make a fairly common species absolutely amazing.
I can't link because I'm on my phone but searching will bring it up.

Edit - can link now cause I'm not on my phone
Empire of the penguins POV
 
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I would like more zoos to follow the example of Plzen Zoo, which has a large collection of mammals, bids, reptiles and amphibians. There is a 'dinosaur park' alongside. The zoo has a collection of ABC animals for people who think that they should see certain species in whichever zoo they visit, but there is also a large collection of XYZ animals for people like me, who can get a bit bored of the XYZ animals. Prague Zoo also has a nice collection. On my last visit, it had the most interesting giraffe I've ever seen - a Rothschild's giraffe with blackish-brown markings on a white background. There were also large signposts pointing to the gharial exhibit, rather than an ABC species. The two zoos in Berlin also have large collections, but I feel they would benefit by not having the same species at both zoos, so that more visitors would be encouraged to see both collections, rather than just one. I also agree with Devil about films and other interactive displays, so visitors can find out about the animals, even if the animals are off show. On my first visit to Stuttgart Zoo, the kiwi enclosure had a CCTV camera In the indoor enclosure, so visitors could still see the kiwi. Why don't more zoos do this for species that may ant to be out of the public gaze?
 
mazfc said:
A super zoo is an interesting idea, but I wonder how many families (the bread and butter of zoo income) would actually plan a 2 day zoo visit?
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Not many in my opinion, in fact I would be interested to know what amount of time the average family spends in an average size zoo, I bet there are not many who are there on the dot at opening time, say 10 a.m., and how many cars are left in the car park at closing time?, I wouldn't be surprised if the average family does not spend more than four hours at a zoo.
 
I'd hate a super zoo - I like small places (and at many of them I happily spend the entire period of the opening hours).
 
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