Chester Zoo Islands - Opening and impressions

[zoogiraffe]

Does anyone know what new species are going to be in the Islands or in the enclosures vacated by the species moving to the islands?

Mammal wise only a Gibbon species will arrive new for Islands,all the rest of the mammal species are already in the zoo,as for back fill most of it has been,mentioned else where in Chester threads but some of it could take some time to happen!As for Birds your guess is as good as mine as to if any new species arrive.Reptiles,Amphibians,Fish and Inverts more than a few have arrived in fact I think very few will have been seen at Chester before.

 

[kiang]

Will Islands in danger be kept as it is?, does it have a future as the original islands exhibit in the zoo?

 

[gentle lemur]

Will Islands in danger be kept as it is?, does it have a future as the original islands exhibit in the zoo?

It's now Dragons in Danger, so the Komodo dragons will stay - at least until the Phase 3 of Islands is built (it used to be Phase 2, but I presume it will still go ahead eventually). The chevrotains, brown tortoises and most of the birds (Tarictic hornbills, argus pheasants, bleeding heart and pheasant pigeons) could go into the Monsoon Forest, but I would be surprised if they all do.

Alan

 

[ChesterZooFan]

It's now Dragons in Danger, so the Komodo dragons will stay - at least until the Phase 3 of Islands is built (it used to be Phase 2, but I presume it will still go ahead eventually). The chevrotains, brown tortoises and most of the birds (Tarictic hornbills, argus pheasants, bleeding heart and pheasant pigeons) could go into the Monsoon Forest, but I would be surprised if they all do.

Alan

The long term plan would be to move the komodos et el to Islands based upon the zoos masterplan. I've always thought they would then turn this into a Carribbean or eastern Pacific island exhibit (Galapagos tortoises would work well)??

However it may not even survive the future plans. Tropical Realm is likely to be raised to the ground in future years, and there are very few other buildings that are guaranteed to stay if they need to make way for new exhibits.

 

[kiang]

However it may not even survive the future plans. Tropical Realm is likely to be raised to the ground in future years, and there are very few other buildings that are guaranteed to stay if they need to make way for new exhibits.

I would have thought, besides the tropical realm and perhaps the cattle house, the original zoo would be kept intact as a flavour of how the zoo was and zoos in general were, whereas the west zoo and all the available land for redevelopment as part of "Superzoo" (if it is infact still an extant plan?)

I will be visiting in the next few months to see this original section of the zoo and i would hope the powers that be, perhaps respect the history of the zoo and what was the zoo in this area and not flatten it all for one all encompassing mega exhibit.

 

[gentle lemur]

I would have thought, besides the tropical realm and perhaps the cattle house, the original zoo would be kept intact as a flavour of how the zoo was and zoos in general were, whereas the west zoo and all the available land for redevelopment as part of "Superzoo" (if it is infact still an extant plan?)

I will be visiting in the next few months to see this original section of the zoo and i would hope the powers that be, perhaps respect the history of the zoo and what was the zoo in this area and not flatten it all for one all encompassing mega exhibit.

I can't imagine Chester preserving exhibits for historical reasons: that would be entirely at odds with the zoo's traditional policy. The motto "Always Building" may not be used any more, but in recent years there has been a lot of rebuilding or remodelling to update older exhibits as well as building new ones. In the next year or two, work will need to be done on the tiger enclosure and the other exhibits emptied by moving animals to Islands.
On the other hand, I think you are right in preferring piecemeal development rather than another mega exhibit. The smaller changes following from the development of Islands will take some time; more grandiose plans can wait.

Alan

 

[karoocheetah]

Monsoon Forest Opening 19th Aug 2015

Members email just recieved:

We're delighted to announce that Monsoon Forest, the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK will open on Wednesday 19 August.

Find out more about what you'll discover inside Monsoon Forest and our plans to reveal more in the next few weeks, by reading our latest blog.
We hope that you'll be able to visit Monsoon Forest very soon...

 

[kiang]

Members email just recieved:

We're delighted to announce that Monsoon Forest, the largest indoor zoo exhibit in the UK will open on Wednesday 19 August.

Find out more about what you'll discover inside Monsoon Forest and our plans to reveal more in the next few weeks, by reading our latest blog.
We hope that you'll be able to visit Monsoon Forest very soon...

Does that date catch the remainder of the English school holidays?

 

[karoocheetah]

Does that date catch the remainder of the English school holidays?

yes - the majority seem to return to school in the first week in september

 

[Maguari]

More info on Monsoon Forest opening: Update: Monsoon Forest opens | Islands news

In terms of animals, it has the following to say:

Already resident in Monsoon Forest are our rhinoceros hornbill, giant Asian pond turtle, Asian giant tortoise and of course our extraordinary new species the Sunda gharial crocodiles.

The macaques will be making their debut on Islands, initially inside Monsoon Forest but we’re expecting them to explore their outside space very soon too.

Also in Monsoon Forest you’ll be able to visit the Tripa Forest Research Station where you can get close to some of our smaller species including the Malaysian katydid and the Asian forest scorpions.

The final part of the Islands development will see the babirusas, Sumatran orangutans and Sumatran tigers move to their new homes. We'll let you know as soon as we have a timetable for the moves but in the meantime each species are in their current home in the main zoo.

As with the rest of Islands, we’re expecting Monsoon Forest to evolve and grow in the coming months with new species of fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds being added so keep an eye on our website or sign up to our email newsletter for updates.

The path through Bali is also opening so the Bali Starlings and Java Sparrows will be 'properly' on show now too.

 

[Pootle]

I went for the first Islands trip last week and it's looking good, personally I am looking forwards to see it develop into the finished exhibit over time. I'd rather as a member see it this way and watch it develop than walk into the finished article.

 

[prawnie1975]

Also got my email this morning , we will be going again on Sunday to see the Monsoon Forest , being going on a weekly basis as it it and you can see the differences in different areas around the Islands ... you just have to look

 

[ChesterZooFan]

Wow didn't see this one coming! Cant wait to see it ASAP - looks stunning

 

[prawnie1975]

i was told a few weeks ago that this was nearly finished and should be open in a few weeks... they got that right... will see if the rest is done within a few weeks as i was told that was a week behind the monsoon forest

 

[Panthera1981]

The thing that puzzles me is why move the Sumatran orangs over when they've only "recently" developed Realm of the Red Ape? Obviously there's the Sumatra connection but was the building found not up to standard?

 

[Maguari]

The thing that puzzles me is why move the Sumatran orangs over when they've only "recently" developed Realm of the Red Ape? Obviously there's the Sumatra connection but was the building found not up to standard?

They're there because they fit Sumatra - the zoo has indicated that unless the exhibit is part of a masterplan/SuperZoo development then recentness of build is not necessarily considered if a species 'fits' well; in any case, Realm of the Red Ape was opened in 2007, so is eight years old now*, and will remain in use housing the Borneans.



*Mottershead had a famous line about not designing zoo exhibits to last more than 10 years as they will undoubtedly be out of date by then!

 

[ChesterZooFan]

The thing that puzzles me is why move the Sumatran orangs over when they've only "recently" developed Realm of the Red Ape? Obviously there's the Sumatra connection but was the building found not up to standard?

The borneans will stay in the old building, so it is not sub-standard.

 

[Indlovu]

The thing that puzzles me is why move the Sumatran orangs over when they've only "recently" developed Realm of the Red Ape? Obviously there's the Sumatra connection but was the building found not up to standard?

What must also be remembered was that Realm of the Red Ape too was meant to be a 'phased' project, although this is yet to materialise. As has been pointed out, Bornean Orangutans are still using the old orang house as their indoor quarters and it was this which was not deemed 'up to standard'. So moving Sumatrans into Islands allows Borneans to have an improved facility.

 

[Pertinax]

The old house is pretty antiquated now and will no doubt be scrapped in due course. I think Motty's idea of a ten year lifespan for buildings was a good one, even if rarely feasible in reality.

 

[taun]

The old house is pretty antiquated now and will no doubt be scrapped in due course. I think Motty's idea of a ten year lifespan for buildings was a good one, even if rarely feasible in reality.

Good idea if your made of money, I doubt Islands will be scrapped in 10 years.....