new exhibits in British zoos

Chris79 said:
Yes, compared to the situation 15 or 20 years ago zoos are enjoying a very succesful period. To think that London almost closed down in the early 1990s, and now look at how much money it's spending!

I was over there at that time and the Britsh goverment gave LZS 10 millon pounds to help up grade the zoo, as it turned out the top brass were reported to have wasted most of it, as some of the reports at the time said a lot of the money went on flash cars for the brass at the time and other top level spendings with little for exhibits.
;)
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I can believe that those funds must have been misappropriated, at least to a degree. That injection of funds certainly wasn't reflected at the time in developments at the zoo itself. There was very little new building work at LOndon Zoo between the time when it nearly closed, and the current surge of developments. The 'Web of Life' was the only main construction during that period. Even now, the 'new' developments seem to be 'renovations' of existing enclosures. The Cotton Terraces with their new viewing windows etc (which are a big improvement) are an example.

Even 'Gorilla Kingdom' if you look at it analytically, is only really a redevelopment of the Ape Block of the Sobell Pavilions, much of which still exists as a hidden part of the whole display. Only the Gorilla part is brand new- and the largest part of that is really a large open field and a water moat!
 
Certainly back then there was little concept of fundraising or commercial managers being required, or of enough revenue being generated to fund overseas projects. The zoo was viewed by the government more as a liability than an asset, whereas now it really is self-sustaining and attracts income in many creative ways.

The 'web of life' only happened due to lottery funding, and certainly most of the larger exhibits over the last decade have been made possible only by large private donations. But the detail has gradually improved around the whole site, even old enclosures have been made to look stunning, and more appropriate residents found for some of the more unforgiving exhibits. The innovation which has gone into say, the new okapi paddock or the hunting dogs enclosure is, to me, far more satisfying than if they had bulldozed the area at great cost to house similar species.
 
Hadley said:
The innovation which has gone into say, the new okapi paddock or the hunting dogs enclosure is, to me, far more satisfying than if they had bulldozed the area at great cost to house similar species.
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Yes, it proves you don't need to start from scratch to build really good exhibits. I am sure they could update the Lion enclosure similarly- infill the watermoat for added area, put up a glass viewing window and plant the new flat area with 'naturalistic' sand and scrub. easypeasy...
 
Does anyone know if Banham zoo have opened their planned giraffe house yet?
 
In a way it's not the best period in time to be starting expensive zoo 'masterplans' because the economy is going into rocky waters. This year and maybe next year could be quite tricky so I wouldn't be surprised if big multi-million pound projects are postponed over the next 12 months... perhaps by several years, if not indefinitely. Certainly people are starting to feel a squeeze on disposable income and I think it will get worse before it gets better.
But don't let all this get you down:).
 
Good point, Tempest.

Look at Chester, in the last two years there has been two multi-million projects (Realm of the Red Ape and the new elephant house). This year they are building a cheetah paddock, a bridge and a butterfly house...
 
Yep. Chester's got a very good record of redevelopment, but there's only so much money available and the 'boom time' in the economy is over.
Chester may already have secured the money needed for more immediate projects, but increasing costs of fuel and food won't help.
 
Thats great news Jimmy, Hope someone can post a few pics of this new exhibit soon
 
I don't know if this has been posted before, but here is an update on Whipsnade's Cheetah exhibit...


"Whipsnade's lone cheetah Tosca will soon have some feline friends to play with when a brand new breeding facility opens at the zoo.

The three-year-old Southern African cheetah is to be joined by three new additions to the clan, with more expected later this year.

Work on the £1 million-plus project is still going on, but chiefs at the zoo are hopeful that it will kick-start a new rearing programme."
 
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Forget about the new exhibit for a minute- I find it remarkable that Whipsnade are down to a single Cheetah at present- having been in the forefront of breeding in the past. I wonder how that happened? Still, the new enclosure will see that change and hopefully renewed breeding as well- as long as they don't mind the lions....;)
 
CZJimmy said:
Rhinos of Nepal Exhibit - Rhinos of Nepal - Exhibits - ZSL Whipsnade Zoo - ZSL

Rhinos of Nepal is now open at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo...
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Its a pity there's no plan of the indoor accomodation... perhaps the first forum member to visit can take some pix of the indoor areas and post them.

This is really picky..:rolleyes: but 'rhinos of Nepal' isn't completely accurate as the 2 calves are a mix of Assamese x Nepalese origins and the old cow (if she's in there) is not from Nepalese stock either. okay,I'll admit 'Rhinos of Nepal and Assam' wouldn't have quite the same ring ;)
 
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Other major exhibits planned include a new aquarium at chester, a new tropical house at belfast, an orang utan exhibit with se asian animals at colchester, new giraffe houses at banham and cotswold wp, there also plans for a gorilla exhibit at marwell

Does anyone have any updates on any of these other projects?
 
I've heard on these forums that Chester's new aquarium has been postponed for the time-being for whatever reason...
 
kiang said:
Other major exhibits an orang utan exhibit with se asian animals at colchester- there also plans for a gorilla exhibit at marwell
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The Colchester Orangutan exhibit is due to open this summer I think- its been featured on their website for a long while now as 'coming soon' and I guess it must be nearing completion (if on target..)

Any news about the timeframe on Marwell's proposed Gorilla exhibit would be welcome.
 
I'd also be interested to know what Dudley are upto, since I've seen a few photos of the current ape facilities in the gallery, and can understand why everyones saying its in need of a change.
 
^Chris^ said:
I'd also be interested to know what Dudley are upto, since I've seen a few photos of the current ape facilities in the gallery, and can understand why everyones saying its in need of a change.
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There's been little or no news since last spring, unfortunately. The developer, St Modwen, released this statement in March 07 which seemed to suggest that after 6 years in "planning hell" it was finally all systems go, subject to the contract between the zoo and the developer being settled. Since then, nothing. (Work on site was supposed to start late last year).

St. Modwen Properties plc. News & Media

What could have held it up? Well, the perennial problem of money could be to blame - maybe the turning market has put some of the funding in jeopardy? Lack of interest in the commercial properties? Another possibility is that now the Castle Hill site is part of a much wider masterplan for the regeneration of Dudley town centre, it could have been dragged back into the planning process with a number of new conditions. Nothing of this nature has been reported, however, so I should clarify that it's pure speculation on my part ;) and if anybody knows more, I'd be interested to hear it.

There are a few nuggets in that article though. The zoo will be split into three zones: tropical, Asiatic forest and European/polar. There will be new aquatic facilities and new exhibits for orangs and big cats.
 
Pertinax said:
Forget about the new exhibit for a minute- I find it remarkable that Whipsnade are down to a single Cheetah at present- having been in the forefront of breeding in the past. I wonder how that happened? Still, the new enclosure will see that change and hopefully renewed breeding as well- as long as they don't mind the lions....;)
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You of course may find that remarkable. The fact is that Whipsnade was too good for its own sake in breeding cheetah, inadequate facilities+other housing priorities and old age simply did the rest. The EEP has been trying to desperately increase founder representation in the under-represented cheetahs of southern African descent.

The timing of regrouping the cheetah breeding programme is both ominous and significant. Just now, new cheetah breeding lines have become available for the southern African cheetah, whereas a new subspecies - the northeast African soemmerringii - is showing huge growth potential (and also points to the fact that genetic variability in cheetah is far greater than previously thought).

Regarding the genetics, I sure find it interesting to learn more in future on the north African race hecki in the Sahara desert (Algeria, Egypt, Niger) and the Asian race venaticus (Iran).
 
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