Chester Zoo The Islands development - planning, development and build (2012-2015)

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Swampy said:
No mention of lorikeets at Bali Bird Temple? Strange.
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They are not getting lorikeets, it will be a Bali Starling and Java Sparrow walk-through. Please try to contain your excitement.


I feel let down that the Monsoon House will not be open for member's previews:mad:, and I'm sure the public will not be impressed. It's had enough hype.
 
dcfc21 said:
I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression. I am not having a go at anyone or anything, I was just wondering if the opening schedule had changed again.

As others have said, it's better they get it right than rush it.
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I wasn't having ago at you I was being a little sarky.
 
Have to say I am also really disappointed that the full opening has been put back with such short notice. They must have known for a while that it wasn't going to be ready in time....

I wonder what the issues have been? It has already come in 30% over budget and several months late opening in its entirety. Don't get me wrong - I am a supporter of the zoo and understand that a lot of this is out of their control. They have employed architects and contractors to deliver on the project and they have clearly not been able to do this within the agreed timescales. There are clearly some major snags to iron out ....

The Islands blog states:

"As our opening date gets closer our priority is to ensure that the animals are offered the best possible experience of their new home. We’re undergoing rigorous testing to ensure the safety and comfort of the animals and sequencing any snagging work accordingly.
Now that we have a better idea of our timetable for completion we’ve decided to open Islands in two phases".

I wonder how the contract has been agreed - I'm not an expert in these matters but I hope the contractors have to burden the additional cost of completing the remaining works and not the zoo? The more money being spent on Islands the longer it will take to invest in future projects.

Anyway - nothing anyone can do, and it does mean we have another exciting event to look forward to later in the year. Any bets for how long it will take to get Monsoon Forest and Sumatra ready? Mid August? September?

In other news what does anyone think of the TV ad.....?
 
adrian1963 said:
On the Dyslexia point a ranger/warden who was willing to listen and write down what the people think would be a start.
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Sorry what are you getting at here? People with Dyslexia cannot write? :confused:

I really don't understand the problem with giving a leaflet to people who have dyslexia. (Oh and I know what it is, as I was tested for it).
 
bongorob said:
I feel let down that the Monsoon House will not be open for member's previews:mad:, and I'm sure the public will not be impressed. It's had enough hype.
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I am very disappointed with this and wondering whether it will be worth attending now. I wanted to see the whole thing and get the whole experience first time. Now I have to do it in two trips. :mad:

Very late in the day to announce this....I hope who ever the fault lies with the appropriate action is taken. As no doubt there will be alot of disappointed visitors when they turn up and cannot see it all.
 
taun said:
Very late in the day to announce this....I hope who ever the fault lies with the appropriate action is taken. As no doubt there will be alot of disappointed visitors when they turn up and cannot see it all.
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From a purely public relations perspective it seems a bit disingenuous to have half the TV advert be about tigers and then not have any tigers there for potentially several months after the stated opening date.
 
dcfc21 said:
From a purely public relations perspective it seems a bit disingenuous to have half the TV advert be about tigers and then not have any tigers there for potentially several months after the stated opening date.
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I'd agree if it were a new stand-alone zoo but since you can see the tigers and orangutans back in the main zoo until they move I don't really think the average zoo visitor will really care too much.
 
adrian1963 said:
Right here we go wait for all the members of zoo chat to start having a go about the zoo and not opening the islands project fully in July like promised for sometime now oh wait I forgot this isn't Twycross or South Lakes for instance.
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dcfc21 said:
I'm sorry if I've given you the wrong impression. I am not having a go at anyone or anything, I was just wondering if the opening schedule had changed again.

As others have said, it's better they get it right than rush it.
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I think you'll find adrian1963 is lamenting the fact that people won't be having a go at the zoo, not complaining that they are!
 
taun said:
Sorry what are you getting at here? People with Dyslexia cannot write? :confused:

I really don't understand the problem with giving a leaflet to people who have dyslexia. (Oh and I know what it is, as I was tested for it).
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I'm wondering if he is confusing Dyslexia with illiteracy. If not, his post makes no sense.
 
Chlidonias said:
I'm wondering if he is confusing Dyslexia with illiteracy. If not, his post makes no sense.
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Actually this is a good point, the average reading age of the British public is not that high - about "Sun reading age". I once saw a lady by the tapirs, child said "What is it?" she studied the sign for a while and then said "I don't know".

Where I work people recognise that "I've not got my glasses" when forms need to be read and signed can often be a cover for being unable to read.

What about the people who can't read & write, will there be help for them?
 
adrian1963 said:
I hope this helps explain what I was on about with Dyslexia -

About dyslexia | Dyslexia Action
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Its getting a bit random this don't you think Adrain1963?

The zoo cannot afford to have a member of staff on stand by in case some visitor is dyslexic!, and more so, I'm sure those folks with dyslexia just want to enjoy their visit like everyone else does, you know....go zoo, see animals, have fun, go home.
 
OrangePerson said:
I'd agree if it were a new stand-alone zoo but since you can see the tigers and orangutans back in the main zoo until they move I don't really think the average zoo visitor will really care too much.
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That said, I imagine there would be some time lag between the animals moving and the relevant area of Islands opening to the public, so as to give the animals a chance to settle.

As such, there will still be a (possibly significant) length of time where the tigers and orang-utans will not be visible - which may well cause complaints.... especially if the move happens soon.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
That said, I imagine there would be some time lag between the animals moving and the relevant area of Islands opening to the public, so as to give the animals a chance to settle.

As such, there will still be a (possibly significant) length of time where the tigers and orang-utans will not be visible - which may well cause complaints.... especially if the move happens soon.
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I can see that but animals can move to a different institution and still be on-show relatively quickly so not sure how long they'll really need to let them settle for with much less disturbance, very short transfer time, same staff, same geographical location.
 
Ironically, as I look at this thread I get a pop-up advert from the Zoo about "Molly" who is hunting for Sumatran Tigers.

Well she won't find them in Islands!

:-)
 
i noticed today that some of the current enclosures do have signs saying that they have been moved to the Islands
 
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