Chester Zoo UK Wildlife
- Thread starter LeeMac13
- Start date
Chester are already involved with the conservation of UK species. The sand lizard immediately come to mind.
Natural Vision revolves around an Africa themed domed exhibit. There has been no mention of UK wildlife.
There are plenty of wildlife rescue centers that deal with native species such as badgers and foxes if you want to see them.
Natural Vision revolves around an Africa themed domed exhibit. There has been no mention of UK wildlife.
There are plenty of wildlife rescue centers that deal with native species such as badgers and foxes if you want to see them.
Not entirely true. "Natural Vision" is the name for the zoo's redevlopment and the domed exhibit (Heart of Africa) will only be one part of that
chrisroughley
Member
This is a great idea.I've always thought that British zoos ignore our own wildlife too much. I think people would love to see some of our own wildlife that we rarely see. Apart from a few collections with wildcats, otters and Red sqirrels, exhibits are too rare. Some of our birds would make spectacular exhibits. I'm thinking of Jays and Green woodpeckers and even smallthings like Bullfinches. It would be a suprise to many people just how beautiful they are.
I agree there is some salt to the native species issue debate in the larger European zoos. It really tends to get somewhat overlooked even though we do have quite a few European or Eurasian taxa in need of conservation attention and conservation breeding.
Some regions like the Scandinavian axis Norway/Sweden/Finland, the BRD (Germany for those not familiar with the German language), the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria have been traditionally quite developed on native species programmes.
Apart from the above listed countries, not a lot is actually visibly on display in the larger zoos, both in terms of existing endangered species and those that have been exterminated (restoration ecology aka European beaver, wolverine, European mink, red squirrel, European wolf - I mean pure-bred, European bison, European lynx, water vole, dormouse, ...., quite a few native bird species as our friend in the forum has already mentioned, natterjack toad, sandlizard, adder and smooth snake, slow worm + various salamander sp. and fish and crusteceans + invertebrates). I do agree that even larger zoos have a duty to look at all our native species and make on site efforts vis a vis their in situ conservation activities. The latter as most is done in situ.
Right now, Dartmoor WP and Highland WP come to mind as good examples of larger zoos with native species component. Perhaps, other folks have something to add on that too .... (if so, perhaps we should open a separate thread on this).
Chester Zoo has a conservation garden behind the Islands in Danger exhibit. They are involved in native amphibian and reptile conservation. Not too much on larger UK wildlife (including those that would go under the restoration ecology)
Some regions like the Scandinavian axis Norway/Sweden/Finland, the BRD (Germany for those not familiar with the German language), the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Austria have been traditionally quite developed on native species programmes.
Apart from the above listed countries, not a lot is actually visibly on display in the larger zoos, both in terms of existing endangered species and those that have been exterminated (restoration ecology aka European beaver, wolverine, European mink, red squirrel, European wolf - I mean pure-bred, European bison, European lynx, water vole, dormouse, ...., quite a few native bird species as our friend in the forum has already mentioned, natterjack toad, sandlizard, adder and smooth snake, slow worm + various salamander sp. and fish and crusteceans + invertebrates). I do agree that even larger zoos have a duty to look at all our native species and make on site efforts vis a vis their in situ conservation activities. The latter as most is done in situ.
Right now, Dartmoor WP and Highland WP come to mind as good examples of larger zoos with native species component. Perhaps, other folks have something to add on that too .... (if so, perhaps we should open a separate thread on this).
Chester Zoo has a conservation garden behind the Islands in Danger exhibit. They are involved in native amphibian and reptile conservation. Not too much on larger UK wildlife (including those that would go under the restoration ecology)
The worst thing about displays of native fauna is that much of it- the mammals anyway- is nocturnal so they do not show well in captivity. Even the more diurnal species seem to be very shy too. So compared to exotic animals nearby they aren't going to elicit much interest in visitors, particularly when they can't be seen.
A nocturnal UK mammal display on the other hand could be very interesting though if it was done properly.
A nocturnal UK mammal display on the other hand could be very interesting though if it was done properly.
I've always wondered why they do not have an exhibit for harvest mice, as it would underline the good local work the zoo is doing and I'm sure it would be popular. The sand lizard enclosure is excellent although many people pass it by as the lizards are hibernating half the year and not easy to see, but I think there wouldn't be such a problem with harvest mice.
I think you would find Harvest Mice would be as bad as the Sand Lizards, or even worse, so not worth a public display. If, as in captivity, they are well fed, it cuts down their activity time (which in the wild is mostly spent foraging) so they just spend the time sleeping instead.
I don't remember that but a 'British mammals' nocturnal house would have definite potential, I think.
LeeMac13
Well-Known Member
I definetly agree with that. What species do you think they would have there? Possible layouts etc?
Nocturnal is only part of the issue: aka some rodents, badgers et al.
Others are different:
Diurnal: Scottish red deer (or Buchara deer as these Eurasians are well endangered), roe deer et cetera.
Crepuscular: European beaver, red fox, lynx, European wolves and watervoles.
Plus loads of others.
The Chester Zoo sand lizard pit is presently in a place that - indeed - gets overlooked by the general public. Well lizards being reptiles need the sun out and about, so on cloudy days no activity and little educational exhibit value. Perhaps - as the land is there - an European area can be built.
Others are different:
Diurnal: Scottish red deer (or Buchara deer as these Eurasians are well endangered), roe deer et cetera.
Crepuscular: European beaver, red fox, lynx, European wolves and watervoles.
Plus loads of others.
The Chester Zoo sand lizard pit is presently in a place that - indeed - gets overlooked by the general public. Well lizards being reptiles need the sun out and about, so on cloudy days no activity and little educational exhibit value. Perhaps - as the land is there - an European area can be built.
Chester and many British zoos exhibit more native species than we are giving them credit for. For some reason, no-one has mentioned owls or waterfowl, where native species are not uncommon in British zoos.
Chester has the following species of native birds (although some of them are quite rare).
I would love to see a really good harvest mouse exhibit - the best I have ever seen was several years ago in an aquarium tank in the giftshop/entrance building of the Chestnut Centre. They could be housed next to water voles - which are also reasonably active during the day.
Chester did keep red squirrels many years ago and they certainly could make an excellent display - so could polecats, pine martens and European otters (although they probably don't need captive breeding at the moment). I can't see any need for them to keep deer or seals and I think that a native nocturnal house is an interesting idea, but it might be difficult to realise.
Alan
Chester has the following species of native birds (although some of them are quite rare).
- lesser whitefront
- common eider
- garganey
- tufted duck
- spoonbill
- little egret
- lapwing
- barn owl
- chough
I would love to see a really good harvest mouse exhibit - the best I have ever seen was several years ago in an aquarium tank in the giftshop/entrance building of the Chestnut Centre. They could be housed next to water voles - which are also reasonably active during the day.
Chester did keep red squirrels many years ago and they certainly could make an excellent display - so could polecats, pine martens and European otters (although they probably don't need captive breeding at the moment). I can't see any need for them to keep deer or seals and I think that a native nocturnal house is an interesting idea, but it might be difficult to realise.
Alan
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Chester doesn`t keep Barn Owl now the last 1 left the collection about 2 months ago.
Still there, and still rather a nice exhibit. Eurasian Harvest Mice are pretty showy things - make a good exhibit species as far as I can see.
Also, and hopefully I remember rightly, I think I can add:
- Rock Dove
- Smew
- Red-crested Pochard?
- Stone Curlew
I would've guessed some of the problems with native species would be sourcing the animals, a lot of them would need to be found from rescue centres (I don't think wild caught would be a realistic option for many) if not available from zoos in Germany, Scandanavia etc.
There are species I'm sure could benefit from a captive population been set-up though, especially since the release of captive born individuals to boost or build wild populations would be possible and practical. I.E. Red squirrels re-released in areas where they have been lost, release of Great Bustard, Corncrake (as at Whipsnade), Cirl Bunting (as at Paignton I believe), Stone Curlew, and several possible raptor candidates (similar to the red kites).
Some British native species do make good displays - polecats, red squirrels, otters. I would also include harvest mice in this category. Unusually for a small rodent they are very active when on public display. I would also point out that harvest mice would probably get 'lost' in such a large collection as Chester. For most people they are 'mice', admittedly pretty cute mice.
Some native species make terrible displays - sand lizards, adders, dormice, shrews, moles, roe deer, beavers. Let me define the use of 'terrible' in the constraints of zoo management spending money on a public display that doesn't result in high public viewing time. It can be a variety of reasons - seasonal activity (dormice, sand lizards), difficult visibilty (underwater - beavers, underground - moles), well camouflaged (sand lizards, shrews), difficult husbandry (roe deer, moles), short lifespan (shrews, dormice)... It is a real pity that some of the most interesting and rarely-seen species in this country are very difficult to keep. While I concur with other comments that to display many small native species in a nocturnal display would be a step in the right direction, I would suggest that there is a host of other issues that come into play.
I'm not sure I'd describe Red squirrels as good subjects for a captive display. I've seen them at Banham and somewhere else(?) too. They were frequently(but not always) invisible and I think even in a good enclosure they often show stereotyped behaviour.
Reds aren't the best squirrel species in captivity with stereos and some difficulty in raising offspring to maturity being problems. However some zoos, Banham and Paradise Park (Hayle) do very well. The best displays in a zoo was at Jersey and Highland where they run freely.