Bristol Zoo Project Wild Place Project News 2019

Daubentoniidae said:
How likely are the different geographic plans going to happen especially the Sumatran rainforest which (though tigers are more likely) would be great if they got rhinos which I know is pretty unlikely but the Nepal grassland sounds more promising for Indian rhinos. Also is there any news or possibility that Manatees would feature in any of the plans?
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It's possible that the geographical plans are still in place - looking at the planned map of NWCP compared to the current Wild Place map, I think they have a lot of space to work with - the Bear Wood display I think is where the original plans put 'British Ancient Woodland'. The 'Nepal Grasslands', 'China Montane Forest' and 'Tanzania Savannah' are well outside the current part of the park on the original plans, with the remaining sections seemingly all centred around the current park.

If my understanding of the map is correct, the cheetah enclosure is current sitting where the 'Indian Ocean Coral Reef' would be, the Madagascar section is where the 'Costa Rica Swamp House' would go, the Webb's Brake wetland area is where 'Georgia Wetlands' would be situated, the current savannah and okapi exhibits are the site of the 'Congo Tropical Forest', the 'Sumatra Rainforest' would be between the current savannah/okapi sections and the Tower Meadow and the gelada exhibit would be the site of 'British Habitats'.

The original species plans for the 'Sumatra Rainforest' mammal-wise were orangutans, lar gibbons, Sumatran tigers, Asian small-clawed otters and Malayan tapirs. The 'Nepal Grasslands' would also have tigers (listed on the plans as Bengal) along with dhole, sloth bear, Indian rhinoceros, barasingha, axis deer, hog deer, banteng and grey langurs.

Not heard any official news about manatees since the initial NWCP plans were announced but then I haven't heard anything official about them being shelved either - probably best to just wait and see.

In case anyone is interested, here is a photographic copy of the original plans of the NWCP:
https://www.zoochat.com/community/media/hollywood-towers.3721/full

Here is the current map of the park:
Plan your visit - Wildplace
 
The October 2019 issue of BBC Wildlife magazine arrived on my doorstep today, which includes an article about the Bear Wood exhibit.

For the most part, the article is about the exhibit design, including the process of mixing the bears and wolves, as well as looking at how studies are being done on the impacts of the large carnivores on the pre-existing woodland flora and fauna. There is also an interesting little box of information about the history of the site - it was bought by Bristol Zoo in 1966 from the founder of the Bristol Aeroplane Company who wanted a zoo built on the site rather than developed and it also housed vulnerable animals during the 2001 foot-and-mouth outbreak. Some information I hadn't seen before includes:

- There are plans to breed the wolverines (the female, named Alice, came from a zoo in Siberia) and they have also received a breeding recommendation for the Eurasian lynx.
- While it was probably common knowledge, there was also confirmation that there won't be any attempt to recreate a nocturnal house or reptile house at Wild Place, as Bristol Zoo are doing that so well.
 
I was there recently and the bears were being kept in a small enclosure for the afternoon, right next to another small enclosure where the Wolves were being kept, so they could see and get used to each other. It was quite interesting to see how timid the Wolves were of 1 Bear close to the fence. they certainly didn’t look like they would like to be in the same enclosure just yet.

I was told they hope to mix the Wolves and Bears in the next 8 weeks, all being well.

I’m also eager to know what their plans for the old Wolf enclosure are. Does anyone here have any inside knowledge?
 
I went to Wild Place last week and I have to say I'm really impressed with bear wood.
Managed to see all the targeted species and had good views of them all too.
Bears and wolves still not mixed, but the wolves seem a whole lot more relaxed in the new enclosure and were actually sleeping right by the fence, a stark behavioural contrast to the previous exhibit.
 
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