Jersey priority developments » Durrell (Jersey) Zoo

Jersey priority developments
29-01-2008

I have just been looking at the Durrell website and there are artist's impressions of planned developments at Jersey. The three major animal projects are for gorillas and other African species, for Malagasy and Mascarene species and for reptiles and amphibians; there are also developments in the international training centre and the veterinary centre, a new entrance development plus revenue raising projects for Les Augres Manor and holiday homes. It looks very interesting, but very expensive - estimated cost £47 million over the next 5 years.
If they can do all this, it will put Jersey back near the top of every ZooBeater's list.

Alan

__________________
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

29-01-2008

Sounds exciting and I when I visited, I felt the Gorillas could do with new accomodation (indoor mostly, the outside is fine but I guess a change would be good).

I thought Jersey Zoo was struggling financially? Will they be able to afford the cost of the new developments?

29-01-2008

I'm astounded that they wish to raise and spend over $100 million within the next 5 years. I thought that Jersey Zoo was struggling with finances, and it will be a miracle if they actually come up with the cash. Government grants?

Their website certainly looks impressive, and kudos to the organization for dreaming up the eco-cottages to keep viewers on the island. In fact all of their plans appear to be fantastic...but where on earth is the money going to come from? I'm assuming that they already have some viable economic plans hidden up their sleeve or they wouldn't have come out and declared that they have a 5 year timetable to work with.

29-01-2008

I highly doubt they can afford this unless it comes from funding from outside of the zoo,as i know visitor numbers are down but this is not just at the zoo but in Jersey as a whole,as for 5 years to do that lot very intresting if they pull it off in the timescale they should give lessons to other zoos.Finally i thought they had sold the training school to clear the debts of the zoo!!!!!!!!!!

29-01-2008

Perhaps a wealthy philanthropist has stepped in and donated a wad of cash. The Seattle Zoo had an anonymous individual donate somewhere between $3-6 million to the zoo just over a year ago. They are building a new west entry and a penguin exhibit with the money. Maybe Jersey Zoo has a wealthy donor lined up...

29-01-2008

Jersey Zoo has received generous private donations in the past, and no doubt will again in the future, so maybe. Jersey is a very wealthy island, with massive financial businesses located there. When I was there 10 years ago I was somewhat surprised to find out that the zoo didn't do much to try to access these businesses for financial support. Maybe someone has got their act together and put together a sponsorship package. Another thing to note is that a substantial part of the package is in fact accommodation, in the form of the eco lodges and the manor house. So these would produce new sources of income, hopefully.

29-01-2008

I think Jersey Zoo may have come through an economic 'bottleneck' in the past few years. I believe they recently employed professional fundraisers to try and inject much needed new cash into what had become a struggling organisation. As Jersey is such a wealthy island its not surprising if some of the resident money-burgers have been approached for money and perhaps this is where some of the new funds are coming from.

28-03-2008

The Jersey gorilla exhibit has been planned

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios designs gorilla house – complete with gym

28-03-2008

Looks like they're recreating a bai... hope they do a better job than ZSL originally did!

28-03-2008

Some really imaginative exhibits, wow!

I really hope this Madagascar/Comoros Hall will come off soonish. Jersey Zoo has always been in the forefront and this tropical Hall would bring them right back where the belong. A champion of the lesser fauna and flora and lesser known and under-appreciated species of our natural world.

28-03-2008

Looks really good from the pictures. Like jellle says it will give Jersey to show off some rare animals

28-03-2008

Great news hope this helps put Jersey back where it was

28-03-2008

Sounds great- all they need to do then is replace the male Ya Kwanza with a decent one, and get the group breeding normally....

30-03-2008

Any suggestions which new males would be genetically unrelated and suitable for the current batch of females (lo and behold not use any silverbacks from overrepresented breeding lines like Frankfurts)?

30-03-2008

Is anyone else quite worried about the look of this enclosure?

I do hope it'll be ok, but I can't help but think this could be another exhibit that goes with the trend and does not address the multitude of problems associated with most gorilla enclosures.