National Wildlife Conservation Park » Bristol Zoo

10-10-2008

what about edinburgh pertinax?

11-10-2008

What about them?

London Zoo is considered as the UK's "national" zoo because it is the capital of the whole of the UK.

11-10-2008

well isnt edinburgh the capital of scotland, unless im mistaken

11-10-2008

yes, but for the time being, Scotland is still classified as UK, of which London is the capital.

London: England & UK
Edinburgh: Scotland
Cardiff: Wales
Belfast: N. Ireland

11-10-2008

so i would call edinburgh zoo national too

11-10-2008

...No, not really. London is the overall capital of the UK as well as England, so first dibs go to ZSL.

11-10-2008

in that case wouldn't belfast zoo be a 'national zoo as well?

11-10-2008

edinburgh pertinax?


Is this the name of the Zoo?

I would agree the main zoo or aquarium located in the capital of a country should be the National zoo of that country. If there is going to be a National Zoo.

11-10-2008

I feel we all put way too much emphasis on the wording national. What about conservation or wildlife park on its own merit?

Besides this, I would like to see more discussion on how the NCWP near Bristol will be allocated the funding required to actually build in the park. It is a challenge, but a welcome one to me.

I feel that some urban zoos in a historical setting benefit well from stretching out their animal collection over 2 different locations, one of them being in a countryside setting. It relieves pressure on the urban site to develop the grounds for every major species in it and promotes diversification and differentiation of exhibitry and species assemblages.

Whereas most people do want to see mega vertebrates whenever they visit a zoo, people will not notice that some of those are not in their city location but in the countryside zoo. What you will see over time with good PR and marketing is that urban zoo visitors start visiting both regularly.

It is my sincere hope this will happen to the Bristol urban Zoo and the NCWP over the long term. Great examples these days are London+Whipsnade and Edinburgh+HWP. These are complimentary collections and zoo management policy is to give both equal coverage and assists both to grow their inroads into society be it on recreation, education or conservation issues. It simply amalgamates all the important work both zoos are doing and gives it extra drive and direction. Think of the Edge 100 in London+Whipsnade at ZSL.
(Oh, lest I forget the zoo should be directed by a Society rather than a zoo management board generally).

Any of you guys or girls have any valuable thoughts on that?

12-10-2008

News of the NWCP planning application is being reported in the architectural press. If planning is approved, construction is expected to begin in March 2010 with completion in 2012 - I assume that completion date applies only to the first phase.

Of more interest to the folks on this forum will be the architect's impressions of what some of the exhibits will look like. There are three architects involved in the planning application: Kay Elliott Architects, Quattro Design and White Design.

Kay Elliott architects have designed three exhibits: a transparent dome housing a Costa Rican mangrove swamp, an Indian Oceans exhibit which will apparently feature a bat and mongoose lemur walkthrough and a couple of aquatic displays and an open-air amphitheatre:

Kay Elliott Architects - NWCP

Quattro Design show an impression of what looks like a public walkway covered with a fabric canopy roof:

Quattro Design - Architects

White Design are doing the landscape architecture, but their website features an interesting image of an exhibit for primates:

White Design - Landscape

12-10-2008

White Designs, ideas look really interesting. Ok its not nothing massively new in terms of how the enclosures would work, but it has a feel that the whole area would be like working thru the enclosures themselves.

12-10-2008

Thanks for the links chris, the primate facility looks to be the proposed bonobo enclosure, the house looks fantastic.
The times economically speaking are very tough at the moment, and i really hope the authorities at Bristol can raise the vast amounts required to build this new park, it will be a very welcome addition to the British zoo scene.

12-10-2008

Regarding the "national" issue, i have a feeling that national has been tagged on to the parks name to give the project some gravitas, and a feel of attracting big investment from major players wanting to be involved in such a prestigious project.
National = no big deal!

12-10-2008

And to follow up some of the points in jelle's post above:

- The debate over use of the word "National" in the title is pretty incidental. It is a marketing term, which I'm sure Bristol Zoo are using as a means of attracting funding, and it's also not necessarily going to be the final name of the NWCP. Using "National" in your title doesn't automatically guarantee you're the best in the country either - the National Sea Life Centre being a case in point.

- Bristol have a very restricted city centre site (at 12 acres, it's one of the smallest zoos in the country) which places a severe restriction on large enclosures expected by the modern zoo-going public. So it's a natural solution for them to open a "sister" zoo in the same way as ZSL and RZSS, especially as they already own the land to do so.

- This will be the first zoo in the UK to be holistically designed from start up for a long time, so it's a golden opportunity to apply modern standards of visitor and staff facilities, exhibit design, animal welfare and sustainability - it's being billed as the first "green" zoo.

- As far as funding goes, there have been no major announcements so far so it's pure speculation as to how close to the £70m target they are. I really, really hope this project goes ahead because on paper it does look very good.

12-10-2008

Great minds think alike