new exhibits in British zoos

31-08-2007

I found this lovely link to an oragami site:

http://www.origami.gr.jp/~komatsu/etc/shelves/ibis.html

05-09-2007

zurich have also bred these birds in their masaola hall

05-09-2007

i did mean the madagascan crested ibis

13-09-2007

Back to the new exhibits...

The regeneration of the Dudley Zoo and Castle site is finally scheduled to begin later this year. The total cost of the redevelopment is £38.7 million, with £10 million of that being spent on the zoo. The funding will come in part through a commercial development on the south east corner of the zoo site, so the animals in this area will have to be relocated. A new dinosaur/paleontology attraction called Origins will also form part of the project. New or redeveloped exhibits planned for the zoo include a 20m high rainforest dome, a nocturnal house, orang-utan enclosure and tiger and lion enclosures. The nine listed Lubetkin structures are being retained and incorporated into the masterplan, which was granted outline planning permission in 2005.

On another note, does anyone know the status of Paignton Zoo's long-planned rainforest exhibit? See Zoos - Kay Elliott Architects. It was originally submitted to the planners in 1998, but then one of the major investors (BP) pulled out and the project was put on hold. A year later Paignton set up a new company to try and raise more money (by which time the budget had been revised upwards to £12 million). The fundraising company was disbanded in 2004 and all has gone quiet. Were they simply being too ambitious?

13-09-2007

I was beginging to wonder what was happening with Dudleys masterplan. The Paignton building does look rather ambitious bur yet looks brilliant.

18-09-2007

More news on new exhibits:

Newquay
Originally announced in 2004, Newquay Zoo are planning to create a new exhibit with a savannah theme on a 3-acre field next to the existing site. It will comprise a mixture of indoor and outdoor enclosures, a restaurant and education centre. The plans were drawn up by David Sheppard architects DSA-Newquay Zoo. No news since 2004, so I suspect that there may be funding difficulties.

Chessington
Something we probably all know about but which hasn't been mentioned before in this topic is the planned redevelopment at Chessington, which will involve relocating the gorillas and big cats and moving the other animal exhibits to a currently empty part of the site.

Edinburgh
Following Budongo and Rainbow Landings, future projects in the zoo's masterplan include a new enclosure for its Indian rhino (next to Rainbow Landings) and a new entrance plaza to the north of the car park.

Twycross
Following this year's redevelopment of its waterfowl displays and the construction of the Bornean long house free flight aviary, Twycross will next embark on plans to redevelop its main entrance (at last). The plans include more primate enclosures and a 'night exhibit', whatever that may be!

UK Wildlife Attractions - Capital Projects ranked by value
18-09-2007

1. Nirah (National Institute for Research into Aquatic Habitats)
A new aquarium planned in Bedfordshire on the site of an old brickworks, designed by Nicholas Grimshaw architects. The aquarium will focus mainly on freshwater species in a series of biomes. The project has run into financial difficulties as costs have spiralled and has attracted controversy for the amount of public money that has been spent trying to get it off the ground. Total budget = £375m (unconfirmed figure)

2. Chester Superzoo
The Superzoo plans will see the zoo treble in size, re-organise itself into themed areas by habitat type and incorporate a safari-style attraction. Projects completed so far include Elephants of the Asian Forest and Realm of the Red Ape. A new aquarium called 'Origins' is the next major project on the cards. Total budget = £300m.

3. Biota!
Designed by Terry Farrell architects and operated by ZSL, this new aquarium forms part of the Silvertown Quays development in East London and is scheduled for completion in 2009. Farrell is also responsible for London Zoo's masterplan which was begun in 2002, although no budget has been disclosed. Budget for Biota = £85m.

4. Edinburgh Zoo Masterplan
Currently underway with the construction of the Budongo chimpanzee exhibit and soon to be opened Rainbow Landings lorikeet aviary, the Edinburgh zoo masterplan will see the zoo transformed with exhibits arranged into 4 habitat zones. Total budget = £58m.

5. National Wildlife Conservation Park
Bristol Zoo are currently fundraising for their proposed second site on the Hollywood Estate at Cribbs Causeway. Planning permission was granted for a zoo in the 1960s, the current plans have been broadly accepted but there are concerns over traffic impact in the local area. The project suffered a setback in 2006 when a bid for £25m of lottery funding was turned down, but the first phase is still scheduled to open in 2011. Total budget = £50m.

6. Chessington World of Adventures Redevelopment
Chessington is aiming to reserve years of declining visitor numbers with ambitious plans to redevelop the site. Plans include a new 'Safari Lodge' hotel, new services buildings, staff accommodation and parking improvements as well as a series of improvements to the animal attractions. The Trail of the Kings (big cat and gorilla enclosures) will be relocated and a new safari trail featuring indoor and outdoor enclosures will be built on a 22-acre field to the south of the site. Plans attracted controversy for expansion on green belt land but were eventually approved in 2005. The hotel is due to open this year and the safari trail in 2009. Total budget = £50m (this covers all new developments, not just the animal attractions)

7. Dudley Zoo Masterplan
A long-gestating project to regenerate the zoo and castle site was granted planning permission in 2005. Plans include new commercial developments and a new visitor attraction on a paleotological theme as well as a "mini-Eden Project" style tropical house and a new orang-utan enclosure. Expected to start on site later this year. Total budget = £39m (this covers all new developments, not just the animal attractions)

Other major projects include the Paignton Zoo 10-year masterplan (budget undisclosed) and the major redevelopment of the Highland Wildlife Park (budget £7-10m, depending on which source you read). Marwell are about to embark on a new masterplan too. Seems like masterplans are very much in vogue!

21-09-2007

jesus christ, it seems every single major uk zoo has a masterplan at the moment.

21-09-2007

Yes, compared to the situation 15 or 20 years ago zoos are enjoying a very succesful period. To think that London almost closed down in the early 1990s, and now look at how much money it's spending!

Why the sudden turnaround? I guess that TV exposure helps and a lot of zoos have their own behind-the-scenes series on national or regional TV. Not forgetting all the other animal programmes - there's a strong conservation message coming through right now which zoos are benefiting from. Maybe the warmer, drier summers have helped? (This year excepted!) Maybe it's better marketing (annual passes, adoptions, special events, keeper for a day etc). More disposable income?

21-09-2007

I think that's it. During a recession, people have less money for leisure pursuits like zoo visiting- lets face it a family visit for four of five people to a zoo isn't cheap nowadays... So the zoos suffer badly from the reduced visitor numbers, which is what happened -particularly at ZSL -in 1990.

The current 'boom' in new exhibit building in zoos all around the UK perhaps reflects the better economic times at present- but what will happen when the next recession comes around?

21-09-2007

[quote=Chris79;22214]Yes, compared to the situation 15 or 20 years ago zoos are enjoying a very succesful period. To think that London almost closed down in the early 1990s, and now look at how much money it's spending!

I was over there at that time and the Britsh goverment gave LZS 10 millon pounds to help up grade the zoo, as it turned out the top brass were reported to have wasted most of it, as some of the reports at the time said a lot of the money went on flash cars for the brass at the time and other top level spendings with little for exhibits.

21-09-2007

I can believe that those funds must have been misappropriated, at least to a degree. That injection of funds certainly wasn't reflected at the time in developments at the zoo itself. There was very little new building work at LOndon Zoo between the time when it nearly closed, and the current surge of developments. The 'Web of Life' was the only main construction during that period. Even now, the 'new' developments seem to be 'renovations' of existing enclosures. The Cotton Terraces with their new viewing windows etc (which are a big improvement) are an example.

Even 'Gorilla Kingdom' if you look at it analytically, is only really a redevelopment of the Ape Block of the Sobell Pavilions, much of which still exists as a hidden part of the whole display. Only the Gorilla part is brand new- and the largest part of that is really a large open field and a water moat!

21-09-2007

Certainly back then there was little concept of fundraising or commercial managers being required, or of enough revenue being generated to fund overseas projects. The zoo was viewed by the government more as a liability than an asset, whereas now it really is self-sustaining and attracts income in many creative ways.

The 'web of life' only happened due to lottery funding, and certainly most of the larger exhibits over the last decade have been made possible only by large private donations. But the detail has gradually improved around the whole site, even old enclosures have been made to look stunning, and more appropriate residents found for some of the more unforgiving exhibits. The innovation which has gone into say, the new okapi paddock or the hunting dogs enclosure is, to me, far more satisfying than if they had bulldozed the area at great cost to house similar species.

21-09-2007

Yes, it proves you don't need to start from scratch to build really good exhibits. I am sure they could update the Lion enclosure similarly- infill the watermoat for added area, put up a glass viewing window and plant the new flat area with 'naturalistic' sand and scrub. easypeasy...

12-02-2008

Does anyone know if Banham zoo have opened their planned giraffe house yet?