"Superzoo"- rumours, confirmed etc... » Chester Zoo

04-12-2007

$135 million??? Isn't that a "bit" too much? How much could be done for wild polar bears (and the whole arctic ecosystem) with only a tenth of that amount...
I tell You how to build a polar bear exhibit that won't cost that much and will result in happy polar bears: fence in a huge property with trees, bruhes, clean water basin, grass, sand, stones, rotten logs etc. and let just one or two bears inside; let them search for their food more and give them whole carcasses, let them dig, roll around in the mud and get dirty. If You had to walk all day long in a white sterile concrete area imitating "ice", You'd also develop stereotypic behaviour... I remember seeing a polar bear in that kind of naturalistic exhibit I envision ( I think somewhere in France) long ago: 't was the happiest polar bear I ever saw, though she sure wasn't snow-white anymore...
About the Danish exhibit:
Skandinavisk Dyrepark

04-12-2007

I feel a bit naughty dragging this Chester Zoo thread off topic but what you are saying here is something very interesting that I really agree with. Zoos need to stop trying to replicate the open snowy pack ice of the far Northern Arctic and try building some more tundra style exhibits with mosses, lichens, rocks, logs and pine trees etc. It'd probably be as cheap and twice the fun for the animals. As I understand it Detroit's bear enclosures features an area like this and it looks great.

More this sort of scene:
http://www.nanukpolarbearlodge.com/images/66762.jpg & Image:Ursus maritimus 3 1999-07-11.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyway, back on topic, what does anyone know about the Masterplan? I remember reading about hippos and I guessed underwater viewing. Has this since been scrapped?

04-12-2007

I do wonder where Chester are going to get the money from. After all, most of the £3.8million they are spending on the planning/design stage has come from the NWRDA, and is a drop in the ocean compared to the total capital cost of £300m. That's nearly 100 Realm of the Red Apes!

Edinburgh Zoo's masterplan budget has been sneaking up recently, and as we all know that project suffered a serious setback recently when the council blocked the sale of land for development. Do you think Chester will be going down the same route? They do own some 400 acres altogether.

Bristol Zoo seem to be struggling with their new wildlife park. Three years ago the budget was set at £30m and the opening date for 2009. Now, the budget is £62m and the opening date is 2012 (from the zoo's website).

For comparison, the proposed NiRAH aquarium in Bedfordshire had a projected budget of £250m orginally. That spiralled to £375m before the project had even got off the ground and now it seems to be trapped in limbo.

04-12-2007

True, but last I heard, ZSL's Biota! was going on schedule. I may be wrong though...

05-12-2007

That depends which "schedule" you believe!

For example, the developer's website says it will open in 2010, but the ZSL website says 2011.

05-12-2007

Perhaps the developer's will finish construction in 2010, yet ZSL do not intend to open it to the public for a year in order to allow the animals to acclimatise.

05-12-2007

My moneys on it running late its been done by the ZSL,they seem to cut everything close to the opening time just lately.

05-12-2007

Was it not once scheduled for 2008?

05-12-2007

Indeed it was once 2008, if you trawl through some of the newspaper articles from the original announcement. This is another seriously delayed major zoo project, but the reasons are probably complicated because it is part of a much larger development at Silvertown Quays. The projected opening date is 2010 or 2011 depending on whether you believe ZSL or the Silvertown Quays developer. There won't be an acclimatisation period beyond the necessary testing and commissioning of the aquarium systems and the initial cycling of the tanks. On an £80 million development (and there's another number that's creeping upwards), ZSL will risk losing a massive amount of revenue if they delay opening.

I think some of these recently announced projects at UK zoos are very ambitious. Often, the zoo will spend a relatively small chunk of money developing a masterplan and getting a planning application. But actually securing the finances for the capital cost of the project is nearly always the stumbling block. One reason American zoos are more successful at pushing through big developments is that there is a culture of big donations from rich individuals.

I really do wish the best for Chester's Superzoo but they are going to have a hard time raising £300m.

23-05-2008

The Super Zoo is now known as Natural Vision.

24-05-2008

Thanks, I take it this info comes from the 2007 annual report? Any other news on the project?

Let's hope this "Vision" becomes a reality

26-05-2008

They're setting up an office to deal with the project.

27-06-2008

£160,000 has been spent on the planning of the Natural Vision (Super Zoo) project. The final bill for the planning is estimated at £3.8 million. Half of this is to be provided by the North West Regional Development Agency. Plans will be submitted to Chester City Council in September 2008, with a start date of summer 2009 if all goes well. The first area to be opened up will be the land south of the oryx and zebras which borders the A41. This will become an African area. The present path running alongside the oryx and zebras will be refurbished and the whole area will be made more welcoming.

Future developments could face opposition because of green belt restrictions.

An exhibit for common hippos is proposed, and it will include underwater viewing.

"Copied from the AGM thread."

08-07-2008

Don't get so exited about Cheetah, you can see them at other zoos such as Marwell, Paington, Colchester, Whipsnade and Now at west Midlands safari PARK

08-07-2008

Just make an indoor house with heating control, thats what they do at sea world. It looks and feels like the artic!