Heard through the grapevine when chatting to a keeper at Edinburgh on Saturday that Chester will be unveiling a plan to create a Bears Of The World development, which will open in 2020 - 2021 and they will house multiple species of bears, including Giant Panda which are likely to be the two from Edinburgh when their agreement ends in 2021.
Wait, what!? If this is true then this really doesn't seem to fit with the zoos plans. The two bear species at the zoo have well established enclosures already and I doubt the zoo would abandon them for another species. Do you have any more information on this?
Don't really know much. I was chatting to the Panda keeper at Edinburgh and I asked if they would try and breed with them again next year and he said no decision had been made but the Panda were no longer in the long term plan with the zoo. I asked how come and he explained that they were there on a 10 year deal which expires in 3 years and he said there was murmurings they will join Chester Zoo, as part of a Bears Of The World development.
I find this plan highly unlikely and silly considering the zoos plans, it may just be gossip but it is still sillly gossip.
I don't believe it but an exhibit with g.panda, specticled, sloth, brown or black bears would fit in the forrest zone
The cynic in me thinks that it sounds like an excellent thing to put about if you were trying to trace a leak..! Giant Panda gossip is bound to be passed on. On its own terms, the more bears the better - although I wouldn't be too keen on Chester getting involved in Rent-a-Panda.
Find this incredibly unlikely, considering the correlation between Edinburgh acquiring pandas and the significant drop in the number of species they hold ever since then, I highly doubt Chester would want them at all!
Ratio of profit to cost- would Chester make any money out of Pandas? I wouldn’t see sense in it. Maybe if Chester expanded to twice its size then you bring in Pandas. New third species of Orangutan just announced, from Sumatra called Tapanuli orangutan- in addition to existing Bornean and Sumatran Orangs. Would rather they acquired these than Pandas.
I am completely convinced by this story. Bears of the World will fit nicely between the flying pig aviary and the hippogriff stables.
I think the keeper was telling fibs (and by "fibs" I mean "blatant lies"). Panda rentals don't work that way - they don't just get handed on to another zoo. It has been said on here before that keepers at certain zoos tell lies to visitors to see them get repeated on Zoochat.
If they've found room for hippogriffs, can we hope to see unicorns (of the non-chubby variety) in the near future.
Well keepers might not but senior management do in fact I know atleast one of Chesters has done alot of laughing at the rubbish been said tonight so far,but then you don't have to believe me on that,but those that know me personally know I am speaking the truth!
the Bears of the world thing will never happen it just does not fit the zoos plans I’m not surprised people have been laughing at it zoogiraffe
Are you seriously suggesting senior managers at Chester would intentionally lie to guests so they could have a good old laugh at them? Very professional.
But to get back to the point - I don't believe Chester will be getting Panda either. It doesn't fit with their plans and would be a colossal waste of money and resources. I credit them with better strategic planning than that.