It's getting pretty empty in that part of the zoo now. Hopefully they release plans for the area soon.
I posted this in 2014 which was a report in the Bristol Post in 2011. Now a further 5 years later and still no progress... n July 2011, the Bristol Post wrote the following article and I wondered if anyone knew (Gorilla House excluded of course) about the progress of the other plans... Ten-year plan for Bristol Zoo By The Bristol Post | Posted: July 15, 2011 BRISTOL Zoo will be transformed by four major projects over the next decade, the Evening Post can reveal. The zoo, which is celebrating its 175th anniversary, hopes to have all four new developments in place in 10 years. They are: â– Building an Eden Project-style tropical rainforest area â– Building a replica mountain environment â– The gorilla house doubling in size â– Construction of a river section that could include crocodiles. Zoo director Dr Bryan Carroll told the Evening Post: "It's important to keep giving visitors something new. "Our conservation work relies heavily on visitors coming back for repeat visits to the zoo, so we have to make sure we are constantly evolving to give visitors new experiences." As well as transforming the landscape of the zoo, Dr Carroll also hopes several new species will be brought to Bristol, including Barbary macaques, well-known for living on the Rock of Gibraltar but endangered elsewhere in the world. The four major development projects on the 12-acre Clifton site are planned to be introduced one-by- one, with a new scheme coming along every two to three years – although the order in which they will be developed has yet to be decided upon. The replica "mountain" environment will be built around and incorporate the zoo's existing Monkey Temple, which has stood empty for decades. The "riverine exhibit" would create a river-like habitat and could feature a variety of river creatures from otters to crocodiles. Dr Carroll said: "When I first came many of the old 1950s enclosures were still in place, and we were just about to begin a period of capital investment that brought about new enclosures like the seal and penguin area, which have been fabulous additions to the zoo." Dr Carroll, who has worked at the zoo for 15 years and was promoted to the role of director last year, said the institution had to balance the demands of visitors for new experiences with changes in its conservation role. He said: "From a conservation point of view, ideas about which animals are most in need of being part of the zoo's captive breeding programme are changing all the time, and of course we have to keep up with those changes in demand. "For example, we hope to bring Barbary macaques here for the first time as part of the proposed mountain exhibit. "These creatures may be plentiful on the Rock of Gibraltar, but internationally they are an endangered species, and we can hopefully help raise their numbers in captivity." Of the prospect of bringing the Monkey Temple back into use, Dr Carroll said: "It will be nice to use the building – it is no longer suitable for keeping monkeys, but clearly it is an iconic building for people who remember childhood visits to the zoo in the 1950s and 1960s. "Clearly we can't create a mountain in the zoo, but we can recreate a mountain habitat. "We would hope to move our red panda into this new area, as well as bringing in new animals such as Barbary sheep, Barbary macaques, pika, rock wallaby, montane chameleon, giant salamander, cheer pheasant, pekin robs, cave cricket and cave spiders." Another exciting addition planned for the zoo in the coming decade would be a mini Eden Project-style tropical rainforest exhibit. Dr Carroll said: "It would be built on the south side of the zoo – the area that is currently themed as Zona Brazil, which was only ever meant to be a temporary exhibit." The "most distant" planned exhibit for the zoo's 10-year strategy, Bryan says, would be a "riverine exhibit" – which would "focus on the importance of water to life on Earth and the impact of unsustainable water use, pollution, contamination, flooding, draining of natural wetlands and loss of habitat". He said: "As this is the furthest down the line of planned exhibits, we don't yet have a firm idea of how this would look, but again, we could include a varied range of animals such as otters, pygmy hippos, Cuban crocodiles, freshwater turtles, pygmy geese, African darter and whistling ducks." All of this development would come on top of existing plans to develop a safari park-style attraction on land owned by the zoo at the Hollywood Towers estate, near Cribbs Causeway. The zoo director declined to comment on the current state of the plans, which have been in the pipeline for more than a decade
Hollywood Towers happened anyway! I remember the last of Bristol's Barbary Sheep, oddly enough in the Monkey Temple with Long-tailed Macaques.
A smaller addition on the plans of the time showed a Mandrill exhibit near the Pygmy hippo/old zoo entrance in Guthrie road. That didn't happen either but they have the Drills in the existing enclosure by the other entrance instead.
Eight vinegaroons have hatched at Bristol Zoo, the first time these arachnids have ever been bred at the zoo. More information is included in the link below: Eight babies for mum at Bristol Zoo | Bristol Zoo
Twin Ring Tailed lemurs have delivered trio of babies for third year running. Twin lemurs deliver trio of babies for third year running | Bristol Zoo
Two Kea chicks have hatched at Bristol Zoo. Two Kea chicks hatch at Bristol Zoo Gardens | Bristol Zoo
Changes to the Asiatic Lions coming up According to the latest Bristol Zoo members e-mail, Kamran, one of the two Asiatic Lions is leaving on the 29 April to move to the Tehran Zoological Gardens in Iran as part of the breeding programme for Asiatic Lions. Bristol Zoo will however welcome a new lioness called Sonika from Cotswold Wildlife Park next week who will be paired with Ketan the remaining male. Hopefully we may see new lion cubs in the future if the pairing goes well!
If we do then prepare for complaints from the great British public on TripAdvisor about overcrowding in the enclosure...!
New female Asiatic Lioness Sonika has arrived from Cotswold Wildlife Gardens Bristol Zoo Gardens on Twitter
A dozen Rainbow Lorikeet chicks have hatched Keepers celebrate the arrival of a dozen rainbow lorikeet chicks | Bristol Zoo
Still not sure the public will be happy when/if they breed. The enclosure will look great with cubs, but lions grow quickly and it'll soon look cramped. Anyone remember how the lion cubs used to look at Twycross when they were past the cute stage...? Basically, I still think this could be a PR disaster on TripAdvisor.
Visited the Zoo today. They introduced the male lion Ketan into the bigger part of the enclosure where the new female lioness Sonika had been residing. There did not seem to be any initial issues as Ketan explored the enclosure and went over near to Sonika. Hopefully the pairing will go well and both animals will get along the keepers were certainly keeping a close eye today to ensure there were no issues. They did say during the talk that for the time being they will not be breeding any cubs from the pair. Away from the lions, the Zona Brazil area is now cordoned behind hoardings, hopefully they will be redeveloping this with the mooted Philippines themed area at some point.
A Livingstone's flying fox has been born at Bristol Zoo, bringing the group housed there up to ten individuals. More information can be found in the link below: Fruit bat baby is born at Bristol Zoo Gardens | Bristol Zoo
One thing I love about Bristol Zoo is that there's often a nice surprise around the gardens awaiting discovery, so here I stand listening to the tickling piano music from the college next-door looking at European Hoopoe, new to the collection.
