Much like my London zoo review this was my first visit to bristol zoo (just got back) and I hope this to be a somewhat accurate and informative review. After arriving on the basic car park (leased by the zoo from Bristol city council and so a £2 charge applies) we headed along the walk to the splendid entrance, a statley-looking building giving a grand entrance to the equally splendid zoo. Firstly we came to the large cage for javan langurs, the sqaure shaped cage was viewed through glass at visitor level, rocks, a pool and various climbing equipment field the enclosure. My only negative against this enclosure was a lack of vegetation (i think bamboo and other shrubs would do well here). Continuing along to the flamingo pool, this could so easily be a basic pool like so many other zoos But bristol has gone out of its way to make this a walkthrough enclosure completed with egrets, avocets and red breasted geese the walkthrough enclosure is so much more intimate than other types of enclosure creating a far better visitor experience. The enclosure itself was based around a large pool for the flamingo with ample vegetation. We carried along to the long, narrow asiatic lion enclosure. this is primarily experienced from beneath a canopy (which was very much appreciated given the rain ) The enclsoures are very well landscaped with much vegetation and wooden climbing structures. The enclosure has a mesh roof, and is split into two. normally the lions have access to both. In this case the lions were asleep for the entire day in the smaller of the two enclosures. The covered path leads down the side of the lion enclosure to the night zone, but opposite the lions on the other side of the path is a large glass fronted avairy for kea. The four kea looked quite small in their huge avairy. The night zone is positvely the best nocturnal exhibit I have seen (ranking above london, chester and newquay...the ones I've seen ) None of the enclosures were infested with mice (as I have previously seen) and the animals were amazingly active! the group of sand cats had an excellent enclosure which was well lit. Pygmy slow loris were unusually active and making a wonderful display right in front of the viewing glass (it was far easier to see them here then in London). Malgasy jumping giant rats shared an exhibit with the tiny grey mouse lemurs (who were'a homping and bumping all over the place! ) The two aye-aye's were the most active I've ever had the pleasure of seeing and gathered a worshiping crowd. Sugar gliders shared with Long nosed potoroo. Super-active sloths shared with six banded armadillo and owl monkeys. All of these enclosures had a glass front and all were great. Next section in the night zone is in the form of quaint house complete with mice infested microwaves, cupboards and food stores.....Oooh I forgot to mention the merriams kanagroo rat clearly visible hopping around. Outside the night zone is a huge walk through vaairy for Livingstones fruit bat (who made a brave appearance dispite the rain ) the avairy spans a large area and is also very tall, Inside the avairy the visitors have the opportunity to see them indoors. Outisde the vaairy is the red panda enclosure . although fanastic for the red pandas, having mature live trees and a range of vegetation, the viewing for the public was rather obstructed by the mesh and the glass together (as well as the house being in an awkward place). Towards the reptile hosue is a nice enclosure for gaint tortoise and rhinocerous iguana. the reptile house itself is a really nice house with a real gem of a collection. The house is sort of in two parts; The first is long and narrow with glass enclosures jutting out form the regal brick and stone walls, an amphibian area shows a varuety of poison dart frogs and the breeding efforts being practised at the zoo concerning the turtles and tortoises. The second part is much taller and not very wide (like a rainforest hall) here huge geoffrey's side necked turtles swim along side large fish. The enclosures here are a variety of shapes and sizes, all around the central enclosure for west african dwarf crocodiles (unfortunatley coins were visible in the pool ) Gems in this collection include Black marsh turtle, Mountain chicken, Dwraf croc and Trinidad stream frog. Thats all for now, (I know, Its long winded!!!) coming up in Part 2: the aquarium, Monkey Jungle, Gorillas and Okapi! To Be Continued....
Part 2 the aquarium, Monkey Jungle, Gorillas and Okapi! The aquarium at Bristol is a stunning example of how to make fish interesting and enjoyable. A Variety of tanks display the weird and captivating. The curious American paddlefish swim next to sucking catfish in the fossil fish tank. (fake) mangroves support a tunnel where Pacu and other large fish swim directly above you, to the side and the other side! Lake malawai has its own tank to with the many fish that can be found there. What was interesting about these tanks was that the visitor could also see the ground part above the water level, the ground is planted with plants appropriate to the area of fish. The signs in the aquarium are easy to read and to access with identification of all the fish(people were actually taking their time to stop and identify the fish! This aquarium far outranks London zoo. Past the Large café (with quite reasonable prices) is the monkey jungle exhibit. Displaying a variety of species the exhibit is made of a series of outdoor and indoor areas and a walkthrough lemur enclosure. First to catch ones eye would be the Lion tailed macaque outdoor exhibit, roughly square shape the visitors can view the macaques through large glass panels, moving around to fine mesh and finally the indoor house. The back of the enclosure is the moat shared by gorilla island. The enclosure itself is very good with a variety of climbing opportunities (mainly dead trees) a variety of ground types, rock, long grass, water and bare dirt. The Indoor area is fantastic for the macaque it is very tall and spacious with crystal clear windows for the viewer. Opposite the Lion tailed macaques is the black howler monkeys. They have an outdoor netted enclosure with is very well landscaped with many palm trees and other exotic plants. The Indoor enclosure is equally as good, very spacious and loads of climbing opportunities. Next (on the lion tailed macaque side) is the indoor area, then followed by the outdoor area for De Brazzas guenon. The guenon can access the gorilla island as well as their own outdoor enclosure. The enclosure is like the macaque area but much better planted and including live trees. opposite the guenons is the lemur walkthrough. The doors operate on an ingenious system where the one will only open once the other door is closed and someone touches the button. Ring tail lemur an mongoose lemur could be found in the walkthrough, the mongoose lemurs are adorable and the ring tail lemurs have no fear as they come very close. The exhibit is netted and ell planted with numerous trees and climbing facilities, a waterfall and rocks. Leaving Monkey Jungle we saw our first gorilla of the day on the island (but more about the gorillas later!). we followed around to the pygmy hippo house. Although smaller of London it allowed the visitors to get much closer to the pygmy hippos in their pool. The house consisted of two halves separated by a long bar fence. Visitors saw the hippos over glass which was inches away from the bank of the pool. And another thing it didn’t smell as bad as the London pygmy hippo enclosure. Entering the gorilla house (form the pygmy hippos) the gorillas are on the right and the Okapi on the left. There is a fair bit of visitor space in between. The gorilla area was narrow and dark with the ability to separate the group. The two halves of the indoor area each formed an L shape around the visitor area forming an alcove. Aove the visitor area is what looks like a beam but in reality is a bridge for the gorillas to the two sides of the enclosure over the visitors, small triangular glass windows in the beam mean you can just make out the quick black mounds of the young gorillas. The signs were very informative and beautiful wrought iron benches were provided. The Building itself is very grand and quite old looking but I enjoyed this about Bristol, not everything was sliding glass doors and modern design. The Okapi area is a few basic stables with wood lined against the one so the Okapi’s have an off show area should they wish it. The outdoor gorilla island is certainly large enough, with the gorillas making full use of the climbing structures but lacked in vegetation, there was a mature tree and several shrubs...just not enough. The family group of gorillas, including the cutest youngsters, made for an excellent display. The impressive silver back Jock throwing his weight around the island, and the mischievous young stealing the food from each other. It was amazing how close we could get to the gorillas with an unobstructed view. The okapi area could be viewed from the wooden board walk leading away from gorilla island. The Okapi area had off show paddocks but the paddock on show were all right. A few young trees did not make for any sort of congo forest. I preferred the Chester and London zoo okapi enclosures to the Bristol one, where the okapi tended to stay far back in the corner of its enclosure. Oh and I didn’t see the baby okapi. Coming up in Part 3: penguins and sea lion coast, more pygmy hippo, Zona Brazil and cassowary. To be continued.....
Part 3 Penguins and seal coast is simply a fantastic exhibit. First of all around some grassy dunes and a sandy wooden board walk you enter a large aviary. In here is the penguin enclosure, shared with the agile artic terns and a variety of ducks. The large group of African penguins made for a comical display. All around the edge of the enclosure is grassy dunes where the penguins prefer to burrow, a variety of rocks and gravel (and a waterfall) go down to the clear pool. The whole area is viewed form a board walk which goes over a second part of the enclosure. A little blue penguin also makes home her (but unfortunately we couldn’t spot it). The board walk leads into a ship wreck and out of the aviary. Passed the shipwreck is the fur seal enclosure. Here a wooden board walk works around the pool where the fur seals rest on an rocky out crop. The pool is very large and extends right out from the rocks. A wave machine replicates the sea (and the fish do an equally good job replicating the smell!). towards the end of the pool the board walk slopes down into the underwater area. There is a variety of windows form the half submerged, the huge flat underwater panels, circular domes windows and an underwater tunnel. Also in this area is fish showing examples of what the penguins and sea lion eat. The underwater tunnel isn’t very long but gives beautiful views of the sea lions underwater. The penguins also have an underwater tunnel but this isn’t very clean and the penguins were a no show underwater. Outside of penguin and seal coasts is the pygmy hippo enclosure. The outdoor area is well constructed with a variety of plants shielding the pygmy hippos from, except for select spots. This gives a real jungle feel and gives the hippos more privacy. There is a children only wooden podium to see the pygmy hippos from. Around the back of the enclosure is a large statue/garden of a pair of herucles beetles. Next is Zona Brazil. Zona brazil starts by entering a large green house. Inside this green houses a few south American reptiles and indoor areas for geoffroy’s marmoset and black lion tamarin. This glorified green house was a little disappointing, being rather small and square in shape. If it was up to me it would be a small squirrel monkey walkthrough (but its not up to me). After leaving the green house is the outdoor cages for Black lion tamarin, which is very well planted (perhaps a little too much). And then is an outdoor cage for geoffroy’s marmoset. I had the feeling that the marmosets are supposed to be free range but they remained in their cage. The path weaves outside half of the Brazilian tapir, capybara, and azaras agouti. None were on show. the paddock had a few mature trees and large areas of bare dirt. There is an aviary for Brazilian tanagers and an indoor house for the tapirs (where they were sleeping like logs). Around the clump of trees in the tapir paddock is a very deep (and crystal clear) pool that was in a u shape around a clump of trees. From here I saw a grassy extension to the paddock and walked along the outside of zona brazil to see the sleeping capybara and azaras agouti. Overall Zona Brazil was the exhibit I was least impressed with at Bristol. Next to Zona Brazil is a the long Cassowary paddock, with the ability to the spilt the cassowary. Being very colourful and dangerous they developed a small crowd as they pranced around their enclosure. The paddock is well planted and like the pygmy hippo paddock there is a number of plants shielding them from view. Coming up in part 4: meerkats, monkey islands, otters, gentle lemurs, forest birds and lorikeet feeding and zooropia. To be continued
Hey Foz great review, i too love the aquarium at Bristol, but i am wondering if you missed the Bug collection above the cafe?
Thanks, I'm glad someone's enjoying the review. We did get round to the bug collection but only after we had done everthing so I think i'm going to include it at the end.
I'm also enjoying it! I just didn't really have anything to add as you've covered everything so comprehensively and I agree with you on most things.
I went last week and never saw the baby okapi. I don't think she is on show. There were only pacus in the walk through tank but a notice informed visitors that the other fish species were to be added in the next few weeks. On the day I went a young lady was painting a mural in the aquarium. The tapirs and the capybara were very active when I went. I never saw the flying squirrels either but I did get my first look at a six-banded armadillo. Keep up the good work Foz, I always enjoy your reviews.
Great review The Okapi calf has the option to be on show, she just stays in the stable. I asked one of the keepers. And the mesh isn't normally around the panda enclosure, it's just for quarantine.
You'll be glad to hear the next big Bristol plan is a tropical house on the site of Zona Brazil and some of the surrounding area, which'll hopefully be much more impressive. Details here.
Not sure thats the plan now for that area last i heard they were planning to do something different with the space but i wll wait until the zoo annouces the plan before i post it.
According to somebody i know at Bristol they haven`t got any Flying Squirrels or had any over the last few years.
Around the back of the cassowary’s (the enclosure is backed by a long house) is a series of monkey indoor areas for geoldi’s monkey and golden headed lion tamarin with an island for each. The islands are well planted even if the monkey’s preferred to stay inside the indoor huts. The viewing glass is very large in these huts and perhaps a bit too open for the monkeys. Next is the boardwalk leading from the Okapi enclosure, this boardwalk comes from the gorilla island around to the back of the cassowary house and has north American river otters next to the okapi.\ I was a little disappointed with the otter enclosure which I though was a bit small, Visitors view the otters through tall sheets of glass. Despite a small pool the enclosure includes many trees inside the enclosure. The river otters were a total no-show which was a bit disappointing…Just like their enclosure. Opposite the okapi enclosure (on the board walk) is an indoor area for agile gibbons. The indoor area is a little dark but the large island is quite good. With large climbing frames a low planting. The Gibbons show up quite well on the tall climbing facilities. Back towards the cassowary house and the down the side otters is a tucked away enclosure for Aloatran gentle lemurs. Complete with indoor house, the outdoor netted enclosure is well planted with a variety of tall and small plants. Oh and the gentle lemurs are very cute! Around the cassowary area is a variety of aviaries for birds like roul-roul partridge, taritic hornbill, turaco, superb starling and others. All of the aviaries are well planted with fine mesh. Along the walk by the lake is a cheetah run, primarily for children. Three cheetah coloured (I mean painted like a cheetah’s fur) sticks measure the time of a running time and then compare this against the speed of a cheetah. There is another board walk along the outside of the Lorikeet aviary, form this board walk various monkey islands can be seen including the squirrel monkeys, White faced saki and red titi monkeys (neither the saki’s or the titi monkeys showed). Opposite the saki monkey island is a large splash area for children with a few waterfalls and splishy splashy streams at the back of the splash zone is a large grand building for forest birds. Inside the House is a series of netted enclosures around the side, in the middle of the building is a pool fed by a cascading waterfall on which free flying birds like nicobar pigeon and pied imperial pigeon congregate. The netted enclosure housed a variety of birds such as taritic hornbills (I cant remembers seeing any others). Leaving the house into the Lorikeet aviary. First is an entrance area with no birds where you buy the nectar and receive instructions on how to feed the lorikeets. The experience was a actually really good with many rainbow coloured birds fluttering onto ones head and arms. The aviary is also very good with lots of mature tropical trees, pools and even a wooden crocodile lurching from the water. By the main lawn of the zoo is zooropia (yes I had a go and why not?) the course is made of a series of high rise obstacles, this was really enjoyable with each obastacle names after an animal for example ‘red panda clamber’ and ‘viper vines’. The participant is hooked to a wire above their head, however I was rather slow as you had to wait for the person in front of you to finish each obstacle before you could go yourself. The Course climaxes in a large zipwire. Coming up In part 5: the avairies, pudu, Bug world and the butterfly house. To be continued.....
In Bristol's most recent annual review, the map on the vision statement highlights Zona Brazil as the site of a new tropical house. So, if funds don't waver, it's still on the cards.
The tall enclosure housing the Javan langurs near the entrance was originally split in two . One half held the Gibbons , one Javan the other Muellers , and their hybrid young . The half nearer the entrance housed a variety of Egrets , Herons and Ibis .
Yep but what i`ve heard they are bringing in for late next year the only place they have space to build an enclosure big enough is on the site of Zona Brazil,so we will have to wait and see which happens.
To be honest i don`t know about that,personnaly i would be sad to see the Cassowary go if they do use that part as well.
