Yellow-Toothed Cavy have been announced for the zoo See the Facebook post here: Security Check Required
With zoos across the UK struggling financially due to lockdown and predictions that it will take years for the sector to recover, surely the proposed Manchester zoo project is dead in the water? I can’t see the supposed investors thinking they would make any money.
Not necessarily, if the money is there and they haven't even opened, they aren't losing as much money as other zoos surely?
"Ticking over" doesn't seem to include updating the website which still says they are planning to open to schools in summer 2020.
Incidentally, I note that two key documents due at Companies House earlier in the year are still outstanding. Second year running for the Annual Statement of Accounts. The most recent list of stockholders show 917 shares issued. 900 are held by one person. Somebody in the USA holds 9; otherwise all shareholders have UK addresses. One has 3 shares, 5 other people hold one each. Make of that what you will.
Not just outstanding, late -the continuing failure of "management" to meet statutory requirements does not inspire confidence in the project. The accounts are for the year ended 30th June 2019 and it's hard to imagine a good reason while they have not been filed by now (unless the owners have a fetish for paying late filing penalties). The shareholdings suggest one person has all the power and the remaining shares are essentially "vanity shares". That said this situation may have changed (it's hard to tell when the February 2020 update has not been filed and all available information is so out of date). Inauspicious beginnings indeed.
What I don't understand, possibly naively, is why people feel the need to snipe at this project. Someone is starting a zoo. Fantastic! Let's encourage them, zoos are good things.
What's more, it is a zoo which seems to value enclosure quality very highly and embraces interactive opportunities with the animals. It also seems to want to exhibit lesser-known species once it has established itself. I think it's a really great project with a lot going for it and I just hope it'll get through the current crisis
I couldn't agree more with this comment. I only recently discovered this thread and have read through it in its entirety. I was expecting to see lots of excited comments and discussion on a promising future project. Instead I read a lot of negativity and people trying to get the thread removed. Baffling.
Because the whole thing seems like a load of hot air with very little substance. This impression is further magnified by the inability of management to keep on top of, fairly rudimentary, statutory duties -if they can't manage that it brings in the question their ability to get the whole thing off the ground (after a couple of seemingly false/dead end starts already). I love zoos and I'll visit it if it ever opens -but I can't get excited about it at the moment. It's no more solid than my current dream of an aviary for my garden.
It hasn't got a location, hasn't broke ground and, seemingly, is still wanting for funding. It's just an idea and a couple of artists impressions -it's nowhere near to even starting to establish itself. So it's a bit early to conclude how great it may or may not be. By the way, want to buy any magic beans?
Because some of us have been here before and seen promises (sometimes perhaps hoaxes, though I'm not suggesting this is such) that don't materialise. Zoos are hard to establish and run and many, sadly, fail (some of them great losses) -this is not an arena for disorganised or half-hearted attempts (as this one seems from my outside perspective). The reality, in the UK, is that most zoos don't get publicised (and beg for funds) before opening (there's an argument whether this is even a zoo at the moment). They privately source funds, build the place and open -then they go public. e.g. Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Wolds Wildlife Park. Whoops, I don't suppose they'll be complimentary entry for me now if it ever opens.
I still don't understand your reasoning. If it is in the early stages of development (and I get the impression it is a little further along the line than that), why criticise it? I gather it is a long-running ambition of Johnpaul's and it is right now not far away from coming to fruition. You know more about this than I do of course, but I don't think it is necessary to constantly put down such a project and undermine it because you don't think he will pull it off. I'd hazard a guess that a lot of people on this site dream of opening a zoo. That's why we should be behind Johnpaul in his efforts to fulfil what it probably a lifelong dream.
Might be baffling to you, but my memory was that 'people trying to get the thread removed' was more a matter of concern about its title, 'Manchester Zoo' implying it actually existed, rather than something like 'A Proposed Zoo for Manchester'... I've not needed to check Companies House, as it has clearly been looked at by contributors here. Given this, I would say that 'Manchester Zoo' has been quite fortunate that CH has been so patient...
You literally cannot make claims about their enclosure quality and their approach to animal interaction when they don't even own a site for the zoo yet - and have had several false starts in that regard - let alone have started construction
I don't have anything significant to add to the discussion, just my own opinions, but from my brief time at Blackpool Zoo and following BIAZA news, Jean-Paul seems to be very highly regarded in the industry so I feel confident he will do a good job. I'm also excited to have another zoo with fossa in the north! I might be being naïve but I don't see the proximity to Chester as a big deal, there are plenty of zoos within an hour or so of each other. In anycase, just because they are both zoos, doesn't mean they are really comparable. Chester is a huge zoo, ticket prices are at least double what I've paid to get into smaller zoos and I assume Manchester Zoo is going to start off small and gradually work into being a bigger zoo. Maybe for families who have very young kids, who don't want to stay on site all day or fight to get into cafes, spend a fortune on entry, Manchester zoo might be preferable. I think they will appeal to different audiences to begin with, and by the time Manchester Zoo is bigger it will have more of a name for itself. Just cause Chester is 'the best' doesn't mean it is the best for everyone. And of course there are people like all of us who won't see it as a choice but will visit both.
I did say 'seem' because I knew this would happen However, to answer your (fair) point more fully, having read the many articles and seen the artists' impressions, which are normally quite close to what is planned and I think they are aiming for nice enclosures for a small range of species. That is my opinion, and of course I am probably being a little naïve but I have interpreted it in my own way. As for interactive experiences, didn't they announce that they would be offering schools a chance to get nearer to animals such as hedgehogs? I'd count that as interactive...
