ZooPride was scheduled for this Saturday, with the Big Night Out on Friday. At face value it appeared to be pretty much the same offering both nights (live music, street performers, beer, silent disco etc). Tickets for Big Night Out have been selling slowly and if ZooPride was doing even worse it would explain the cancellation. Kind of back on topic, I was concerned about the effect that the Big Night Out 'fire show' would have. Looking at the schedule of events and the adjusted map I note that the area assigned for this is between the Terrace Theatre and the Aquarium (see normal map above). I believe this is out of sight of the lion enclosure. The gorillas, who would possibly have a view if they were on their outdoor apparatus, will no doubt be tucked up in bed by the time the fire show starts (10pm, animal houses close at 9 or 9.30). The giant tortoises are the most likely to be able to see any of it, and I'm not even sure that they can. As a side note, would a tortoise even be bothered? They seem pretty easy going to me. I have 2 tickets for Big Night Out but won't find out whether I'm going or not until later today. If I do go, I will post a light-hearted review on the Bristol Zoo news thread. If I can't go, perhaps someone from the forum would be interested in the tickets.
I was at one of the twycross late openings last year. The chimps were bedded down as normal at their usual time and didn't seem the slightest bit bothered by it. I have to say that a little bit of stress isn't necessarily a bad thing for captive animals as long as it's a slight worry every so often rather than terror. Most of the animals there are captive bred so are used to human sounds anyway
