When the clocks changed the other week I watched some chap on the news, representing the UK's tourist attractions, bemoaning the loss of daylight hours and how leaving the clocks alone would allow longer opening, more jobs etc. This got me wondering as to why it is that most zoos and animal attractions (as well as most other tourist attractions) don't open to the public until 10am. Is it just some kind of tradition or is there a specific reason? Surely through the winter months especially, when most zoos close at dusk - which is understandable - opening at 9am would provide an extra hours trade?
I guess it's to allow the keepers enough time to clean out the animals' on show enclosures, night quarters and prepare a morning feed before the public arrive...
I think it´s all more about tradition. All zoos in my country are open to public from 8am or 9am. And I think zoo Bojnice (Slovakia) opens even at 7am during the winter months.
I can see that the keepers needing time to clean out and feed actually being the "tradition". Get everything done before the public arrives then keepers disappear behind the scenes. But in an age of fly on the wall zoo documentries I would think the public would now expect to see keepers cleaning out etc. But yeah, fair point.
Yes, I'll agree with you max that the bigger part of the public is aware of the daily keeper activities and understand that those are nescessary for the animals health and the zoo. But, however, almost everbody is there to see the animals, and in several cases the cleaning could interfere with that. For examples all enclosures with potentially dangerous animals which can't be maintenanced with the animals there = the visitors wouldn't be able to see the animals for a shorter period during the cleaning. So this has to be done before the zoo opens for the day as well as many other preparations to make the place ready for the public. That´s why I totally share CZJimmy's explanation to the fact that the most zoos opens 10 am. Here i Sweden it's they same "standard", I think every zoo is opening at 10 am (except special events).
Bristol Zoo is an exception - unless it has changed in the last year - in that it opens at 9 am . Getting in early meant you could go into the Nocturnal House whilst it was still on 'daytime' lighting - I have done this and quite a few of the stock was active .
I do find it a bit frustrating to arrive somewhere bright and early and then face a wait until 10 a.m. to go in. I appreciate the need for cleaningout/animal checks etc as being the usual reason, but if some zoos can still do the 9.a.m opening time, its a pity others can't. In a really big place like Chester you really need every hour available to see everything.
It would seem to make sense for Chester to open earlier , there would be another hour for the vistors to spend their money in the cafe etc. I have sat around waiting for opening time on several occasions .
I remember on Chester zoodays them saying that all the feed and muck trucks had to be finished by 10 o'clock so maybe its some health & safety issue for Pedestrians and they need till 10 to get it all done! I must say those golf buggys at Marwell creep up on you and whizz by always tempted to nick one!
What would you prefer to see, animals in cages or keepers picking up poop? Its not the majority of zoo visitors who watch the fly on the wall documentries, or enjoy chatting with keepers, the members of this forum are in the minority unfortunately! In general, opening later gives us a chance to clean outer enclosures and position enrichment feeding. The main reason is it gives us chance to make our trips to the manure pit without running members of the public over. Cleaning of houses not open to the public, diet prep and record keeping can all be done when the public are on the grounds. Some zoos, especially the smaller ones, do change their opening hours in summer and winter.
I think Slimbridge opens before 10 but cannot rember for sure but i know i have been wandering around the place before 10.
I arrived at Chester one day this summer at two minutes to ten and showed my membership card. I was not allowed to go in until 10 o'clock. What puzzles me is why zoos now also have an official closing time. I remember wandering around Chester in the 90s until 7-7.30pm. Now everyone has to be out by 6pm I think.
That's quite pedantic really... I've once arrived 5 minutes early and they allowed me and a few others who were there inside, but the paths (leading to the elephants and monkeys) were roped off until ten.
Closing times, now there's another issue. While scanning a few of our zoo websites for opening times I noticed that most close at 16:00 through the winter - understandable with dark nights - and the last entry is usually an hour before that. So for many zoos the gates are only open for 5hrs aday. Bristol seems to have the longest opening hours - 09:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:00) and though it would be hard to judge, it would be interesting to see if the extra hour at each end of the day benefited the zoo with visitors and financially compared to other zoos.
On the few ocassions I've been to Chester in recent years(sadly its a long way for me) there have been long queues building up already by 9.30 a.m. (in summertime anyway) Nobody, including cardholders, was allowed in until the dot of ten though. The atmosphere was a bit like the start of a race, except there was no start gun. As far as closing times, at Howletts & Port Lympne you used to be able to wander around as long as you pleased- late on is a particularly good time to see some of smaller cat & dog species (Pallas, Dhole etc) there become active. Nowadays though there are big notices saying the car parks are locked at 6.30 and I spoke to some regulars who said they had been locked in more than once(presumably they were let out again...)
After a visit to Chester today, I was allowed in at 9:40 but the ropes were still up, so you only had a choice of going into the shop, looking into an empty elephant paddock or going to the cafe...
Very clever, they're obviously hoping you'll spend that 20 minutes buying stuff in the cafe or shop....
I think most of the reasons why UK zoos generally open at 10 have been given. There is a wish to get a lot of animal keeping jobs done early so most animals can be on show at opening time and there are safety issues too, particularly vehicle movement around the zoo sites. And today, when most staff have set hours and terms of employment, there is quite a cost to extending hours so that needs to be cost effective. Some zoos do open earlier than publicised times at peak periods, which is mainly to reduce queues at the gate; as others have said, access within the zoo gates may be limited to the shop, toilets and cafe but at least people have got in! It is a pity that more places do not allow people to leave at a more leisurly rate; provided closing times for buildings and facilities are publicised then there should not be an issue for people to leave a bit later. Security is often given as an excuse to clear people out, but if someone had intent to cause trouble then could just as easily find somewhere to hide earlier in the day. It is true though that the Great British public do seem to like to leave by 5 as there is a mass exodus up until then so any people choosing to remain until a place closes by, say, 6, will probably find the place to themselves.
