Apparently the zoo has had more input on the narrative of this series, and there are fewer "stories" and "characters", so it has a more serious message. We'll see...
Is that a problem? Anyway there was a fair amount of time devoted to penguins, mountain chickens, tuatara last time I think.....
I am surprised that no mention of the world first breeding of the Monserrat tarantula has been made. The first series had a spot about trying to get them to breed. Tuatara hatching has not been mentioned, a first outside New Zealand. I do think the emphasis on mammals is a problem, it gives an unbalanced view of the zoo.
Well I very much enjoyed this season of Secret life of the zoo, as much as I did the first! I do agree it was heavy on mammals, but I think there are two reasons for that! 1)TV ratings, people are more likely going to watch a show with an animal they know about e.g an elephant than a random species of fish they can't even see on show! 2) Mammals are much easier to film, especially at Chester with their large open exhibits, I can't imagine trying to film in a place like the Bali temple or aquarium, though it would be nice to see a broader representation not just the mammals. Not to judge the show because I really liked it as in reality it gave us all a slight insight more into zoo life the mixing of species and the problems with breeding being large ones! Each story was covered very well in my opinion, bar too much focus on the Orang's in the last 2 episodes and also miss matching when events happened, Like why was Solo's birth on the CHRISTMAS special when it occurred in SUMMER!? Either way I liked the way each story was handled and the info given, such as that of the lost Andean bear cub, the reasons as to why Toni and Milli where first split, info on Oana's calf and over grooming, was very interesting and educational which overall to me made for a good series, if only they would also expand on the animals they show off! They did a bit this series I just want to see it a bit more as Chester has 20,000+ of them! Non the less I very much enjoyed it apart from those snags!
I think we must acknowledge that ZooChatters were not the target audience of this series. I thought that the programme makers played it very safe, choosing popular species only and using a somewhat softer-centred approach than the first series. The main problem was the need for simple storylines to make sense of the video: there are so few possibilities that it got repetitive. Will A mate with B? Will C fight with D? Will E give birth and raise the baby? When F falls sick, will it get better or not? Will the keepers be able to move G to another zoo? Er . . . that's it (except when Subis did something unexpected by getting into the keeper's area). The only other novelty was the Xmas special. I can't help wondering if most of it was filmed in October if so, I bet the keepers felt silly in their Santa hats. There wasn't much dramatic tension as we wondered whether the animals would enjoy their special treats. It would wrong to criticise without recognising that the filming was good and that the keepers performed well as 'talking heads', which can't be easy, although some of them are quite experienced at it now. I'm sure the zoo would be only too happy to host another series, if the opportunity were to arise. There are lots of other stories that would make good television, if the producers were willing to cover some additional aspects of the zoo's work.
Too much focus? Impossible They were the only episodes where I actually became engrossed enough to ignore the parade of 'talking heads'. I'm sure the keepers are all lovely people, but I have an image of them all lining up outside the 'studio' awaiting their turn to try and say something quirky. An enjoyable enough series nonetheless, light entertainment, and definitely enhanced by the antics of the ever-resourceful orangs
I think you'l find that queue being non-existent and they would have had to very much forced to do them interviews. The orang bit was great.....a real story....it was viewing gold for the TV company
I think that they are missing a trick ( possibly budget related ) by not combining footage from the zoo and mixing it with footage from the extensive in situ work that is funded by them. The Javan Green Magpies would be a perfect example.
I feel I must defend this series - granted I'm not a hardcore zoo enthusiast like many on this site, but I thought the series was excellent, with the second probably even better than the first. The focus on 'ABC' species was inevitable for a primetime TV series but I was very pleased that the Aye-Ayes were featured, along with Sun & Spectacled Bear, Babirusa and Anoa amongst others. To be honest I didn't really think about the mammal focus until reading this discussion, but as I tend to be more enthusiastic about mammals then that was fine by me. I also really like the 'talking heads' approach used; I've seen more than enough 'hilarious' scripted scenes with daft presenters half-heartedly shovelling rhino dung and the like to last a lifetime already, so I'm pleased this programme used an unseen narrator and allowed the keepers to take the limelight. My admiration for them increased a lot and I was impressed that many showed their emotions so openly. My only slight disappointment was that some of the characters from series 1 haven't appeared second time around, but that's a minor quibble, and some of the staff may well have had their fill of being TV stars I guess? Oh, and the orang escape really was TV gold!
That would be interesting - maybe something to consider for series 3, if there is one? I'd have liked to have seen the expedition to Madagascar from early this year, but suspect they didn't want to film that as they wouldn't have known how popular the series was going to be when that took place. Showing a few of the staff who have featured in previous episodes going overseas to assist with the in-situ conservation projects could have been a good way to keep regular viewers interested by tying in with what had been featured before.
I too think there is something in this. The role of the zoo has been essentially reduced to "this animal is endangered, so we need to breed more of them" in many of the episodes, and other series (ZSL's 'The Zoo' on ITV springs to mind) have given more attention to zoos' conservation projects.
I agree entirely with this suggestion, but I also agree about the financial reason for not going down this path. But there are so many other topics that could be included without significant extra expenditure: for example, think of the new aviaries beside the chimps, once they are constructed there will have to be discussions and decisions about the species to go into these aviaries (although I'm sure this has already been decided in outline), then they will have to be planted and furnished before the birds are moved in and allowed to settle. There's not much there to strain the brain of the viewer, but it would show a different side of the keepers' jobs. Likewise I don't recall any nestbox cam footage in either series, let alone artificial incubation of birds or reptiles or rearing of hatchlings. Then there has been very little about diets or lab tests on samples and nothing at all about the off-show breeding of native species for release. An extra topic or two in each episode would freshen up a third series
All in all, I think the series is very well done. They can't cover everything, and on the whole it has been different to most other zoo docs, less focused on the vet and more on the lives of the animals in good health as well as crisis. Personally, I think the first series had the edge; as I remember it it stuck better to the 'secret life of the zoo' remit. There seemed to be more out of hours and behind the scenes footage. For me, the only real disappointment - apart from the aerial drone shots being annoyingly brief - was the Christmas special. I expected to see the place on Christmas Day. I can visit any other day of the year, so I'd like to see what it looks like on the day I can't. But, its great that its there at all, and if series three comes along then more can be featured in due course. As for the 'talking heads', well what a bunch of charming and articulate keepers Chester have!
Indeed, for the most part it put me to sleep. There was very little "secret" about anything we saw, and other than the constant matings, the series seemed to be aimed at a tea-time school audience. The only bits I really enjoyed were the drone footage, which gave a different angle to otherwise familiar surroundings, otherwise it's a tediously "safe" production for the short attention-span masses.
I don't think this series is very different to most similar programmes made on Chester or other zoos. It seems most of those bashing the programme are Chester regulars, who maybe demand more than just the animals they see every few weeks. As someone who visits at most annually, I have to say I quite enjoy seeing the animals I rarely get to see. It has already been pointed out this series is aimed at the masses and I don't think a more sophisticated programme would appeal to many.
That's a good point actually. Its family viewing in our house as the programme should be - we're all members - but one episode in particular was a little uncomfortable family viewing; the matings were a little over exposed But you're right SMR, that was a contradiction in terms.
Maybe if they decided to do another series it would be nice if it was a different zoo such as Colchester or Marwell or perhaps the zsea zoos for example. That is if series 3 is on the cards of course but if it does return to Chester then thats still fantastic.
Personally I'd be 100% against the production moving from Chester. There are 100s of other possible stories to explore before this should even be considered
