Chester Zoo Visit 07/04/2010 - Giant Otters and Oakfield

A flying visit to the zoo in lovely sunshine this afternoon, staying just long enough to check out the completed giant otter pool redevelopment and the progress being made to the site of the old otter/coati enclosure and aviaries.



Otters first, and I have mixed feelings about the way the enclosure has been adapted from its previous and original incarnation for sea lions, although you've got to hand it to the zoo for completing such an extensive renovation in such a short time. Approaching from the west in front of the penguins, the impression is not entirely favourable. Visitors are greeted with a foreboding wooden fence with perspex slats thorough which to view. None of them are at my height, and I'd suggest they're all too low for most adults. The few people trying to peer through them appeared as though there were looking through peep-holes into a compound of some sort.



On the south aspect there is one full-length perspex screen, and it affords the best, unobstructed view of the enclosure. If you're tall you can actually see over it, and if your camera has a rear-mounted screen, you can get unobstructed shots by holding it up at arms length (not so easy with an SLR).



On the east side, opposite the Jubilee Garden, the perimeter is alternately wire mesh and perspex, all with stand-offs. To address a question Alan asked, photography on this side of the enclosure is also really difficult, the extended distance between stand-off and wire/perspex hampering even shallow DOF shots.

As for the inhabitant himself, he may be a giant in the otter world but he looks tiny in what now seems like a huge enclosure. He was wandering up and down the opposite bank during my visit and went completely unnoticed by most visitors, the little S90 I had with me didn't have enough zoom to even get close. When the foliage grows he and the female that's due to join him will be really difficult to spot unless they decide to spend their time destroying the pristine grass bank nearest the viewing areas. It looks to be a great enclosure from the otters' point of view, although the percentage of water to land might be a little excessive based on the husbandry guide, and if there is deep digging its location is not obvious, although it must be somewhere on the far bank. Speaking of, although it's artificial, the bank does look remarkably like a real, muddy riverbank.



So in summary, the enclosure itself looks excellent (slight reservation about the digging area) but viewing could be greatly improved as could the aesthetics of the barriers, which are at some very strange angles.


Around by the Oakfield, there's now a plan pinned to the fence to show what the development in this area entails. Ironically, the development itself is almost complete but I suppose it's better late than never.



The fence between the Roman Garden and the area that was once home to the aviaries and coati/otter enclosure has gone, and a pathway joins the two. The area is just a large expanse of grass, and that, according to the plan, is how it will stay. The children's playground, comprising a couple of slides, is the last thing to be completed and is just a small area over the to rear of the beer garden (seen far left in the photo above) so nothing major. According to the plan, the substrate will be something called “tiger mulch”, but I don't think that'll be made from finely chopped tiger as Chester Zoo is a conservation organisation!



I was struck, once again, by what is now a huge area of wasted space in the East Zoo. Surely we could have new enclosures in these areas...

 

Excellent report once again SMR i agree with your points on the otter enclosure i went on saturday an caught a very brief glimpse of him as he spent most of the time in the far corner digging in the area closest to the penguins. I also agree on the point about so much open space especially now the porcupine, childrens farm and otter enclosure have been removed.

 

There seemed to have been some confusion here about the sex of the giant otter at Chester. Can you confirm that it is a male ?

 

It is a Male.

 

Based on what I saw on Good Friday of the otter, they need to be careful he doesn't a) flatten/dig up all the new planting in his enclosure, or b) escape.

I found this amusing, if a bit worrying:



If you're lucky to find a bit of glass with no reflections, you can get some OK photos, but generally taking pictures of the otter is an embuggerance.

I'd also like to see something new happen with the empty ex-coati etc space. I saw some work going on around the aviaries that used to have the Mauritius kestrels in, but didn't have a chance to have a good look. The heavens opened and we bailed out of the zoo

 

This area is being developed for Asian birds.

 

Sure: Chester Zoo - New Giant Otter!

 

Thank you - it's funny although as they have used a picture of Manoki, the male from Chestnut Centre on the Chester Website. Xingu at Chester has no white markings!

 

Perhaps it's because even the staff at Chester can't get a decent photo through all the wire and perspex.

There are actually some shots of the Chester otter in their Facebook gallery: Chester Zoo's Photos - Animals | Facebook

 

It seems it's all happening at the Chester zoo, Giant Otters (Lucky ducks) new Indian Rhinos and more, I am glad to see that the San Deigo bloodline is entering the EEP zoos.

 

[ I have mixed feelings about the way the enclosure has been adapted from its previous and original incarnation for sea lions, although you've got to hand it to the zoo for completing such an extensive renovation in such a short time.....in summary, the enclosure itself looks excellent (slight reservation about the digging area) but viewing could be greatly improved as could the aesthetics of the barriers, which are at some very strange angles.]

Thanks for the photo's and update. i am looking forward to seeing it in person. It is hard sometimes to get a good impression from a photo, but I can see exactly what you mean about the viewing opportunity. Is there too much water and not enough land?

I think it opens up a wider debate on balancing the design of exhibits between animal welfare and visitor needs.

I think Chester does an incredible job of creating enriching and interesting enclosures, but sometimes there is very limited viewing opportunity. This is great for the animals as they are offered privacy and security. But ofcourse it is frustrating for the visitor. I'm not sure how this can be resolved, because a the end of the day the No1. priority is animal welfare.

We all know the exhibits that can create frustration....I can't think how many times I have wandered around and around and kept going back again and again hoping to glimpse the spectacled bears or jaguars. Eventually my patience will pay off. I guess it is more exciting having to wait so long to view certain animals, because when they do come into view it seems all the more rewarding!!

I also concur regarding photo opportunities! I wonder whether any consideration is given to how easy it will be to take photo's when designing exhibits?

 

I personally tend to divide exhibits up between those where viewing is excellent if the animal chooses to be in that part of the enclosure, and those where viewing is restricted no matter where the animal is.

At Chester the current spectacled bear/coati enclosure is definitely in the first group. Viewing is excellent, but only if you're lucky enough to be there when one of the bears is out and about. This gives the animal the decision on whether or not to be on show and must be best for their welfare. I put a rough(ish) video on Vimeo of how lucky you can be and it's particularly rewarding when you get a good view of an animal, especially when it's late in the day and all the kids have gone home: Spectacled Bear at Chester Zoo on Vimeo

Having said that, the coatis almost never venture to the front of the enclosure and seemed to be well-suited to their former home, so they might be the exception that proves the rule. A zoo where visitors can't see anything wouldn't be particularly successful, and "can't see the animals" does appear to be a common complaint.

I've also had a hard time seeing the jaguars. The savannah side is much worse than the rainforest side where at least there is unobstructed outdoor viewing. Almost all of the photographs on ZooChat are from that part of the exhibit.

The new cheetah areas are, I feel, a good balance between high, unobstructed viewing and a naturalistic habitat. Conversely, I was trying to get a photograph of a bongo the other day and that turns out to be almost impossible. The cheetah enclosure gives a sense of space whereas although deceptively large, the bongo paddocks have a more traditional, "caged" feel, so unobstructed viewing probably enhances both the visitor experience and their impression of animal welfare.

This is one reason why I have a few issues with the giant otter development. The pools now feel enclosed and at all times visitors are looking through wire or perspex. This is, of course, largely due to not wanting the otter to escape, but some unobstructed views by way of raised walkways would have helped greatly.

 

This was discussed in a previous thread - the husbandry recommendations are that they need a heated indoor area and heating the outdoor pool is recommended, but the document recognises that Chestnut's Giant Otters regularly swim in icy water in their pool (which is a converted Victorian water garden so no heating). Basically, so long as they have a warm indoor area to retreat to, they don't need heating in the outdoor pool.

 

A few notes from my visit today. I would have started a new thread but I dont think anyone would have replied to a thread which mainly talked about a few movements in the bird collection.

-Monitor pair in Elephant House look nice. Whats the up with the Tree Shrews though, ISIS show Chester as having just the one male left now.

-The White Faced Whistling Ducks have arrived. Quite a sizeable group to be seen in the main Pelican lake whilst a smaller group was in the African Aviary.

-Snowy Headed Robin Chats have left the African Aviary for the Tropical Realm, they share the Congo Peafowl aviary alongside the Turacos and Barbets aswell - wonderful aviary.

-Im starting to understand why the developments at the Realm took place now. The whole building looks a lot 'fuller' now. The birds are using more areas of the building now aswell, several were to be seen in the new Tortoise enclosure.

-The 2 glass boxes still appear to be empty and unlabelled however

-Black-Naped Fruit Doves have arrived at the Realm Of The Red Ape to share an aviary with Timor Zebra Finches, Golden Heart Pigeons and White Rumped Shamas. The avian inhabitants of RORA has really become a highlight recently.

-Meanwhile the Fairy Bluebirds that were in the RORA aviary aswell as a great looking pair of Superb Fruit Doves have now moved into the Pigeon aviary at Islands In Danger. Another building thats taken on a new lease of life now that there are more birds there.

-Giant Otters on the whole seem to be quite sucsessful. A lot of dissapointed visitors regarding the Sealions but on the whole I think it worked out for the best and will continue to be as long as the Otters show themselves in this enclosure.

-Im interested in seeing what becomes of the Asian Aviaries. The Snowy Owl aviary seemed to be empty aswell.

 

Thanks for the great run-down on the bird movements, I need to plan a visit specifically to keep track of the bird collection and your post is a great help.

I saw the white-faced whistling ducks today, each group calling to one another in the adjacent aviaries. They're really handsome and active birds, although a little wary at the moment and making quiet, 'peeping' sounds.



Does anyone know what the other species of waterfowl in the Tsavo National Park Bird Safari is? They looked a bit like Hottentot teal (Anas hottentota).

The giant otter was more active today, swimming and walking in a pattern along the east side of the enclosure. I could pre-empt his movements but although he likes sitting right next to the windows, getting a decent video proved too difficult for this visit.

I saw three separate groups of children, all accompanied by adults, climb over, under and through the stand-off barriers so that they could get next to the perspex windows. That looks like something the zoo might need to address before it gets busy.

 

Lovely photo of the whistling duck! The other waterfowl species in the aviary is indeed the Hottentot teal.

I hate adults who let their kids climb over barriers. I go to a lot of motorsport meetings and see the same thing: the kids climb over the first barriers to get closer to the chain-link fence. I'd love to know what mentality you need to think that's acceptable, or even a good idea. Barriers tend to be there for a GOOD REASON!

The otter might be hard to get a good look at when he's always moving around, but climbing over the barriers isn't the way to get round the problem. You just need patience to wait until he comes back to where you're standing, but patience seems to be a rare commodity these days

Grumpy Person rant over now

 

To be honest, where there is a full-height glass barrier I don't think a standoff is really necessary - it's not as if the enclosure isn't big enough for them to get away from any noisy visitors and many other places - Chestnut, Hamburg, Duisburg, Dortmund - let you right up to the glass no problem.

Obviously it's needed to save nipped fingers where the mesh is but otherwise I think it's just to save on window cleaning.

 

Tropical Realm developments

The new 'tanks' or boxes in the Tropical Realm are now occupied - or at least, one of them is!

On approaching the tanks we could see that heating and lighting has been switched on at both of them. We spent a long time trying to see what was in the first one (the one nearest to the waterfall) and, eventually, spotted a yellow poison arrow frog right at the bottom, and only visible by gently moving some of the foliage outside the tank. Despite a lengthy attempt by us and another family of visitors, wecould see nothing but plants in the second one. If there is anything there, it must be small and able to keep very still and well hidden!

Two large tanks (vivaria?) and so much heating/lighting surely means that there must be more than one frog to see! Once again, perhaps, it's a case of giving (tiny) animals much more space, at the expense of visibility to paying visitors.

Has anyone else spotted anything in these tanks yet?

(We went to the giant otter enclosure 3 times in the hope of seeing it, but it must have been inside each time. Very frustrating - and it never happened with the sea lions.)

Naomi