Category: Zoo news
A critically endangered Western chimpanzee has been born at Chester Zoo.
The baby was safely delivered by 43-year-old mum, Mandy, overnight on Friday 21 August, following an eight-and-a-half-month pregnancy.
BY OFFERING FANTASTIC INTERNSHIPS WE ARE INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS, CONSERVATIONISTS AND ZOOKEEPERS.
Our unique programme offers students the chance to work alongside some of our experts within various teams at the zoo, including our science and animal teams.
Through supporting future generations to develop their knowledge and inspiring them to want to act for wildlife, not only are we supporting them to develop their studies, we’re working towards our mission of preventing extinction.
Below we can up with Kim Russell, our one year science intern in social science…
Since it first aired in 2016, Channel 4’s ground-breaking documentary series, The Secret Life of the Zoo, has taken viewers behind-the-scenes at the UK’s most popular wildlife attraction, Chester Zoo.
Our contemporary British pub, located at the heart of Chester Zoo has picked up a huge Tripadvisor award after it was ranked in the top 10% of all of the world’s restaurants. The Oakfield, which opened just two years ago, has been handed an esteemed 2020 Travellers’ Choice Award, which is based on customer feedback submitted through the world’s largest travel website, Tripadvisor.
Three Cheshire West and Chester Councillors have called for ‘renewed momentum’ in the fight to save Chester Zoo.
As a leading conservation and education charity, we urge the Government to make a number of practical changes to ensure it has the best possible impact on protecting the future of wildlife, both in the UK and overseas.
We have enlisted the help of 13 young voices in the fight to prevent extinction, with the appointment of the UK’s first zoo Youth Board.
Update (16/11/2020)
We welcome news that the application deadline for the Government’s Zoo Animals Fund has been extended. This is something we and other charity zoos have been calling for. However, since the fund was expanded back in August, only three grants have been awarded and little over £2 million of the £100 million pot has been spent. This is because the eligibility criteria is far too restrictive and the ambition of the funding too limited. It effectively requires a zoo to be on the verge of bankruptcy before it can access any funding, while any support for our vital conservation and education work – the reason we exist – is completely excluded. We urge the Government to use this extended timeframe as an opportunity to rethink and to make the changes required to ensure the money is put to good use and doesn’t go to waste.
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OUR STATEMENT ON THE ZOO ANIMALS FUND – AUGUST 2020
While the announcement of the Government’s Zoo Animals Fund is welcome news for some zoos and aquariums, the £100m fund is again not applicable to all large charity zoos, including Chester Zoo. We find ourselves in the exact same situation as when the £100m Emergency Zoo Fund was announced previously, and the £14m Zoo Fund prior to that. We have no access to these funds and so we must continue to rely on the goodwill, compassion and amazing support of the public to Save Our Zoo.
As we’ve said many times, we are, of course, pleased to see some financial support for the zoo and aquarium sector. But, as we have also said many times, Chester Zoo is again not able to benefit given the current parameters that have been applied to the fund. Our mission to prevent extinction therefore remains at risk.
The Government has said it is continuing to talk to large zoos like us to explore ways of supporting us and our vital efforts to prevent extinction. But still there is nothing on the table. After significant time spent in lengthy, and what have been seemingly very positive discussions with Government representatives for several months, this is extremely disappointing for us. As a leading conservation and education charity of global importance, the aims of our species-saving conservation work, of our ground-breaking scientific research and of our vital education programmes in the UK and around the world, are broadly aligned with the Government’s own environmental objectives. So why aren’t they supporting us?
The Government has recognised the high running costs of caring for animals at zoos across the country. But it must also understand the far-reaching and long-term implications of COVID-19 on our critical work to protect threatened species globally.
For the zoos and aquariums that are able to benefit, the speed at which these funds are being disseminated to the places that desperately need it must urgently increase. Only just over £2m has been spent so far. It would be awful to think that these funds are in fact designed to do nothing more than achieve positive headlines for the Government. But what else is the point of announcing £100m of funding if zoos still can’t access it?
We urgently call on the Government to make changes to the scheme and ensure financial help also reaches large charity zoos. Currently, with no tailored funding or support from the Government, we will need to continue our fundraising efforts whilst opening to limited visitor numbers – once again relying on the incredible actions of the public to Save our Zoo.
Our bird experts have successfully bred two great green macaw chicks – a first for the zoo.
We absolutely love working with schools throughout the year. We love welcoming them to the zoo, as well as going out to schools across the North West and North Wales to teach and inspire young people about conservation and the actions they can take to act for wildlife. So it’s been devastating that school visits haven’t been possible in recent months and we’ve really missed working directly with you.
However during lockdown, we’ve been pleased to bring you many new learning resources for you to enjoy at home and at school, as well as our Virtual Zoo Days. It’s been wonderful that so many of you have continued to use the zoo as a source of inspiration for learning and we’ve been overwhelmed by the support you’ve shown us through our Save Our Zoo campaign.
It’s been a delight to see so many of the schools that we’ve worked with and even some new schools, joining our Chester Zoo mission of preventing extinction, to learn about wildlife and ways they can help conservation through zoo focused projects. We’ve seen so many example of pupils creating posters to help ‘Save Our Zoo’, fact files about species they’ve learned about from our Virtual Zoo Days, creating their own amazing zoos out of materials at home or school and even habitats in shoe boxes.
We caught up with a few of the schools who have been sharing their work on social media to learn more about what they’ve been up to.