Chester Zoo

Chester Zoo is a zoological garden at Upton-by-Chester, in Cheshire, England. It was opened in 1931 by George Mottershead and his family, who used as a basis some animals reported to have come from an earlier zoo in Shavington. It is one of the UK's largest zoos at 111 acres (45 ha).The zoo has a total land holding of approximately 400 acres (160 ha).

Chester Zoo is currently operated by the North of England Zoological Society, a registered charity founded in 1934. The zoo receives no government funding. It is the most-visited wildlife attraction in Britain with more than 1.3 million visitors in 2007. In the same year Forbes described it as one of the best fifteen zoos in the world, above Beijing Zoo and San Diego Zoo.

Source: http://www.creativereview.co.uk

The zoo is managed by both Mark Pilgrim, the Director General and Jamie Christon, The Managing Director. Mark is responsible for the Zoological teams,Science and Education as well as the whole Zoo site. Jamie Christon is responsible for development, finance, commercial operations, marketing and PR, HR, safety and security. Both report into the Board of Trustees.

The zoo has a scheme whereby people can adopt an animal of their choice, they are also given two complimentary tickets to allow them to visit the animals. They can also become members which allows them to visit Chester and a range of other zoos across England free of charge for a year. Every three months, members and adopters receive Z magazine, which provides updates and information about what is happening at the zoo.

In April 2011 the zoo announced the Islands project. To be built to the South West of the current zoo, it will include a boat ride around the enclosures for visitors to view some of the zoos key species including Sumatran tigers, Malayan tapirs, lemurs, saltwater crocodiles, and Komodo dragons, and other reptiles, birds, and invertebrates. Construction started in August 2013 and will take about 18 months to complete, Laing O'Rourke have being appointed as the Contractor it will ready for opening in summer 2015. Islands will showcase areas where the zoo is involved in conservation programmes, including Sumatra, Madagascar, the Mascarene Islands, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Zoo

Posted in: United Kingdom